CHAPTER 6
The ride to the penthouse was a blur of rain slicked glass and heavy silence. Inside the SUV, the air was climate controlled to a perfect warmth that made Star's skin prickle. Adrian sat beside her, not saying a word, his long legs crossed, his gaze fixed on the window ahead. Yet she could feel his attention pinned on her like a spotlight.
The elevator opened directly into a world of silent, breathtaking luxury. The penthouse was a cathedral of glass and polished marble, hovering high above the Chicago clouds.
Adrian led her down a wide gallery where the only sound was the faint hum of the city far below.
He stopped at a heavy, dark wood door. "Your wing," he said, his voice dropping into a smooth, velvet low. "Everything you need is inside."
Star stepped in, gasping. The room was massive, bathed in the soft glow of the skyline. A king-sized bed waited with silk linens, and a private terrace overlooked the lake. It was beautiful, but it felt like a trap set in gold.
She turned back to him, her eyes guarded. "The key?"
Adrian didn't say a word. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, silver key.
He didn't drop it into her hand; he took her wrist, his touch electric and firm, and pressed the cold metal into her palm. His thumb brushed over her knuckles, a slow, deliberate caress that made her breath hitch.
"One lock. One key," he murmured, leaning . "As I promised, Star. I won't enter unless you turn that lock for me,good night"
The sudden change from a teasing hunter to a serious man of his word left her confused.
His calm, respectful behavior gave her a small sense of relief. Maybe he truly meant to keep the boundary he had set.
As Adrian walked away, Star couldn't help but notice how his damp white shirt clung to his muscular back and shoulders. She felt a confusing spark of attraction, but she pushed it down, thankful for the safety of her locked door.
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Star moved with urgency the next morning, hoping to slip out before Adrian's magnetic presence could pull her back in. She found him already waiting in the kitchen, looking sharp in a dark suit, the air between them instantly charging with the same electric tension that had sparked the night before.
"Good morning, Mr. Scott," she said, her voice steady despite her racing heart.
Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of discomfort crossing his face at the cold formality of the title. He preferred her fire to her distance.
"I wanted to thank you properly," she continued, clutching her bag. "For putting a roof over my head. I don't take it lightly."
"It's not kindness, Star," he replied, his voice a low vibration that made the air feel thin. "It's an arrangement."
Star nodded, using the reminder of their "deal" to break the eye contact.
"Regardless, thank you. I have a class by 8:30 , so I really must be going."
"The driver is waiting downstairs," Adrian called out, his voice sounding amused by her sudden flight.
"I'll take the subway!" she called back over her shoulder, already pressing the elevator button.
She needed distance. She needed the cold Chicago wind to clear her head.
Living in his house was one thing, but falling for his games was another and she was determined to keep her heart under lock and key, just like her room.
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At 4:00 PM, the atmosphere at Scott Global shifted from professional tension to absolute dread. The glass doors of the executive suite swung open, and Arthur Scott walked in.
He was an older, silver haired version of Adrian, but where Adrian was cold steel, Arthur was a polished, fake gold.
Adrian didn't stand up. He didn't even look up from his tablet as his father took a seat opposite him, smelling of expensive cigars and the perfume of whatever secretary he was currently entertaining.
"You look tired, Adrian," Arthur said, his voice a mocking mirror of his son's. "Is the empire getting too heavy for you?"
"I'm busy, Arthur. I assume you're here for your quarterly dividend, not for a father son chat we haven't had in twenty years.... and by that question do you mean how I've been holding up since you went to federal prison and left your twenty three year old son to start the company from scratch?" Adrian's voice was a low, lethal vibration.
But the business wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was coming home at the age of twelve to find Mom curled up on the bathroom floor because Authur brought another woman into her bed while she was at a charity gala.
"I watched you break her spirit long before the FBI broke your door down."
Arthur's smile didn't falter, though his eyes sharpened. "And yet, here you are, obsessed with a girl who has nothing. Just like I was'
The silence that followed Arthur's words was heavy, suffocating Adrian like a thick fog. He felt exposed, stripped bare by the one man who knew exactly where the armor was thinnest.
Surprised?" Arthur cut him off, the wicked smile widening to reveal teeth that looked like shark bone. He didn't wait for his son to regain his footing.
"Well, I hope she doesn't end up like Sasha... or Hannah... or let's see, what was that lovely girl's name? Amanda?"
The names hit Adrian like physical blows. Each one was a ghost he had tried to bury.
"Don't you dare speak their names," Adrian hissed, the veins in his neck bulging.
"Why not? They were all the same, weren't they?"
"Especially Amanda."
At the mention of her name, Adrian's breath hitched.
Amanda ;the only woman who had truly managed to crack his shell, the one who had stayed the longest and fought the
hardest.
"She loved you with everything she had, Arthur taunted. "And you still let her walk away because you were terrified that loving her would make you weak. Like me."
"Get out," Adrian roared, the sound vibrating the glass walls of the office.
"I'm going," Arthur said, adjusting his tie with a smirk.
"But remember, Adrian, you can change the girl, and you can change the address, but you can't change the blood.
You'll fail her just like you failed Amanda. Because in the end, a Scott always chooses power over a person."
And with that final breach to Adrian's ego,Authur left victoriously,an evil grin cross his face.
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