Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Adrian was tall and built like a linebacker. Elara could barely breathe under him.
"Adrian, you're heavy," she complained.
Hearing that, Adrian braced himself on his arms so she wouldn't bear his weight. But he didn't move away. He kept her trapped underneath him.
"Elara, are you really that practical?" he asked.
"How am I being practical?" Elara shot back.
He said, "When you need me, you know how to please me. But when you don't, you run faster than anyone. That's how you were at Hachester, and it's the same now."
Elara let out a cold laugh. "At Hachester, I asked you to come back with me. I even said we could spend the night at Veritasiton Hills. You were the one who turned me down.
"And just now, I said I could stay and work as your assistant until Susan's maternity leave is over. You didn't want that either. Now you say I'm practical? That I ran away the moment I didn't need you?"
Elara frowned and met his eyes. "Adrian, you're full of contradictions. Like you said, you can't have it both ways."
Adrian frowned too. "You're the one who always bends over backwards for others. No real skills, but always asking for trouble."
If he hadn't worried she'd get eaten alive by Nancy and Sadie tonight, he wouldn't have softened and gone to that engagement party to back her up.
Elara was upset, but her voice grew softer. "That's still my business."
Adrian said, "Now it's your business again? If I hadn't shown up, do you really think you and your friends would've gotten out of there in one piece? You think those little scratches are enough for Nancy to let it go?"
Elara stayed quiet. She couldn't deny it—she really did owe him tonight.
Adrian kept going. "If you hadn't come to Veritasiton, none of that would've happened. I could've sent Victor to get your friends out safely. So do you still think I was wrong to ask you to stay in Hachester with me?"
Elara said, "First of all, you're from the Hartley family. I didn't know how far you'd really go for me. Second, what if Victor hadn't found Ruby and the others?
"If I didn't go, and Nancy stayed pissed, what if she did something stupid and hurt my friends? You saw their injuries today too."
"So now you know how far I'm willing to go for you?" Adrian asked.
"Still not sure," Elara said, looking down. Adrian's moods were too unpredictable.
Adrian looked like he gave up. "Elara, you're impossible."
Elara gave him a cold look. In her head, she thought, 'If I'm so impossible, then leave me alone.'
"Now Dylan's back in jail," Adrian said, changing the subject. "What's with the sour face? Not trying to win me over for him anymore?"
Elara's eyes widened. "Don't worry. I'll keep my word. I won't cling to you again."
Adrian looked a bit surprised. "Oh yeah? You don't care if your dear Alex gets upset now?"
Elara felt a sting in her chest, but of course Adrian had to rub salt in the wound.
"Adrian, did you help me today just so you could humiliate me again later?" she asked.
She had finally calmed down, but now her eyes were full of tears again. "If you've still got stuff to say about me, go ahead. I'll leave once you're done."
Adrian felt like he'd punched a pillow—full of fire, but nowhere to land it. He was mad, but he couldn't even say anything too harsh, or she'd end up crying again. He didn't know how to make her learn.
"Elara, I'm asking you—how do you plan to repay me for helping you today?" he said. "Tell me. Keep talking until I'm satisfied."
He reached out to wipe her tears, but they just kept coming. Adrian looked down at her and kept going. "When I'm satisfied, I'll let you go."
Elara didn't want to play guessing games anymore. "Then just tell me straight. What do you want? What do you want from me?"
Her eyes shimmered with tears. "You want my body? You want me to sleep with you, do things with you—until you marry Josie?"
Adrian's frown deepened and didn't ease up. "That's all you think it is?"
"You've got touch issues. Now I'm the only one who can turn you on, right?" Elara said. "So if you didn't help me for that, then what was it for?"
Adrian's eyes turned dark. He stared down at Elara, his face filled with rage.
"In your eyes, I'm just some horny bastard who can't think of anything but screwing you?" he growled.
Elara let out a tearful, bitter laugh. "Then tell me—what noble thing are you hoping to get from me?
"Don't tell me it's love. You're not about to say you fell for me and want to date me, are you?"
Adrian pressed his thumb against the corner of her eye, giving her tears nowhere to fall. His expression was more serious than ever.
"Elara, listen to me," he said. "I'll only ask this once—do you want to be my girlfriend? For real. Public. Official."
Elara blinked. Her lashes trembled, and her mind went completely blank. Her lips twitched a few times, but she couldn't say a word.
Adrian kept going. "Turns out what I want is a little more decent than you thought. You're the one with your head full of dirty stuff, so don't blame me."
Elara wanted to kick him across the room. "Decent, my ass. Cheating is still cheating."
"Who said it's cheating?" Adrian said. "I told you before—I can end my engagement with Josie anytime I want."
Elara didn't buy it. It sounded half-true at best, maybe even a full-on lie.
And he only said he could call off the engagement—he never said he had. Until they actually broke it off, whatever happened between her and Adrian still counted as cheating.
To her, Adrian was just playing games with words. She asked, "You're mad Josie keeps getting new boyfriends, right? So now you're using me to prove a point?"
That was what he'd said earlier at Alex and Nancy's engagement party—"Josie's had how many boyfriends already? Why can't I date someone too?"
He clearly said it out of spite. Plus, Joseph had just said Adrian still loved Josie, and Adrian didn't even deny it.
Elara wasn't about to let herself become some pawn in a rich kid's love game. Sure, Adrian probably wouldn't be stingy with money, but money like that came with a price she might not survive.
She'd seen tonight what the Heaton family was capable of. If the engagement between the Hartleys and the Heatons got broken off because of her, she'd end up caught in the crossfire—and she might not even know what hit her before it was over.
And if Adrian did marry Josie in the end, she'd be the ex-mistress who might not even leave behind a full body.
Elara felt like she was going crazy. It was better not to mess with someone that even Alex and Dylan couldn't handle.
"So, what is it? You don't want to be a pawn, or you're just jealous of me and Josie?" Adrian asked.
"Adrian, you're overthinking it. I just don't want to be a toy for you rich kids," Elara said. "Let me go. I'm just a normal person. I can't keep up."
"You're scared?" Adrian pushed.
"Yeah, I am. I don't want to die. Whatever you and Josie are doing, don't drag me into it," she said. "You'll be married by the time you're thirty, and I'll be the one tossed aside. Then what do I do to protect myself?"
"You still think I have feelings for Josie—that I'm not serious about you?" Adrian asked.
"Whatever's going on between you two, it has nothing to do with me," Elara said.
Adrian looked defeated. He lowered his head and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His nose brushed against her earlobe, and his warm breath spread across her skin, sending a mix of heat and shivers down her spine.
Feeling her breath hitch, knowing she was reacting, Adrian couldn't help but press his lips to her soft skin.
"Elara, you know about my condition. I've never even touched Josie's hand. I'm clean." His voice was rough with desire. The words, soft and tempting, chipped away at Elara's defenses.
He kissed along her collarbone, his tongue slipping into the dip just below it. His body leaned in gently. He was setting a fire, trying to make her lose control for him.
She was fragile tonight. Maybe this was the perfect moment to break through. Maybe after tonight, she'd fall for him too.
Adrian's warm fingers slid the bathrobe off her shoulder. The curve of her shoulder smelled like the body wash he liked. Their messy breathing tangled together, filling the air with tension. Elara's body started to tremble.
He yanked the belt off her robe. His hand slipped under the fabric from her knee, slowly moving upward, tracing along her skin inch by inch.