♡Astrid♡I woke up with a start as the door bang open. I held my breath...waiting.Adrian rushed in, eyes darting around. His expression was wild and for the first time since we started this sham, I could see full blown panic in his eyes and fuck me, if that didn't make me start panicking.What the fuck was going on?His eyes settled on me. They roamed me so quick before he covered the steps to my bedside. I tried sitting up so I could look at him properly. "Are you okay?" He asked and I gave a short nod, a little confused myself. He tipped his head back and drew a deep breath."Oh Goodness," he whispered, before perching on the seat taking my hand in his. I stared at him, confused now more than ever.Okay? What the hell was happening?"Are 'you' okay?" I asked and he nodded, brown eyes meeting mine. The panic was still there but it was under control now.He licked his lips."Overheard nurse saying the patient in room 527 was having a seizure. Was it a false alarm?" He asked quietly
♤Adrian♤We stayed up for a long while doing nothing. While Astrid tried to rest, I busied myself with some work on my phone. It wasn’t like I was going to get any sleep anyway.Astrid shifted slightly on the bed and cleared her throat."Aren't you going home? It's getting late," she asked, and I shook my head without raising my eyes from the screen."No," I said. My voice came out a little dry."Why? It won't be comfortable to sleep in here. The bed is small, and the chair would be—""Are you trying to get rid of me, Blythe?" I asked, finally looking up from my phone to meet her eyes. She raised a brow."I'm just stating facts," she shot back, and I sighed."I'll manage. Just go to sleep," I muttered, shutting off my phone and staring at nothing in particular. My gaze fell on the only chair in the room. That would be my bed tonight. I didn’t mind. I’d slept in worse.She sighed again and tried to sit up as much as she could."I haven’t gotten the chance to ask... The driver who hit
♤Adrian ♤I stepped out of the room after a couple of hours to get food for Astrid, who had fallen asleep.My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I slowed down before reaching for it.I stared down at the caller ID for a second, debating whether to pick up or let it go to voicemail like I usually did.But no—if Gary was calling me, it could only mean one thing. He had something to say. He hadn't reached out to me since we ran into each other at the restaurant. Even though I was slightly suspicious of his silence, I didn’t have enough proof to confront him.I picked up and brought the phone to my ear. There was a brief silence."Adrian," he finally said, and I frowned."Why are you calling?" I asked, and he chuckled."I'm surprised you picked up. Saved me the trouble of coming to you directly," he said, and I pressed my lips together."The Dela-Rosas are coming to town with their daughter, Allison," he said, and I narrowed my eyes."And you're telling me this because?" I asked, already irri
♡Astrid♡ God, my whole fucking body ached —so bad. My lashes fluttered and I pried my eyes open, looking around the room. The beeping of a machine made me realize I was, in fact, in the hospital. I squinted my eyes trying to recall what had happened, and then it all came rushing back. The squeal of tires, the gasps, the pain... An accident. The last thing I wanted was to get into an accident and be bedridden. I tried sitting up, but pain exploded in my back. I laid back then and glanced around the room again. No one was here, not even a nurse —or Adrian. I tried moving my legs and realized one of them was in a cast. My eyes stung and I blinked back a couple of times before staring at the ceiling. No one was coming for me, right? The door opened, and a nurse walked in; I just stared at her, saying nothing. She said nothing either, quickly moving to my side. My eyes followed her and then darted to the door before returning to her and... I returned my gaze to the door, watchin
♤Adrian♤A knock came on the door and I looked up from the files I was buried in. After the meeting, I decided to stay back for some hours and sort out a few things that needed my attention."Come in," I muttered, and the knob turned. Axel walked in. I sat up a little straighter.He had a tablet in his hands, and my eyes fell on them almost immediately.I flipped through the pages of the files, trying to act casual as though I wasn’t fucking curious—I was. Curious as hell about what he’d come here for and what he had to say."So, about what you asked me to look into this morning," he started, and I gave a curt nod, raising a brow."Yeah?""She was pretty easy to look into. Background and everything," he said, drawing out the seat in front of my desk and settling in like he owned the space."What did you find?" I asked, glancing at my wristwatch. A couple of minutes past 1."From recent records, turns out she's married," he said. I raised my eyes to meet his. He gave me a knowing look.
♡Astrid♡Once Adrian left the house, I went back into my room, freshened up, and left. I had a meeting with Jason, the head of Aaron’s rival company.We’d met at the gala, and he was the only one who could help me get even with Adrian. All I had was a month and a half.Sleeping with Adrian would just be the icing on the cake. I didn’t want anything to do with him afterward—I was sure of it.My phone rang as I stepped outside. I reached for it inside my bag and stared down at the caller. It was Nora."Yeah?" I said as I picked up. There was a brief pause on the other end."Ash, you're needed at the office," she said quietly, and I stopped walking. From her voice, I could tell something was wrong.I hadn’t been around the office much lately, especially with the news going around—which, yeah, was true, but they didn’t know that. Nora had been handling things well.If she was calling me in, it meant something had happened—something she couldn’t handle. And if Nora couldn’t handle it, it w
♤Adrian♤"You got him?" I asked, tucking the phone between my shoulder and neck while buttoning my shirt."He gave a fake signal. He was never really going to Washington," Axel said.I froze, my hand still on the last button.What?"How the fuck did he pull that off?" I muttered, irritation flaring. Derrick playing me was the last thing I needed right now.I had enough to deal with. My wife, for one. We’d crossed a line last night—one we couldn’t uncross.And now, she was my next puzzle. Something wasn’t right. After our breakup, something happened. I didn’t know what, and it was eating at me.There’s a scar under her wrist. What put it there? What did Maya mean when she said Astrid almost died? Why did Astrid shut down when I asked about the past?No one was going to hand me the answers. I’d have to dig them out myself. And this time, I would.A sound. I looked up. Astrid stood at the top of the staircase, head tilted slightly.Our eyes locked. I straightened, pulling the phone from
♡Astrid♡His fingers slid into my hair, tugging hard at the roots. My lips parted in a silent moan, a rush of pain and pleasure rushing through me.Let's not even talk about the warmth pooling low in my belly.His eyes met mine, and he raised a brow."Sure you want to do this?" he asked, and I narrowed my eyes."Backing out already?" I shot back, watching the way his lips curved into a smile — a little sadistic, a little knowing.He said nothing else before walking out of my room. I didn’t stop him. I knew exactly where we were going.Even though a part of me hesitated, the rest of me didn’t care. Not anymore."You're wet for me, huh?" he asked, voice hoarse as he pushed the door to his bedroom open and kicked it shut behind us."Wanna find out yourself?" I teased, and he tossed me onto the bed. I propped up on my elbows, heart hammering, trying to guess his next move.But Adrian wasn’t the kind of man you could ever figure out.He grabbed my ankles and yanked me to the edge of the be
♡Astrid♡We hadn’t spoken to each other for days. Well, technically, I hadn’t spoken to Adrian and did my best to avoid him.I either stayed in my room all day or left the house more than necessary, even if I had nowhere to go. I’d either take a walk or go to my office.Anything that kept me out of his space. Which explained why I was still locked in my room by past eight in the evening, sleeping.I didn’t get a lot of sleep at night and I couldn’t go to Adrian’s room either, so I just tried fighting the demons myself.And honestly, it hadn’t been very successful.It was a call from Freya that woke me up.Her school had gone on a trip to California — for God knows what — and coincidentally, Mum’s brother stayed over there. Freya had just, well... decided she wasn’t gonna come back.I was fine with it, as long as she was safe and far away from that monster, who we still hadn’t found.“Hey,” I muttered once the call connected, my voice a little groggy as I rubbed my eyes.There was a li