Chapter 7

Too Easy

Lucien signs before Adrian finishes speaking.

No pause.  

No question.  

No fight.

The scratch of a pen on paper is the only sound in the room.

Adrian still goes.

That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

He watches Lucien’s hand move across the last page, smooth and steady, like he’s signing a dinner bill instead of handing over a year of his life.

“Done,” Lucien says.

He sets the pen down gently. Not dramatic. Not angry.

Just calm.

Too calm.

Rain hits the tall glass windows behind Adrian’s desk. The city looks blurred tonight. Gray and silver and sharp edges. The office lights are low, casting shadows across Lucien’s face. He looks younger in this light. Softer.

But Adrian knows better.

Lucien Moreau has never been soft.

Adrian leans back in his chair slowly.

“You didn’t read it.”

“I did,” Lucien replies.

“You skimmed it.”

Lucien lifts one shoulder. “I trust you.”

That lands wrong.

Adrian studies him. Dark hair pushed back. Shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows. No tie. He came here looking like a man ready for a fight.

So where is it?

“Trust,” Adrian repeats. “That’s new.”

Lucien’s mouth curves just a little. “Is it?”

There’s history in that question. Old arguments. Old nights. Old promises that cracked under pressure.

Adrian ignores the pull in his chest.

“Three point eight million,” Adrian says. “Cleared by midnight.”

“That’s what you said.”

“And in exchange, you belong to my company for one year.”

Lucien nods. “Yes.”

No flinch.

No sarcasm.

Nothing.

Adrian feels something cold settle in his stomach.

This is too easy.

He taps the contract with one finger. “You’ll attend events when I say. Smile when I say. Speak when I say.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll follow brand rules. No side deals. No interviews without approval.”

“Fine.”

Adrian narrows his eyes. “If I tell you to stand next to me for four hours and say nothing, you will.”

Lucien’s gaze doesn’t break. “I will.”

That calm again.

It crawls under Adrian’s skin.

Lucien used to argue about everything. He used to push back just to see how far he could go. He used to laugh in Adrian’s face and call him bossy.

Now he’s agreeing to everything.

Adrian stands.

He walks around the desk slowly. Not rushed. Not angry.

Just thinking.

Lucien turns slightly to follow him with his eyes.

“You don’t even want to negotiate?” Adrian asks.

“No.”

“Not one condition?”

Lucien shakes his head. “You said you’d save the vineyard. That’s all I need.”

There it is.

The goal.

Simple. Clear.

Family first.

Adrian stops in front of him.

Close.

Close enough to see the faint scar near Lucien’s collarbone. The one from years ago. The one Adrian remembers touching.

“You’re very obedient tonight,” Adrian says softly.

Lucien doesn’t step back. “You wanted obedience.”

“I wanted resistance.”

The truth slips out before Adrian can stop it.

Lucien’s eyes flicker.

There. A crack.

“Why?” Lucien asks.

Adrian tilts his head. “Because when you fight me, I know what you’re thinking.”

“And now?”

“Now I don’t.”

Silence stretches between them.

Rain keeps falling.

Lucien folds his arms loosely. “You’re the one who wanted control.”

Adrian steps even closer. Their shoes almost touch.

“Control isn’t given,” he says quietly. “It’s taken.”

Lucien’s breath shifts. Just slightly.

“Then take it,” he says.

Adrian’s jaw tightens.

That wasn't a submission.

That was a challenge.

Compliance can be control.

If Lucien refuses, Adrian pushes. Adrian reacts. Adrian stays sharp.

But if Lucien agrees to everything?

Adrian has nowhere to push.

Nowhere to win.

“What are you playing at?” Adrian asks.

“Nothing.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Lucien’s gaze hardens for the first time tonight. “You think I’m here because I want to be?”

The words hit.

Sharp. Honest.

“My father hasn’t slept in three days,” Lucien continues. “The bank sent men to value the land this morning. They walked through my mother’s garden like they owned it.”

His voice doesn’t shake.

But his hands clench.

“That house is all we have left of her,” he says.

Adrian feels the weight of that.

He knew this wasn’t about pride.

It’s about survival.

Lucien steps closer now. Their space disappears.

“You said you could fix it,” Lucien says. “So I signed. No games. No drama.”

His eyes lift to Adrian’s.

“If you want to humiliate me in public, do it. If you want to order me around, fine. I don’t care.”

That’s the lie.

Lucien cares about everything.

Adrian knows that.

“You don’t care?” Adrian asks quietly.

Lucien’s lips press together.

“For one year,” he says. “I can endure anything.”

Endure.

Not obey.

Not submit.

Endure.

Adrian studies him carefully.

This isn’t surrender.

This is strategy.

Lucien is choosing the pain he can control.

Adrian turns away slowly and walks back to his desk.

He picks up the contract again.

“You signed the standard terms,” he says.

Lucien nods once.

Adrian flips to the last page.

“You signed too fast.”

Lucien’s eyes narrow slightly. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Adrian says calmly, “I underestimated you.”

A small crease forms between Lucien’s brows.

Adrian pulls open a drawer and takes out another document.

Thinner.

Sharper.

He places it on the desk.

Lucien looks at it but doesn’t move yet.

“What’s that?”

“A revision.”

“You said that was the contract.”

“It was.”

Lucien’s gaze lifts slowly.

Suspicion settles in his expression now. Finally,

“And this?” he asks.

Adrian leans his hip against the desk.

“This is the real one.”

Rain cracks against the glass with a sudden gust of wind.

Lucien steps forward and picks up the new document.

He scans the first lines.

His jaw tightens.

“Additional compliance clause,” he reads. “Failure to perform duties with full effort will result in penalty payments.”

He looks up.

“You’re adding fines?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t have money.”

“You will,” Adrian says evenly. “You’ll be working for me.”

Lucien’s eyes flash.

There it is.

The spark.

“You said one year of service,” Lucien says. “You didn’t say anything about punishment.”

“I assumed you’d fight harder.”

Lucien gives a short, humorless laugh. “So this is because I didn’t argue?”

“Yes.”

The word lands heavy.

Adrian steps closer again.

“You gave in too easily,” he says quietly. “That tells me you’re planning something.”

“I’m not.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Lucien drops the paper on the desk.

“You think I have the energy for schemes right now?”

“I think,” Adrian says, voice low, “you never walk into a cage without counting the bars.”

Silence.

Lucien stares at him.

Adrian stares back.

Two men who know each other too well.

Finally, Lucien speaks.

“What do you want, Adrian?”

The question is soft.

Tired.

Real.

Adrian doesn’t answer right away.

He looks at Lucien’s face. The anger is under control. The fear buried deep. The pride barely held together.

And something inside him tightens.

“I want honesty,” Adrian says.

“You have it.”

“I want effort.”

“You’ll get it.”

“I want you to give me a present. Not just physically.”

Lucien’s throat moves as he swallows.

“That wasn’t in the contract.”

“It is now.”

Adrian taps the new document.

“And if I don’t sign?” Lucien asks.

Adrian meets his gaze.

“Then the bank takes the vineyard in seventy-two hours.”

No softness.

No mercy.

Lucien’s hands curl at his sides.

For a moment, Adrian thinks he’ll finally explode.

But he doesn’t.

He exhales slowly.

“You’re enjoying this,” Lucien says.

Adrian’s voice drops. “More than I should.”

Lucien picks up the revised contract again.

His eyes move across the page.

Slower this time.

Careful.

The room feels smaller.

He reaches the bottom.

There’s a new line there.

Public conduct clause extended.

Employer reserves the right to enforce obedience through corrective public display.

Lucien’s fingers freeze.

He looks up slowly.

“That wasn’t there before.”

“No.”

“That’s harsher.”

“Yes.”

Suspicion sharpens his features.

“You’re punishing me for something.”

Adrian steps close enough that their shadows merge on the floor.

“Not yet,” he says quietly.

The air between them turns heavy.

Lucien holds his gaze.

“If I sign this,” he says, “there’s no line you won’t cross, is there?”

Adrian doesn’t blink.

“No.”

The rain slows outside.

The city lights glow faint through the glass.

Lucien looks down at the paper again.

Then back at Adrian.

“You’re making this harder on purpose.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Adrian’s expression shifts. Just slightly.

“Because if you’re going to stay,” he says softly, “I want to know you’re choosing it.”

Lucien’s breath catches.

“That’s twisted.”

“Probably.”

A long pause.

Lucien’s fingers tighten around the pen.

“You said you wanted effort,” he says quietly.

“I do.”

He signs.

Again.

Slow this time.

Careful.

Adrian watches every stroke.

When Lucien finishes, he places the pen down with steady hands.

“There,” Lucien says. “Is that enough resistance for you?”

Adrian picks up the revised contract.

His eyes move to the final page.

And he smiles faintly.

“No,” he says.

Lucien’s stomach drops.

Adrian turns the page toward him.

“There’s one more addition,” he says calmly.

Lucien’s eyes scan the new paragraph.

His face drains of color.

“You can’t be serious,” he whispers.

Adrian meets his gaze.

“Oh,” he says softly.

“I’m very serious.”