Desire.

Adrian's POV

I stared down at Victoria, my chest heaving as my words echoed inside the car.

I threatened to send her right back to her father's house where she belonged, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them instantly.

Seeing her sitting across from Milan, watching that slimy viper put his hands on her wrist, had awakened a possessive monster inside me that I couldn't control.

My mind raced through everything she said in the lounge. She went to Milan because he promised her the name of the leaker. She wanted to do something useful so I would see her as someone important, not just a clause in the business deal with her father.

Her actions were both foolish and arrogant. Milan Rojer was a ruthless predator, and the fact that she thought she could walk into his trap and handle him on her own made my blood turn to ice.

Yet, a twisted, dark part of my ego was deeply satisfied. She had risked her own safety to protect my company. She wanted desperately to prove her worth to me.

I hated how much power this woman was gaining over my thoughts. Ever since Paris, the lingering tension between us had been a slow-burning fire, pulling me towards her no matter how hard I tried to hide behind my cold mask.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to erase Milan’s memory from her mind. I needed to stamp my mark on her and drown out the roaring noise in my own head.

Before she could offer another flimsy excuse, I reached out, grabbed the back of her neck, and slammed my mouth down on hers.

Victoria gasped against my lips, her small hands coming up to grip my chest in shock.

The moment our lips met, every atom of restraint I possessed evaporated. I captured her mouth in a deep, hot kiss that was anything but gentle. I consumed all her protests, claiming every inch of her.

She tasted like sweet vanilla and pure, intoxicating temptation. It was the exact sweet taste I had craved for every single night in Paris, the flavor that had driven me insane while I lay awake listening to her soft breathing on my chest.

She trembled against me, her fingers tightening on my suit, holding on for dear life. I nearly went mad when her lips parted, melting into the kiss and returning the heat with a raw, desperate intensity of her own.

She moaned against my mouth and I lost it.

I circled one hand around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, my fingers rubbing the side of her soft breast, while my other hand held her face in place so I could thoroughly devour her.

I wanted her to feel my absolute dominance. I wanted her to know that no matter what side deals she thought she was making, she belonged to me.

I kissed her until our lungs burned for air, until her heart was hammering wildly against my ribs like a trapped bird.

When I finally tore my mouth away from hers, we were both panting.

She slumped back against the leather seat, her chest heaving as she stared at me with wide, dark eyes filled with fear and desire. Her lips were swollen, glistening, and completely thoroughly kissed.

My eyes lingered on her mouth, every instinct in my body screaming at me to pull her right back in my laps and complete what we'd started.

But I forcefully clenched my jaw, pulling back to put distance between us. I couldn't let her see how deeply she unsettled me. I couldn't let her know that despite my cold words, her soft lips had completely dismantled my control.

I turned my head away, fixing my gaze straight out the window, refusing to acknowledge the heat still lingering in the air between us. No matter how sweet she tasted, no matter how much I craved her body, I couldn't trust her completely until my company was safe.

“Adrian…” she whispered, her voice barely a breath. “Why did you…”

I turned back instantly, forcing my expression to appear cold and annoyed.

“Don't flatter yourself, Victoria,” I cut her off, my voice dropping into a flat, dismissive tone. “That was just to shut you up. It meant nothing.”

I watched her features go from aroused to hurt in one second, and it tugged painfully at my chest. She quickly turned her face towards the window, wrapping her coat tighter around herself.

Before the suffocating silence could settle, Gerald's phone rang loudly in the front.

Gerald answered, listened for two seconds, and turned around in his seat, his face deathly pale as he handed me his tablet.

“Boss,” Gerald said urgently. “You need to see this.”

I snatched the tablet.

It was a video. Someone in the Grand Central lounge had filmed me pulling Milan out of the booth and throwing him to the ground. The caption read: KINGSLEY CEO LOSES HIS MIND—UNSTABLE TYRANT ATTACKS INNOCENT BYSTANDER!

“It went viral five minutes ago,” Gerald added in panic.

Before I could even speak, my own phone screen lit up with an incoming video call. The caller ID displayed a name I knew all too well.

Easton Jett. The senior head of my company's Board of Directors. The same one that had proposed I needed a stable family outlook to sustain our investors.

I picked the call and brought the phone to my face.

Easton’s face appeared, his features set in cold rage. He didn't even bother with a greeting.

“Have you completely lost your mind, Adrian?” His voice boomed through the car speaker. “The stock is already down by twelve percent, and now you're assaulting men in public lounges like a street thug?”

“Milan was harassing my wife, Easton,” I replied coldly. “I handled it.”

“You handled our market value straight into the gutter!” Easton snapped back, slamming a hand down on his desk. “The investors are in a full panic! The press is calling you an unhinged dictator who can't control his own temper!”

“I control this company,” I stated coldly. “And I will fix the stock leak by the end of the week.”

“You don't control anything if you don't have a seat, boy,” Easton sneered, leaning closer to his camera. “The board has reached its limit. We just filed the official paperwork.”

Beside me, I heard Victoria catch her breath.

“What paperwork, Easton?” I demanded, my grip tightening on the phone.

“An emergency board vote,” Easton declared with icy satisfaction. “Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp, you appear before the board members at the headquarters. If you don't have a complete recovery strategy and a full explanation for your violent behavior, we are stripping you of your CEO title and voting you off the executive board.”

“You wouldn't dare. This is my company.” I growled.

“Be there at eight, Adrian,” Easton said coldly. “Or don't bother showing up to Kingsley Enterprises ever again.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the dark screen, my chest heaving with a dark, monstrous rage, while Victoria sat frozen beside me, staring at me in absolute terror.