CHAPTER 2: I DON’T MISS

Adrian’s POV

I wasn’t supposed to come.

That was the plan I’d drummed into my head for three weeks.

Distance was the only mercy I could give her. It was safer.

For her.

For everyone.

But plans are just suggestions when the world starts tilting on its axis.

I stood in the shadows of the beach pavilion, watching her dress catch the moonlight.

Halle.

She looked like a masterpiece carved out of glass, sharp, beautiful, and liable to cut you if you handled her wrong.

The lights flickered exactly when I expected them to. Forty-two seconds of delayed backup generator response. Definitely not an accident.

My men were already in position before the music resumed. I looked over at Larry and Rena to see if they were okay. They were on their way to the dance floor.

I noticed Larry was trying to get her distracted from worrying. We shared a knowing look, telling me to take care of whatever that was.

Halle felt it. She always feels what she doesn’t understand.

If she knew, she’d lose it.

She was brave enough to charge forward, stubborn enough to ignore warnings, scared enough to hide the tremor in her hands.

I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her that night.

That day.

Three years ago, I walked her home but because she was too drunk, she couldn’t remember where she lived and she didn’t trust anyone else but me, someone she just met. So I took her to mine.

She talked until exhaustion took her and then she slept on my bed like she belonged there.

I didn’t touch her.

Not because I didn’t want to, or because I’m some saint.

But because the moment I did, restraint would vanish.

I knew that if I let myself taste her just once, I’d never be able to stop. And she deserved control.

I, on the other hand, lost control the second she breathed near me.

When she moved to New York, I let her go for her safety or else, she would've been a target if she were with me.

But the second my eyes found hers again, every painstaking reason, every rational defense I’d spent years so carefully constructing, shattered and reduced to a single pathetic, exhausted word.

‘Enough’

Seeing her again made me realise, I couldn’t afford to lose her. I can’t stay away from her anymore.

She had become my weakness.

And now someone was testing boundaries.

Testing MY boundaries.

Grey Tech wasn’t the real target. I was. And she was standing too close, close enough to get hurt and I’m not going to let it happen.

On the dance floor, her pulse betrayed her… fast, wild. I could feel her heart hammering against her ribs.

She’s scared. And as a result, she tried distracting herself as she watched a group of kids dancing a few steps away from us, but fear leaked through every careful step.

She thinks she’s afraid of me, having no idea what I was protecting her from.

She doesn’t know that I am the only thing standing between her and the people who actually want to hurt her.

"You're trembling, Starlight," I murmured, my hand sliding lower on her back, guiding her into the rhythm of the music trying to get her mind off whatever was going on.

"I'm not. I'm annoyed," she snapped, her eyes wide, tracking every movement of my jaw.

She never gives up, does she? Always trying to read me. She wants to know every single thing even if it’s going to hurt her and that’s not good.

“You’re not going to get anything staring at me like that,” I pulled her closer.

“It’s infuriating not knowing anything, Adrian. I hate being in the dark,” She said with gritted teeth.

“It’s your best friend’s wedding too so try to cheer up,” I said as I spun her around slowly.

I watched the way the lace of her dress strained against her skin with every breath, a reminder that she was here, she was real, and she was currently the only thing in this room that didn't have a price tag I was willing to pay.

"Why didn’t you show up to the wedding, Adrian? Truly. Don't give me that 'busy' line again." She held my gaze.

She never accepts a simple answer.

"I missed the view," I said, my voice dropping.

She swallowed hard and looked away avoiding my eyes.

I liked that I could still affect her. I liked that despite the two years of silence, I could still make her breath hitch with a single sentence.

I watched her pulse jump in the hollow of her throat, a frantic, rhythmic admission that she felt the weight of me just as much as I felt the pull of her. I could have bought the entire coastline we were standing on with a single phone call, but the only thing I truly wanted to own in that moment was the specific way she exhaled whenever my hand slid an inch lower.

I love how her breath catches, sharp and unguarded, like I’ve stolen the air right out of her lungs without asking permission.

The music kept swelling around us but it might as well be static, all I hear is the soft hitch in her throat every time my thumb traced the dip of her spine. She’s fighting to keep her face neutral, lips pressed tight, yet her body keeps betraying her with tiny shivers that ripple under my palm.

I leaned in until my mouth brushed the shell of her ear and murmured something filthy just to feel that next exhale stutter against my neck. Her fingers curl into the lapels of my tux, not pushing me away but anchoring herself, as though she’s afraid the ground will disappear if she lets go.

The lights overhead caught the faint sheen of sweat along her collarbone and I had to clench my jaw to stop myself from tasting it right there in front of everyone. She tilted her head back enough to meet my eyes, defiance and want, to warring in the dark of her pupils, and I know she’s seconds from either slapping me or begging me to drag her somewhere private.

Across the reception, Damon, my security head, gave a sharp, almost invisible nod.

Confirmed. Someone was watching from the tree line.

Not the wedding.

Us.

I tightened my hold on her waist.

Protective.

It felt good being that close to her.

"Adrian, people are looking," she whispered, her hands splaying against my chest.

"Let them," I said.

“Adrian-” She was persistent but I didn't let her.

“Eyes on me, Halle.” I held her gaze as I slid my hand lower, fingers splaying possessively over the small of her back… she exhaled again, this time a broken little sound that vibrated through both of us.

She obeyed. For once, no argument.

“The only thing I care about is the view in front of me,” I said, still holding her gaze as my hands settled against her back.

She’s red now. Heat flooded her cheeks.

She quickly avoided my gaze, her hands clutching my shoulders tightly.

I scanned the crowd one more time and she noticed, looking up at me, suspicious.

“What happened? Is something wrong?” she whispered.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” I lied, brushing my thumb slowly along the bare skin of her back like it could soothe her curiosity.

For now.

But if they thought tonight was the right time to send a message using her,

They miscalculated.

Because I don’t lose control.

And I sure as hell don’t miss.