Chapter 14 - Too Close for Comfort

Later that afternoon, Arabella had almost finished her email to the records specialist when her assistant appeared at the door.

“Mr Knight is still downstairs,” she said. “He asked whether you’d be available for a quick conversation before he leaves.”

Arabella looked at the clock. “Does he make appointments, or does he simply assume the world will rearrange itself around him?”

“I believe he asked politely.”

“That’s worse. It makes it harder to complain.”

Her assistant smiled and disappeared.

Arabella stared at the email on her screen. She could decline. Adrian had already given her the contact details, and she had made it clear she intended to handle the verification herself. There was no reason to see him again.

Which was precisely why she found herself reaching for her bag.

She told herself she wanted to ask one practical question.

Adrian was waiting near the lobby windows, speaking quietly on his phone. His expression was composed, but his shoulders carried a tension she hadn’t noticed before. When he ended the call, he slipped the phone into his pocket and turned to her.

“Thank you for coming down.”

“I’m here because I have a question. Don’t make it sentimental.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“What happens if the specialist can’t verify the reference number?”

“Then we accept that he can’t verify it.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That’s your entire answer?”

“What would you prefer? A dramatic speech about how the truth always finds a way?”

“I’d prefer to know what you intend to do with the information.”

“Nothing until we have reliable information to work with.” He paused. “I’m not asking you to take my word for anything, Arabella.”

She had expected him to press his advantage. Instead, he seemed content to let the question remain unanswered until there was evidence.

It unsettled her more than a demand would have.

“Fine,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Then I’ve been useful. A rare achievement.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.”

She almost smiled. Almost.

A group of employees crossed the lobby, laughing over something one of them had said. Adrian stepped aside to let them pass, and Arabella noticed that he greeted the receptionist by name. It was a small thing, hardly worth remembering, yet it didn’t fit the image she’d built of him as a man who saw people only in terms of what they could offer.

She disliked how often that image had begun to crack.

“Do you always do that?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Remember people’s names.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Should I not?”

“I assumed you had someone to remember them for you.”

“I have an assistant. I still have a memory.”

“An impressive combination.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

“That remains to be seen.”

His gaze lingered on her, amused. “You seem determined to make sure it does.”

Arabella felt heat rise beneath her collar and immediately resented him for it. “You’re confusing curiosity with admiration.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll try not to enjoy it.”

She turned towards the doors. “You’re enjoying it already.”

“Quite a lot, actually.”

The honesty of the answer caught her off guard. She looked back, expecting a smirk, but his expression held only quiet amusement. For one brief moment, she saw the man beneath the reputation—not harmless, not suddenly trustworthy, but capable of humour without turning every exchange into a contest.

It was disarming.

Outside, the afternoon sun fell across the pavement. Arabella checked her phone and found a message from her driver saying he was delayed. She sighed.

“Problem?” Adrian asked.

“My driver is caught in traffic.”

“I can have mine take you.”

“No, thank you.”

“I didn’t say you had to accept.”

“And I didn’t say I needed rescuing.”

“I’m beginning to understand that you consider assistance a personal insult.”

“Only when it comes from people who might later remind me they helped.”

Something in his face grew more serious.

“I wouldn’t use a favour to make you feel indebted to me.”

The answer came too quickly to sound rehearsed, but Arabella wasn’t ready to believe it simply because she wanted to.

“That’s a generous promise,” she said.

“It’s a simple one.”

Her phone vibrated again. Her driver had found a way around the traffic and would arrive in a few minutes.

“Your offer is unnecessary,” she told him.

“Then we can both be disappointed.”

She laughed before she could stop herself.

Adrian’s expression softened at the sound, and this time she didn’t look away immediately. The silence between them felt different from the strained pauses they usually shared. It wasn’t comfortable exactly, but it wasn’t hostile either.

That was somehow worse.

A car pulled up outside. Arabella recognised it and adjusted the strap of her bag.

“Thank you for answering my question,” she said.

“You’re welcome.”

“And for not insisting on driving me.”

“I’m learning.”

“From whom?”

He looked directly at her. “You, apparently.”

She had no ready reply. So she gave him a small, reluctant smile and stepped outside.

As the car pulled away, Arabella watched the building recede in the window. She still had no reason to trust Adrian Knight. The records had not been verified, the past remained unresolved, and his motives were still his own.

But she was beginning to understand that the hardest thing about him might not be figuring out what he wanted.

It might be admitting that she wanted to know him.