Chapter four

I didn’t leave anywhere after I carried out the order.

The idea of going out—even for another cup of coffee—felt more like an imposter’s advice, like it was trying to lure me into meeting him again.

Adrian Vale.

That wasn’t even his real name. I was sure of it. I might have lied about myself to him, but I had made sure to dig into everything about him—so much that there was nothing left for him to hide.

His name was Romane Antonio—the last son of a wealthy Mafia family I had crossed paths with long ago. Seven years ago, to be precise. We were both young then, and he was too naive. I took my chances to survive around him.

But that was a long time ago. It wasn’t supposed to happen again. Yet now, it clearly felt like this meeting wasn’t an accident.

He had found me.

Not Melinda Adams—the woman I had carefully built over the years with polite smiles, quiet dresses, and an ordinary life. He had found Catt Amber. The girl who lied, stole, survived, and disappeared before the Mafia world could swallow her whole.

My face was flushed, and I hadn’t managed to move a single file or do anything useful the entire time I was in the office. I was restless, constantly hoping he wouldn’t appear at my door and bring up that promise.

How foolish was I?

It was already late, and I was still in my office, doing nothing. Strangely, Doris hadn’t called or come in to bother me the entire day.

The office door suddenly opened, making me flinch.

“Mel?”

I looked up immediately and saw Laney standing there. His tie was loose, his sleeves rolled up, exhaustion sitting heavily on his face.

And still he smiled the second he saw me.

“There you are,” he said softly. “You've been in here all this time. Thought you'd already slipped off with your girlfriend, but instead, you're here buried alive in paperwork again.”

I smiled at his words but couldn't hide the stressed look on my face.

"Gosh, you look wasted," he said, "come into my office."

I knew what he wanted always at this time of the day, late, when everyone was hurrying home to rest. I, on the other hand, had an extra task to attend to.

Just like always, he gestured toward the door so I could lock it to avoid any interruptions.

Laney had been a strange kind of safety net in my life lately—too convenient to call it pure kindness, too useful to call it a coincidence. He helped me and Derrick secure a new apartment in one of the city’s more expensive districts, paid in advance without hesitation, and even ensured the paperwork never raised any questions. He covered gaps in my schedule, smoothed over my absences at work, and sometimes spoke for me in rooms where I didn’t feel like breathing.

In return, I decided to be more than just a hard-working assistant. And I long knew that was where he always wanted me to be—an office side-chick you can call me.

The room smelled faintly of cologne and paper, the city lights already bleeding through the blinds as evening settled outside. Laney loosened his tie further and dropped into his chair like someone finally allowed to stop pretending they weren’t exhausted.

"Damn that Adrian, sure is a wealthy man," he remarked, taking out a cigarette under his desk. I happened to be the only one of all his employees who knew of his smoking habit—other than his hateful wife.

"The guys just decided to help our company out of the kindness, but I'm feeling a bit nervous about their unclear intentions."

I walked gracefully, close to him, around his chair, my hands dropping onto his shoulders. He relaxed on the chair, snuffing the cigarette onto the table as i massaged him.

"Yes, babe..." he muttered, closing his eyes. "...that shall do."

“So…” I said, breaking the silence as I worked my fingers into his shoulders, “what does this Mr. Adrian really want?”

My hands moved with practiced ease, pressing out the stiffness I could feel under his shirt, coaxing his body into a slower rhythm.

“I don’t know…” Laney replied, his voice softer now, almost dissolving into the quiet as I kept working. “Maybe some rich, foolish billionaire who has no idea how to spend his money, so he decides to throw it at us instead.”

A faint, humorless laugh slipped out of him.

It didn’t reach his eyes.

“Honestly,” he added after a beat, “it makes no sense. Someone coming to invest in us with no expectation of profit…”

His words trailed off, leaving the room heavier than before.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then his hand moved.

Laney gently caught my wrist, stopping my hands mid-motion.

“Mel,” he said, quieter—but sharper in a way that made me still.

I paused. “What?”

He looked up at me then, studying my face with an intensity that felt uncomfortably deliberate, like he was searching for something I hadn’t agreed to reveal. Whatever he found there made his expression soften in a different way.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said simply.

It wasn’t the first time he’d said it.

And it always landed the same way—warm, familiar… and just a little disarming.

I let a small smile form anyway, because that was easier than overthinking it.

“I’m glad I dazzled the right man to make my life easier,” I said lightly, trying to keep the moment from getting too heavy.

But the atmosphere shifted anyway.

Before I could add anything else, the chair rolled back slightly beneath him.

In one smooth motion, he pulled me closer by the waist.

“Laney—”

The protest barely made it out.

He didn’t give me space to finish.

He guided me down onto his lap as if it had always been the intended place for me to be, one arm settling loosely around my waist while the other rested on the armrest. The position held me there—not forcefully, but with a certainty that made it difficult to think of moving away.

My breath caught in my throat.

He didn’t look away.

“There,” he said softly. “Now sit still for a second, will you?”