บททั้งหมดของ Tempting the Alpha’s Father : บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

For days, Emma couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on her.Not Adrian’s—his gaze she knew too well now, searing and possessive, a fire that burned openly when no one else was around. This was different. Lighter, probing. Watching. Testing.Lucas.She noticed it first at breakfast. He sat across the table, scrolling idly through his phone, but every so often, his eyes flicked up, not at her face but at the space between her and Adrian. The silence stretched too long. The scrape of cutlery on porcelain sounded louder than her own heartbeat.She forced herself to smile, to talk about meaningless things. A new restaurant in town. The weather. A charity gala next month. Anything that filled the silence.But Lucas only hummed, his expression unreadable.Adrian didn’t help.He sat there with his calm, stoic façade, sipping his coffee as though nothing in the world could ruffle him. Yet Emma could feel the undercurrent—the heat of his knee brushing hers under the

The days slipped past like smoke through my fingers, heavy with the weight of secrets. On the surface, everything looked deceptively calm—me showing up at the gallery, Lucas visiting for dinner with his easy smiles, Adrian running his empire with that controlled precision. But beneath it all, the current was shifting, restless, impossible to ignore.Lucas was watching me. Not in the way a lover admires, but like a man who feels something is out of place and cannot quite name it. His questions had grown sharper, his silences more loaded. He lingered on details most would dismiss: the way I returned calls later than usual, the faint trace of cologne not his own, the subtle tension etched into my body when Adrian’s name slipped into conversation.Every time his gaze lingered on me, I felt the burn of suspicion simmering just beneath the warmth of his expression. He was waiting—like a predator circling, biding his time.Meanwhile, Adrian had tightened his grip on me in ways

Lucas had always been gentle in the way he loved me. Patient, steady, the kind of man who never raised his voice unless absolutely necessary. But now, his gentleness felt like a blade hidden in silk. Every question he asked was deceptively calm, wrapped in warmth, yet it sliced straight into me, exposing nerves I wanted to keep buried.It began over breakfast.He watched me pour coffee, his expression unreadable, and then—too casually—he asked,“Why did you come home so late last night? I thought you said you were having dinner with a colleague.”My hand faltered mid-pour, hot liquid splashing onto the counter. “Traffic,” I murmured quickly, wiping at the spill. “And the meeting ran long.”Lucas leaned back in his chair, studying me with that unsettling stillness. “Funny. I called your office. They said you left at seven.”I froze. My throat went dry.“Emma?” His voice was soft, but there was steel beneath it. “Are you lying to me?”The silence betwee

The morning sun spilled through the curtains, but its warmth did nothing to soothe the icy dread twisting inside me. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the memory of last night haunting me—Adrian’s mouth on mine, his hands commanding every inch of me, and then… the shadow outside the door.Lucas.Had he seen? Or had my mind simply conjured a nightmare from the guilt that consumed me?When I finally dragged myself downstairs, Lucas was already at the table, sipping his coffee, the morning paper spread before him. His smile when he saw me was gentle—too gentle.“Morning,” he said. “Sleep well?”The question was too casual. My chest tightened. “As well as I could,” I replied carefully, avoiding his eyes.He folded the paper neatly and set it aside. “I thought we could take a drive today. Just the two of us. Out of the city, maybe. You need a change of scenery.”My stomach lurched. A drive sounded harmless enough, but there was something in his tone—a caref

The cabin felt smaller after Adrian’s arrival, as though the walls had shifted closer, trapping us inside a suffocating cage.Lucas stood rigid near the window, his fists still clenched, his jaw tight with restrained fury. His calm mask had cracked—just enough to let me see the storm boiling underneath.Adrian, on the other hand, looked utterly unbothered. He moved across the room with that same unshakable authority, pouring himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle on the counter as though he had every right to be here.“What the hell are you doing here?” Lucas repeated, his voice rougher this time, darker.Adrian took a slow sip, then set the glass down with deliberate care. His eyes flicked to me before settling back on Lucas. “Protecting her.”My breath caught.Lucas’s face twisted. “Protecting her? From what? From me?”Adrian’s smile was sharp, dangerous. “From the weight you put on her shoulders. From your suspicions. From your weakness.”“Stop