Chapter 7 - The Shadows Of A Broken Past
Adrian walked slowly and purposefully across the long and empty expanse of the massive room,
his dark and highly intense eyes locked completely and exclusively on my pale and exhausted face.
He gently reached out and carefully wrapped his strong and incredibly warm arms around my trembling body,
pulling me tightly against his massive and heavily muscled chest as if he was desperately trying to shield me from the entire cruel world.
"You should definitely be resting in the bed,
Claire,"
he murmured softly and lovingly into my messy hair,
his deep voice vibrating warmly against my cold and shivering skin.
"I could not sleep without you completely safely by my side,"
I admitted quietly and honestly,
resting my heavy and exhausted head against the comforting and strong beat of his racing heart.
He let out a long and deeply frustrated sigh,
his large hands moving slowly and rhythmically in soothing and gentle circles across my tense and aching lower back.
"I am incredibly sorry that my dark and dangerous world has suddenly and violently crashed into your peaceful life once again,"
he whispered with a deep and overwhelming sense of personal guilt and intense sorrow.
I pulled back slightly to look directly into his dark and beautiful eyes,
reaching up with a trembling hand to gently trace the sharp and highly masculine line of his tight jaw.
"I fully and completely accepted your dangerous world the exact moment I fell desperately in love with you,"
I reminded him firmly and passionately,
refusing to let him carry the massive and crushing burden of this terrible guilt all by himself.
"When we first met at that tiny and run-down diner on the dangerous south side of the city,"
I continued to explain with a soft and nostalgic smile spreading slowly across my lips,
"I already knew exactly who you were and what terrifying things you were completely capable of doing."
Adrian's eyes softened significantly at the beautiful and cherished memory of our very first and incredibly fateful encounter.
"You were the only person in the entire terrified city who completely refused to treat me like a dangerous and heavily armed monster,"
he recalled with a sad and highly emotional smile,
his thumb gently and lovingly stroking the soft and pale skin of my cheek.
"You accidentally spilled hot and staining coffee all over my incredibly expensive and tailored Italian suit,"
he chuckled deeply and warmly,
"and then you had the absolute audacity to angrily yell at me for completely blocking the narrow walkway."
I laughed softly and genuinely,
the bright and happy sound cutting cleanly and sharply through the dark and highly oppressive tension filling the massive penthouse.
"You were acting like a completely arrogant and highly entitled jerk,"
I teased him gently and playfully,
feeling the heavy and terrifying weight of the deadly situation lifting slightly from my exhausted and overwhelmed shoulders.
But the brief and highly beautiful moment of lighthearted peace was violently and abruptly shattered by the sudden and harsh buzzing of the encrypted secure phone.
Adrian's face instantly and completely hardened back into the terrifying and ruthless mask of the legendary and highly feared Chicago Wolf.
He walked quickly and purposely toward the massive glass desk,
pressing the glowing speaker button with a sharp and highly aggressive jab of his long finger.
"Speak,"
Adrian commanded coldly and sharply,
his deep voice completely devoid of any previous warmth or gentle tenderness.
"We found a massive and highly suspicious discrepancy in the offshore banking accounts belonging to Captain Lorenzo,"
Marcus's highly professional and strictly business voice filtered loudly and clearly through the expensive speakers.
My heart completely and violently skipped a beat in my chest,
the shocking and highly devastating name echoing loudly and terrifyingly in my ears.
Lorenzo was Adrian's oldest and most deeply trusted advisor,
a man who had fiercely and loyally served his late father for over thirty incredibly long and highly violent years.
Adrian gripped the heavy edge of the glass desk so tightly that I legitimately feared the thick material would completely and violently shatter into a million sharp pieces.
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"Bring him to the soundproof interrogation room in the deep sub-basement immediately,"
Adrian ordered in a voice so incredibly quiet and deadly that it made my blood run completely and freezing cold.
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