Chapter 4 - SHADOWS OF THE PAST
Adrien did not let go of her hands. Instead, he pulled her soft, trembling body firmly against his chest, wrapping his long arms around her and burying his face into the warm crook of her neck.
Grace stiffened for a moment, her mind battling against the poisonous lies Victoria had planted in her heart, but the overwhelming warmth and solid reality of her husband’s body proved too much to resist. She buried her face into his expensive wool suit coat, her hands clutching at his back as she wept quietly into his chest.
"Listen to me, Grace," Adrien whispered into her hair, his voice fierce, desperate, and raw with emotion. "Listen to me very carefully. I am a sinful, dangerous, violent man. I have spent my entire life surrounded by people who smile at my face and plot to stab me in the back. I have never felt pity for anyone in my life. Pity is a luxury my world does not allow."
He pulled back slightly, framing her face with his large, warm hands, forcing her to look into his dark eyes, which were burning with an intensity she had never seen before.
"When I walked into this studio fourteen months ago," Adrien continued, his voice shaking with rare vulnerability, "I saw a woman who was stronger, braver, and far more honorable than any man I had ever met in my life. I saw a woman who didn't care about my money, my name, or my power. You were the first person in my entire existence who looked at me and didn't want something from me."
"She said... she said you only married me to fix your image," Grace sobbed softly, her voice small and broken. "She said I didn't fit into your world... that I was just a plain, ordinary girl you saved from obscurity..."
"Victoria Sterling is a parasite who measures human worth by bank accounts and bloodlines," Adrien snarled gently, wiping a tear from Grace’s cheek with his thumb. "You are not ordinary, Grace. You are my entire world. You brought light into a life that was completely consumed by darkness. I didn't marry you out of pity, Grace. I married you because I realized that without you, I was just a ghost walking around in an expensive suit."
Grace stared at him, her heart pounding against her ribs. For days, Victoria’s cruel words had echoed through her mind, feeding every lingering fear she had ever harbored about not being enough for a man as powerful, wealthy, and handsome as Adrien Moretti. But looking into his eyes right now, seeing the absolute, terrifying sincerity in his gaze, the poison began to leach out of her soul.
"Then why did you leave me alone that night?" Grace asked quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "When Robert pulled you away... I felt so completely out of place, Adrien. Everyone was looking at me, whispering about my dress, my curves, my lack of lineage..."
Adrien’s heart broke into a thousand pieces. He pulled her forehead against his, his breath hot against her skin. "I was pulled away because my uncle was trying to cover up a embezzlement scheme in our shipping operations," Adrien confessed truthfully. "I left your side to protect our family's assets, but in doing so, I left you exposed to snakes. That was my failure, Grace. Not yours. Never yours."
He reached into his inner jacket pocket.
Grace gasped softly.
Adrien pulled out the midnight-blue velvet box he had retrieved from her dresser drawer before leaving the penthouse that morning.
He opened the lid, revealing the stunning diamond solitaire that sparkled brilliantly under the warm task lights of the studio.
Adrien took her bare left hand, holding it delicately.
"I am a man who commands thousands of men," Adrien whispered, looking down at her bare finger. "I control shipping lines, real estate, and political careers. But none of it means a single damn thing if I can't make the woman I love feel secure in my arms."
He slid the heavy platinum band back onto her finger, pushing it past her knuckle until it rested perfectly against her skin once more.
"Don't ever take this off again because of the noise of small, pathetic people, Grace," Adrien commanded gently, kissing the top of the ring before looking back into her eyes. "If you ever doubt my love for you, you look at me and you ask me directly. Do not let enemy lies build walls inside our home."
Grace let out a ragged, watery laugh, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her cardigan. She looked down at her hand, the weight of the diamond feeling remarkably light now that the heavy burden of doubt had been lifted from her heart.
"I'm sorry," Grace whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a deep, passionate kiss. "I'm so sorry I doubted you, Adrien."
Adrien kissed her back with a fierce, possessive hunger, holding her lush, curvy body tightly against his, assuring himself that she was still his, that she wasn't leaving him, that the ghost of his mother’s abandonment had finally been laid to rest.
When they finally broke apart, both of them breathing heavily, Grace looked at him with a soft, affectionate smile. "You should probably get to your morning meeting now. Marcus looks like he’s having a minor heart attack standing by the front door."
Adrien glanced back over his shoulder to see Marcus standing outside the glass front door, desperately signaling with his phone.
Adrien smiled faintly, kissing Grace’s forehead one last time. "I have a few business matters to settle today, my love. I will be home early tonight. And we are going to dinner. Just the two of us."
"I'd like that," Grace said softly, her hazel eyes bright and clear once more.
Adrien turned and walked out of the studio, his face instantly transforming from that of a loving, tender husband back into the terrifying, merciless lord of the Chicago underworld.
As he stepped into the backseat of the Escalade, Marcus climbed into the passenger seat and turned around.
"Boss," Marcus said, his voice tense. "Sterling Maritime’s legal counsel just called our main offices. Their freighters have been seized by federal agents at Pier 42. Old man Sterling is panicking. He’s calling every politician in the city to try and get a meeting with you."
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Adrien leaned back against the leather seat, resting his chin on his steepled fingers, his dark eyes gleaming with cold, calculated malice.
"Tell him I will accept a meeting," Adrien ordered smoothly. "At his private estate in Gold Coast tonight. And tell him to make sure his daughter, Victoria, is present."
