Page 49

Gently, she pushed against his chest and looked down at her phone in her hand. Adrian’s eyes followed her gaze, darkening when he saw Theo’s name flashing on the screen.

His jaw clenched.

He roughly pushed the phone aside, brushing her hand away. His lips grazed the shell of her ear, then his tongue slowly traced down the curve of her neck, his deep voice whispering against her skin, coaxing a shiver from her.

“Don’t pick it up,” he murmured, voice rough with need. “Don’t let him interrupt us. Not now. Please, Sienna?”

Sienna’s skin tingled from the heat of his breath, her whole body burning, every nerve set on fire by his touch. But the phone kept ringing.

She broke away, reluctantly, her swollen lips still tingling, her breath short and shaky. “I have to pick it up,” she whispered, her voice dry and trembling. “He’s my husband. It could be something urgent.”

She gulped, and forced herself out of Adrian’s arms. She walked toward the corner, lifting the phone to her ear.

Adrian’s hands dropped to his sides, his chest tightening with fury and helplessness. He watched, frozen, as she walked away to answer the call. His chest ached, his fists tightening at his sides.

She called Theo her husband. Right in front of him. Like it meant nothing.

She didn’t even notice how Adrian’s expression changed, the sharp twitch in his jaw, the blaze in his eyes. If she had, she would’ve seen the storm brewing beneath his calm. He had to force himself not to storm over and rip the phone from her hands and smash it to pieces.

He didn’t want her to eventhinkof Theo. But that bastard kept getting in between them.

Sienna lifted the phone to her ear.

“Theo?” she said quietly.

“Sienna, get home. Now,”Theo’s urgent voice came through the speaker immediately. “I don’t have time to explain. Just get home immediately.”

And then he hung up before she could ask anything.

She stared at the screen for a second, then lowered the phone slowly, tension lining her face. She turned to Adrian, her voice tight.

“I need to leave.”

Without waiting for his response, she turned toward the elevator.

Adrian followed her immediately. “Sienna, wait! Where are you going?” His voice was urgent, panicked. He grabbed her hand, trying to stop her.

“I can’t stay,” she said, still walking. “Theo needs me. You have to understand. I need to go now.”

“Sienna, please,” he said, matching her pace, desperate now. “Don’t go. I planned everything for tonight—foryou. This was supposed to be our New Year.”

But she didn’t stop. She stepped into the elevator and turned around to face him. Her voice was soft.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I have to.”

The doors slid shut.

Adrian stood there, watching her disappear.

His face darkened. His chest heaved. The pain, the rage, it twisted inside him like a blade. His eyes burned, jaw locked, and the veins on his arms stood out as he clenched his fists. He looked like a man on the edge of losing it all.

Behind him, fireworks exploded in the sky, lighting up the night in celebration. But Adrian didn’t see any of it.

Not a single flicker.

He started walking, eyes deadly, and marched into the second elevator. He rode down in silence, then got into his car and followed hers, keeping a distance. His eyes locked on her taillights like a predator hunting what was his.

Sienna reached the Montgomery house and hurried inside. As she walked into the grand hall, her steps halted.