I knew I was in trouble the second Adrian said my name like it was a sentence.
"Lena."
Just that—quiet, cool, absolutely loaded. My pulse tried to escape my body.
Markus didn't move. His hand stayed on the back of my chair like we were old friends instead of two people who'd just had a clandestine meeting in the lobby café under Cole Global's tower.
Adrian's gaze cut to Markus. "You're done."
Markus smiled lazily. "Cousin. Always a pleasure."
"Now."
Markus pushed off the chair with a little bow, completely unbothered. "Relax. I didn't touch your employee."
Fantastic. Exactly the kind of sentence strangers should hear.
Adrian didn't react, which was somehow worse. "Lena. Car."
Right. No room for negotiation.
I scrambled up. "I can walk myself—"
Adrian had already grabbed my bag and handed it to me like he didn't trust me not to run. "Let's go."
Markus's voice followed us as we left the café area and crossed toward the street exit of the tower. "We'll talk soon, Lena."
Adrian didn't look back. "No. You won't."
The revolving doors deposited us onto the sidewalk. The city noise hit like a wall—traffic, pedestrians, honking.
Adrian pressed a button on a fob. A sleek black car at the curb flashed its lights.
"You're kidnapping me?" I attempted.
"Get in the car, Ms. Hart."
Okay. Full-name mode. Not good.
I slid in, and he followed, shutting the door with deliberate calm. Tension climbed in with us.
The driver pulled out into traffic without needing instructions.
Thirty seconds of oppressive silence.
Finally, Adrian turned. "How long have you been talking to Markus?"
I flinched. "Um. Define 'talking.'"
"Answer."
His voice wasn't loud. That somehow made it worse.
"I only met him today. In person," I said quickly. "He's the one who sent the anonymous messages."
Adrian's eyes sharpened. "How long have you been receiving those messages?"
"Yesterday," I murmured. "After you and Ethan told me about the file access."
His jaw tightened. "Yesterday. And you didn't inform me."
"It sounded like a prank. I didn't want to be the paranoid new hire with delusions of espionage."
"And yet you met him."
"Well, he said I was in danger," I snapped. "I didn't want to ignore something real."
Adrian's gaze was unreadable. "You're not to meet anyone who approaches you about this again."
"That seems dramatic."
"I'm not being dramatic."
"That's exactly what a dramatic person would say."
His mouth twitched—barely. Then: "What did he tell you?"
I hesitated.
Then I exhaled. "He said I'm part of a power struggle. That the contract wasn't a glitch. That people might use it—or me—against you."
Adrian's posture went razor-straight.
"What else."
"He said I'm being turned into your shield."
His eyes snapped to mine. "He used that word."
"Yes."
Silence sliced through the car.
"You believed him," Adrian said finally.
"No," I said. "I panicked. And then I realized nothing around me makes sense anymore."
Another beat of silence.
"What did he tell you about the board," Adrian asked.
I ran a hand through my hair. "That they want you out. That your aunt is maneuvering. That the partner agreement was supposed to make you look 'settled,' but using my name created… chaos."
Adrian inhaled slowly. Controlled. "Anything else."
"He said someone manually accessed my file. An executive. And that it wasn't an accident."
Adrian stared ahead, eyes distant. "If Markus knows… Grace knows."
Not reassuring.
"Who is Grace exactly?" I asked.
"My aunt."
"And that's… bad?"
"That's dangerous."
Cool. Love that for me.
"So what am I in the middle of?" I whispered.
Adrian didn't answer.
The car took a sharp turn.
I glanced out the window—and froze. "Wait. This isn't toward my apartment."
"No," Adrian said. "We're going back to the tower."
"It's late."
"You and I need a private conversation."
My stomach dipped. "About what."
He didn't look at me.
"About what they've already done."
His tone slid under my skin like ice.
The car turned into the private underground driveway beneath Cole Global.
The engine cut.
Adrian finally looked at me—controlled, intense, choosing his words with surgical precision.
"Lena," he said quietly. "Before you see what's waiting upstairs… you need to prepare yourself."
"For what?" I whispered.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.
Adrian stepped out.
Then turned back to me.
"For the fact that someone wants the entire board to think you're already mine."