The smell of coffee hit me before my brain fully woke up. Rich, dark, and intoxicating... like a promise I desperately needed after a night spent staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about Adrian's words, or his eyes.
My feet carried me toward the kitchen on autopilot. But instead of finding Tess humming and dancing with a mug like she always did, I saw her pacing in the living room, blonde hair a wild halo, sweatshirt slipping off her shoulder, looking like she'd aged ten years overnight.
The coffee was on the counter, untouched. That's when I knew something was wrong.
"Tess?" My voice was barely above a whisper. "You're... pacing. And not in the fun 'planning a vacation' way."
She froze mid stride, eyes huge. "Sit down, Gina."
I frowned. "Why do I need to sit down?"
"Because if you faint, I'm not dragging your dead weight to the ER." Her voice was sharp, too sharp. She took a sip and set her mug down with a shaky hand and blew out a breath like she'd been holding it all night. "You ever have one of those nights where you can't sleep, so you start thinking, and then thinking turns into Googling, and then Googling turns into a oh, I don't know... uncovering your best friend's entire life as a mob soap opera?"
My stomach dipped. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the scholarship you got. That random full ride? Not random. The car you 'won' in high school? Also not random." She jabbed her finger at me like she was listing off crimes. "And that sweet little old lady who basically raised you after your parents died? Guess who made sure she was in your life?"
A chill crept over my skin. "Tess, stop."
"No, you stop," she snapped. "Your life didn't just happen, Gina. It was planned. Arranged. Orchestrated by one family. One name." She paused, letting it hang like a guillotine blade. "The Adele family."
I blinked, the words hitting like a punch to the gut. "The Adele family?" My laugh came out shaky, fake. "As in the... what? mobsters? Tess, be serious."
"Oh, I'm dead serious." Her arms folded like she was ready to fight me if I disagreed. "I fell down a black hole last night, Gina. I read articles, old news clippings, deep fucken dives on Reddit threads with guys named 'BigTonyKnows.' And everything points back to them. The money. The deals. The timing. All of it."
"No," I whispered, shaking my head hard. "No, Tess. That's impossible. My mom was a teacher. My dad was a lawyer. Normal. Ordinary people don't just... get tied to..." My voice cracked. "That."
Tess gave me a look, sharp and pitying all at once. "Ordinary people don't win cars at seventeen from unknown competitions. Ordinary people don't get full ride scholarships out of thin air. Ordinary people don't end up as a doctor in a private hospital owned by a man who looks like he walked straight out of a Mafia casting call."
I took a step back, hands on my temples, trying to breathe past the weight pressing on my chest. "This is a coincidence. It has to be."
She laughed, short, humorless. "Sweetheart, this isn't coincidence. This is bloodline." Her voice softened just a little. "You're Adele blood, Gina. Old Italian money. The kind that doesn't just vanish. And trust me, they don't do anything without a reason... Google told me that!"
"Tess, I don't like this..." I say to Tess. Feeling my hands begin to shake.
My heart was pounding so loud it drowned out her words. Adele blood? Mob ties? No. That wasn't me. That couldn't be me.
The sound of a door opening made us both freeze.
And then he walked in.
Adrian.
Sharp suit, charcoal gray, crisp white shirt open at the throat. Cool, dangerous elegance in every step as if the room bent around him. His gaze swept over us, pausing just long enough to make Tess shift uncomfortably behind me.
"Tess," he said, voice low and smooth, but edged like a blade. "What did you do?" His eyes scanning for lies as if he could see through to her soul. I felt it, Tess felt it.
Tess, in all her glory, did the one thing I begged the universe she wouldn't do... she pointed at me and blurted, "I couldn't hold it in, okay? This isn't some reality show twist! I'm the worst secret keeper alive! Never wake me up at 2 A.M. and tell me to keep my mouth shut because this..." she jabbed her thumb toward herself, "... is what happens!"
I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "Oh my God, Tess..."
Adrian exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second. When they opened, they were shards of ice. "You're useless," he said flatly.
Tess gasped. "Excuse you? Rude! Also accurate, but still, rude!"
I ignored her because every nerve in my body was screaming at me to turn on Adrian. I dropped my hands, my voice shaking with fury. "Is it true?"
His eyes met mine, unflinching. "What exactly do you want to know, Gina?"
"Everything!" My voice cracked, louder than I intended. "Is it true that my entire life was... what? Bought and paid for by some mafia family? That I'm just... part of this sick game?"
He moved slowly, almost too calmly, unbuttoning his suit jacket before lowering himself into the armchair like he had all the time in the world. The kind of man who could set the room on fire with a word and still look like he belonged on a magazine cover.
"Your father," Adrian began, his tone maddeningly precise, "was born into a world he didn't want. He walked away, and for a long time, they let him. They respected his wish for something ordinary." His eyes cut to me like blades. "But you were never ordinary."
"Stop it," I snapped, the words tasting like blood. "Don't make me sound like some... prize in a damn auction!"
He tilted his head, his voice soft but sharp enough to flay me open. "You think this is about romance? About games? This is about survival, Gina."
"No!" My voice tore out raw. "This is about you lying to me! About using me!"
His jaw flexed, but his calm didn't crack. "I didn't use you. I gave you a job. I gave you protection."
I laughed bitterly. "Protection from what? From you?"
That finally made his gaze flare, heat burning beneath that frozen exterior, but he kept his voice low. "No. From them."
My stomach knotted so tight I could barely breathe. Them. My so called family.
Tess shifted uncomfortably, whispering like an idiot, "Ooooh, tension. I should probably..." She tries to speak but I cut her off.
"Shut up, Tess!" I barked, my chest heaving as I turned back to Adrian. "I don't want protection. I want my life back!"
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his voice like a slow, dangerous tide. "There is no going back, Gina."
Something inside me snapped. I shoved the coffee mug onto the table so hard it sloshed everywhere. "I hate you for this," I hissed, my vision blurring as tears clawed up my throat. "I hate all of this!"
Before he could answer, I spun on my heel and stormed down the hall, the slam of my bedroom door echoing behind me like a gunshot.
I hear Tess mumble something about pregnancy hormones before falling on to my bed to cry.