The red carpet glittered like a constellation spilled across the city's tallest tower. Diamond chandeliers swayed across the hall , reflecting the golden light across gowns and tailored suits. Every movement, every smile was a calculated display of wealth, influence, and pride that did make people greedy for more. Ethan slides through the crowd with precision, his posture perfect, his eyes scanning for possiblity for new investors,or threats of new enemies.
He was well informed of power in all its forms: the soft whispers of those trying to strategically move closer to the throne of influence , power, the mysterious posture shifts marking dominance, and the occasional spark of jealousy in people's eyes. Tonight, Ethan's pride and control were on full display,but something was off. Ethan can feel it but he put it in the back of his mind
A shadow shifted near the balcony, separate from the crowd's polished dancing steps. Ethan's instincts comes to alive and flare up. His eyes moves toward where his instincts is telling him someone or something dangerous is : a tall figure, perfectly dressed, yet moving as if the gala were owned by him.Maybe it did
Adrian Kane.
As he enters the whole eyes were on him
Everyone seems to notice him. And his presence was magnetic, almost predatory, and dangerous that everyone started moving backwards making space for him to move ,an aura that made the air between them come to life . Ethan felt it, that pull he didn't want to acknowledge but couldn't ignore.
He tried to shake it off, returning his attention to polite nods and half-smiles. But as the night deepened, Adrian moved. Subtle, deliberate precision, cutting through the crowds thay was already making way for him to move , until they were finally came face to face
"You're…" Ethan started, but Adrian's gaze locked with his, stopping the words in his throat. There was no introduction, no handshake—just eyes that seemed to measure every corner of his soul.
"You're more… interesting than I imagined," Adrian said, his voice low, almost a whisper, but it carried across Ethan like a jolt of electricity.
That doesn't answer the question I asked you " said Ethan
Am not obliged to give you an answer" said smirking Adrian
Ethan's heart rate raise up to the extent that he thinks he was having heart attack for a minute a strange mixture of interest, anger, and something he couldn't name. Pride urged him to hiss, to dismiss the thought from his mind. But his instinct screams at him to pay attention to the dangerous figure that he just spoke to .
Adrian stepped back, blending in with the shadows and darkness, leaving a lingering heat in his wake in Ethan's body. Ethan wanted to run after him, to ask him why he was able to shift something so dangerous inside him.
But before he was able to move, a faint tremor ran through the marble floor under his feet,almost unnoticed, yet undeniably there. A shard of unease cut through his chest.
Someone,or something was watching him .
Ethan's gaze scanned the whole gala. Guests laughed, clinked glasses, and whispered deals—but no one seemed to be missing. Yet the feeling refused to fade.
Adrian Kane had appeared tonight, and the game that Ethan doesn't know had just begun, Ethan had no idea how high the stakes were.