KISS'S POV
I told myself it was just dinner.
Nothing more.
Chris had chosen one of the most luxurious hotels in the city—the kind with crystal chandeliers, live piano music, and waiters who moved like shadows. Soft lights glowed over polished marble floors, wrapping everything in a quiet, expensive elegance.
"You look beautiful," Chris said when I arrived.
Not breathtaking.
Not devastating.
Just beautiful.
And for once, that felt… safe.
"Thank you," I replied, smiling as I took my seat across from him.
We talked easily—about work, books, travel, ridiculous stories from our childhoods. I laughed more than I had in weeks, the tightness in my chest loosening with every passing minute.
This was normal.
This was what a date was supposed to feel like.
I was halfway through my drink when the air shifted.
I felt it before I saw him.
The room seemed to tense—like the calm before a storm.
My fingers froze around the glass.
Slow, deliberate footsteps approached our table.
My heart dropped.
I didn't need to look up to know.
But I did anyway.
Adrian Goodwill stood there in a tailored black suit, his expression carved from ice and fury. His eyes were locked on Chris—not me.
Not yet.
"Didn't I warn you," Adrian said, his voice low and lethal, "to stay away from her?"
"Adrian—" I started, panic flaring.
Chris stood slowly. "This is none of your business."
That was the wrong thing to say.
Everything happened too fast.
A sharp movement.
A flash of violence.
Adrian's fist connected with Chris's jaw.
Gasps erupted around us. Chairs scraped. Glass shattered.
"Adrian!" I screamed, standing abruptly.
Chris staggered back, catching himself against the table, shock written across his face.
Adrian grabbed the collar of his jacket.
"I warned you," he repeated, eyes blazing. "I don't repeat myself."
"Enough!" I shouted, fury surging through me.
I grabbed Adrian's arm with all my strength and yanked him back.
"Let go of him!"
For the first time since he arrived, Adrian looked at me.
And the fire in his eyes nearly took my breath away.
I didn't give him time to speak.
"Come with me," I hissed. "Now."
I dragged him away from the stunned crowd, past whispered murmurs and raised phones, into a private corridor. I shoved open the door to an empty vip suite and slammed it shut behind us.
The silence was deafening.
I turned on him, shaking.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I demanded. "Have you completely lost your mind?"
He took a step toward me.
I stepped back.
"You embarrassed me," I continued, voice cracking. "You hurt him. You don't get to do that—"
"I absolutely do," Adrian snapped.
I laughed bitterly. "You don't own me!"
That was it.
Something in him snapped.
In two strides, he closed the distance between us. His hands gripped my arms—not rough, but unyielding.
"You want the truth?" he said hoarsely. "Fine."
Then his mouth crashed into mine.
Not gentle.
Not hesitant.
Hungry.
My breath left me in a sharp gasp as the world tilted. His lips moved against mine with raw desperation, like he had been starving and I was the only thing that could save him.
I should have pushed him away.
I didn't.
My hands curled into his suit unconsciously,then circled around his neck,pulling him closer ,my heart slamming against my ribs.
He kissed me like he was claiming something already his.
Then he pulled back suddenly, foreheads touching, breath ragged.
"You're mine," he said fiercely. "I don't care how wrong it is. I don't care who sees. You're mine."
My lips trembled.
"You don't get to decide that," I whispered.
His jaw clenched.
"Say you don't feel this," he challenged softly. "And I'll walk away."
I opened my mouth.
No words came.
A sound of frustration tore from his throat—and he kissed me again.
Deeper.
Harder.
Like he was trying to brand the moment into my memory.
Then—just as abruptly—he pulled away,very small.
His eyes were dark, conflicted, tormented.
"This is exactly why I stayed away," he said roughly. "Because if I don't—"
He stopped himself.
Straightened.
Put distance between us.
I stood there, breathless, stunned, my lips burning where his had been.
---
ADRIAN'S POV
I shouldn't have gone to that hotel.
The moment I saw her sitting across from Chris—smiling, relaxed, untouched by the chaos she caused inside me—I lost whatever control I had left.
I wasn't proud of the punch.
But I wasn't sorry either.
Seeing his blood on my knuckles grounded me more than it should have.
Kissing her?
That nearly destroyed me.
Because the moment her hands clenched into my jacket, I knew the truth I had been denying.
She wasn't just temptation.
She was inevitable.
I stepped back before I crossed a line I could never uncross.
Before I became the man I swore I wouldn't be.
"I can't keep doing this," I said quietly. "I can't keep pretending I don't want you."
Her eyes were glossy. Confused. Heated.
"Then stop pretending," she whispered.
That nearly broke me.
I turned away.
"You should go," I said firmly. "Go home. I'll handle the rest."
She didn't move.
"You don't get to decide everything, Adrian," she said softly.
I looked back at her.
And realized with a sinking certainty—
The game had already changed.
Chris wasn't my biggest threat anymore.
My own heart was.
---
KISS'S POV
I left the hotel shaken, lips swollen, heart in ruins.
With Adrian following to send me home
Behind me were broken rules, shattered restraint, and a kiss that refused to fade.
Ahead of me—
Choices.
And none of them were safe.