“So it was the beginning of the King of Diamonds,” I observed. “The moment when you went from a man to a king.”
“Yes,” Adrian said, “the moment when I went from a man to a king.”
He thought he was stroking his own ego. I knew his repeating that line would make for a great quote…
… if not for the fact that said quote, obviously out of context, would make him look even more arrogant than he actually was. No one would mistake Adrian for a humble, grateful guy, but no one, not even the stupidly wealthy, deserved to have their caricature exceed their reality. Maybe that was a quote reserved for me and me alone.
After all, what Adrian had just said in totality was so much more than what he had probably said to anyone else. Maybe even his brothers.
“What kind of pressure led to that?” I asked. “What kind of pressure led to you being the man that you are? Maybe in your childhood?”
“You really are my therapist,” Adrian said with a laugh, though this laugh was much more relaxed, much more genuine than any that had preceded it. A long silence followed.
Too long, really. It told me a few different stories were running through Adrian’s mind, none of which he felt comfortable sharing. I’d have to elicit those stories carefully, the better for…
For what? For my own satisfaction? For knowing the King of Diamonds? For holding it over his head?Who really wants the control here? Him? You?
Both?
“We grew up with parents that pushed us hard,” he said. “And I don’t think it needs to be said in great detail since it’s well known already, but the death of our youngest brother instilled in all of us a sense of seizing opportunity when you can. When death is that close to your life, there’s no greater pressure. You understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do you, Delilah?”
Suddenly, Adrian was leaning forward at his desk. What had seemed like an intimate revelation was turning into something else.A power move.
“I don’t think you actually do, Delilah,” he said, moving around the desk. He stood at the front of it, not so overtly as to be towering over me but very clearly indicating a greater position. “You think you know that kind of pressure, working under deadlines and trying to satisfy your readership. But you don’t.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. It was an instinctive response, meant to get as much information out of a source as possible. But in this context…
Adrian snorted.
“Spend time with me,” he said. “Be with me. Try to live like me. With an older brother for a CEO? With the youngest brother dead?”
And then he leaned forward in a way that was just a tad too close for professionalism.
“I don’t know that you could handle it,” Adrian said, followed by a wicked smirk. “I don’t think you could handle me.”
I gulped. My body was warming up in an uncomfortable manner. I did not want to admit to myself what my body’s sensations said; I definitely wasn’t going to admit it to Adrian. I had to choose my next words carefully.
“Try me.”
Forceful… but inviting. And yet, I didn’t feel bad about it. I was walking a thinner tightrope than ever before, and it was almost intoxicating. If this was what a gambler’s high felt like, small wonder so many in this city indulged in that vice.
“You?” Adrian said, his smirk still glued to his face. “Invite the most beautiful journalist I know,” he said, his eyes locked onto mine, “as well as the most intelligent, fearless, and bold, to try to be with me? I will give you this, Delilah Reyes. Your witsand mind are almost as hot as your body. But you come into my world, you will see you have no idea what you are walking into.”
No, I would not. But I loved pressure and heat, did I not? I loved intense moments that offered more than what was on the surface, did I not?
“Maybe I don’t have the slightest clue what I’m walking into,” I said. “Not that such ignorance has stopped me before. But let’s say I walk into something I don’t understand and can’t handle. But then, I learn to handle it. I learn to take care of the situation. Moreover, I learn to handleyou. What then?”
Adrian leaned forward. He was close to me. Very close. I could smell his breath and the mint that he had chewed recently.
“Then we’ll create something unbelievably unforgettable.”
Then he ran his hand through my hair. For the briefest of moments, my whole body melted; I wanted that hand to go to more places than just my hair. Let it run over me, into me, make me feel alive, make me feel…
Then I realized what was happening.
