I was stronger now. Wiser. And finally ready to face the man who’d broken me and completed me at the same time.
Chapter 28 – Adrik
I sat in my office that night, fingers absently solving a Rubik’s Cube. I’d sent the divorce papers to her and was wondering how she’d react when she saw them. Would she sign them right away, like we’d never shared anything real?
I shouldn’t care about her reaction. She’d made her choice, and for one whole year, she never contacted me. According to a reliable source, she was already doing well. There was no report of any special man in her life, but at least things were beginning to fall in place.
Her mother had been discharged from the hospital and was working at a restaurant downtown. Emika herself had earned her law degree. She was now Emika Morgan, Attorney at Law.
I’d been keeping tabs on her, yes. Not because I couldn’t move on, and definitely not to stalk her. No. I just wanted to make sure that none of my enemies would ever go after her. Because even though she’d hurt me in ways no one else had, I felt it was my responsibility to keep safe from the evil ofmyworld.
She didn’t know this, but she was never alone. I had my men watching over her from a distance. I knew my enemies would want to target her since we were no longer together. And I was right.
On several occasions, Bratva intelligence had intercepted assassins sent after her and her mother. They’d killed them on the spot without her even knowing. She went about her daily life, oblivious to the shadow war going on around her.
Everywhere she went, bodyguards she’d never asked for followed, making sure no harm ever came to her. When my enemies realized that I’d set up a system of protection around her, they ceased fire.
She hated me. Yet she had no idea how many times I’d saved her life within the last few months. She was right when she said she hadn’t only inherited my name; she’d inherited my enemies too. That was why I couldn’t bring myself to leave her out there unguarded.
Even though I had eyes and ears everywhere, I never asked them to report details about her life to me. Only the actions of an enemy. Whatever she chose to do with her freedom was entirely up to her.
However, when I learned about her achievements and her mother’s improved health, I couldn’t help but feel happy for her. Proud, even. She’d chased her dreams without looking back until she made a name for herself. And she was only twenty-four.
This was a lady who’d come from nothing and received no external help. I was proud of her. I really was.
Perhaps it was never meant to work between us. Perhaps she was better off alone, away from me and the violence in my world. I wished she never left, though. I wished she’d taken a chance on me and trusted my ability to protect her.
But if only wishes were horses.
What if she comes barging in through that door?a voice whispered in my head.
I thought it was ridiculous. This wasn’t a telenovela. Stuff like that didn’t always happen in real life.
To my greatest shock, though, the doordidswing open, and I’d be damned if it wasn’t her—Emika Morgan. Dressed in a black corporate gown that hugged her in all the right places, she stormed into my office.
Her dark auburn hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her hips swaying steadily with every step she took. She looked as beautiful as ever. And more mature too.
How the hell had that voice in my head predicted her arrival so accurately?
It was almost as though time had slowed the fuck down, allowing me to revel in her presence. Was I dreaming? If I were, let nothing wake me up. The faint clicking of her heels against the floor echoed in my head, my gaze never leaving her face.
I was lost in her beauty, squeezing the Rubik’s Cube tightly to be sure this was real.
It was. It fuckin’ was.
Time reset back to normal as she halted in front of my desk with a blank expression on her face.
I stared at her, pretending to be unfazed by her presence. “What’re you doing here?”
“To find out if this is true.” She dropped the divorce papers on my table. “It says in there that you’re getting married.”
Was that jealousy I heard in her voice?
Good.
“Is it true?” she asked, her eyes never leaving mine.
“You were supposed to sign the divorce papers,” I said calmly, “not go prying into what isn’t your business anymore.”
