The city was quiet that night, its skyline painted in gold and silver lights that shimmered against the glass walls of Adrian Cole's penthouse. The hum of traffic below was a distant murmur, the kind of steady sound that usually soothed him after long hours of work. But tonight, nothing could quiet the storm building inside him.
Melissa was there—standing by the window, her reflection glimmering against the night. Her white dress clung to her frame, elegant and deliberate. She had brought a bottle of wine, the same one she'd once said reminded her of their first dinner together.
"Still working?" she teased, gliding closer, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor.
Adrian didn't look up from the papers spread across his desk. "Always."
Melissa tilted her head. "You work too much, Adrian. Don't you ever get tired of pretending that business is more interesting than me?"
He finally glanced up, eyes dark, controlled. "Some things can't afford distraction."
She smiled, slow and dangerous. "Then maybe you just need the right distraction."
Before he could reply, she was in front of him—her scent, soft and sweet, filling his lungs. She leaned in, and her lips found his.
It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was fierce, demanding. The kind that burned.
Adrian's hand instinctively went to her waist, pulling her close. For a heartbeat, he gave in—his restraint cracking under the intensity of her touch. The warmth of her skin, the taste of her lips—it all blurred reason.
But then—something in him snapped back.
The memory of the gala. The whisper she shared with one of his subordinates. The phone she'd hidden too quickly.
He broke the kiss, stepping back. His breath came rough, unsteady. "Enough."
Melissa's eyes widened, then narrowed. "What's wrong?"
He turned away, pacing toward his desk as though the work there could anchor him. "I have things to finish. Reports, projections… deadlines."
She laughed softly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Deadlines, Adrian? Really?"
His jaw tightened. "It's better than making mistakes I can't take back." he thought
For a moment, silence filled the room—thick and electric. Melissa studied him, that familiar smirk returning, though a flicker of something colder lingered behind it.
"I will leave you to it then" she murmured, stepping close enough that he could feel the heat of her breath on his neck.
"That would be nice" Adrian's voice was quiet, gravel-edged.
She smiled then, slow and knowing. "Good," she whispered. "That makes the bed mine alone tonight"
And with that, she turned and walked out, her perfume trailing behind like smoke.
Adrian stood still long after the door closed. The city stretched before him, glowing with a beauty that suddenly felt distant.
He stared at his reflection in the glass—sharp black long sleve shirt, sharp mind, and yet, beneath it all, a man no longer sure of what he was fighting for.
He told himself he'd done the right thing. That keeping his distance was smart. Logical. Safe.
But as the night deepened and the city lights flickered below, a whisper of doubt crept in.
Was he resisting temptation—or pushing away the one woman who could destroy him completely?
For the first time in years, Adrian Cole did
n't know if he was standing on the edge of love—or ruin.