đź“– Bound by Fate, Tied by Love
🌹 Chapter 6: Whispers in the Dark
The ballroom glowed like a dream, chandeliers spilling light across polished marble floors. Music floated gently in the background, but Isabella could hardly hear it over the thunder of her own heart.
The moment Adrian's hand tightened on her waist, she knew something was wrong. His easy smirk was gone, replaced by an expression carved in steel.
"Adrian?" she whispered, her lips barely moving. "What's going on?"
"Nothing you need to worry about." His voice was low, controlled, but his jaw ticked with tension.
Isabella followed his gaze toward the balcony. The shadows shifted, and for the briefest second, she thought she saw a pair of eyes—watching. Cold. Calculating. And then they were gone.
Her pulse raced. "Someone was there. I saw them."
Adrian's grip on her arm tightened as he steered her toward a quieter corner of the ballroom. His touch was firm but not painful, his body positioned in such a way that anyone watching would think it was nothing more than an intimate moment between lovers.
"You saw nothing," he murmured in her ear, his lips brushing so close it sent a shiver down her spine. "Smile."
Smile? Isabella wanted to scream. "Adrian, I'm not blind," she hissed. "Tell me who that was."
For a moment, something flickered in his eyes—hesitation, maybe even regret. But just as quickly, his mask returned. "An old ghost," he said softly, almost to himself.
A ghost? That wasn't an answer.
Before she could press him further, Chloe's voice sliced through the air.
"My, my," Chloe drawled, her smile dripping with venom. "You two look so… cozy. I must admit, Adrian, I didn't think you were the type to settle down."
Adrian's face hardened, but he didn't release Isabella. "Some people change," he replied smoothly.
Chloe's gaze darted to Isabella, her eyes gleaming with something unspoken—challenge, perhaps, or pity. "Careful, darling," she said, her words directed at Isabella now. "Adrian's world isn't as pretty as it looks under the lights. Not everyone survives it."
Isabella's breath caught. The woman's words felt less like jealousy and more like a warning.
Adrian's hand flexed at Isabella's waist, pulling her closer. His voice dropped to a dangerous low. "Chloe, enough."
But Chloe only laughed, tilting her glass of champagne. "Enjoy your night, fiancée. While it lasts."
She drifted away like smoke, leaving behind tension that clung to the air.
Isabella turned to Adrian sharply. "What did she mean by that?"
"Don't listen to her," he said flatly.
"That's not an answer!" Her voice wavered despite her effort to stay strong. "You dragged me into this world, Adrian. And now strangers are warning me about you in riddles while men lurk in shadows. I deserve to know the truth."
His gray eyes locked on hers, cold and unyielding. "You deserve nothing but to follow my lead."
Her breath hitched at the harshness of his words. For a moment, she almost pulled away—but then she caught something else in his expression. Not cruelty. Not arrogance. Fear.
He wasn't dismissing her because he didn't care. He was hiding something. Protecting something.
"Adrian…" Her voice softened. "Are you in danger?"
Silence.
The music swelled around them, but the weight of his silence crushed her. Finally, he spoke, his tone so quiet she almost missed it.
"Danger follows me," he said. "It always has. That's why you need to trust me when I tell you not to ask questions."
Her throat tightened. "And if I can't?"
Adrian's gaze darkened, and for a fleeting second, his hand cupped her cheek with surprising gentleness. "Then, Isabella… you won't survive me."
Before she could respond, applause rippled across the ballroom. The host was making a toast, glasses raised high. Adrian used the distraction to guide her away, his touch protective but his silence deafening.
Isabella's mind spun. Who was the man in the shadows? Why had Chloe spoken as though she were already marked for destruction? And why did Adrian, for all his control, seem like a man constantly looking over his shoulder?
Her heart whispered that she should run. But her body… her body leaned into him, drawn to his strength, his danger, his fire.
As the night wore on, she forced herself to smile, to nod, to play the role of the doting fiancée. But every glance, every whisper, every flicker of shadows made her more certain of one thing:
Adrian Cole wasn't just dangerous.
He was a man living with secrets.
And now, whether she liked it or not, those secrets had tied themselves to her fate.