Too Much To Hide || EDITING

c.27

      James giggles on my hip, wearing a smug smile as he holds his maraca and Mr Zebra tightly to his chest. We're on our way to the study, where Adrian is catching up on some work. Ever since sorting certain things out yesterday, he seems positively different or just back to normal. But it's made him more lethargic; the man refuses to go to his office, even when he's really needed.

      The door is already open a smidge so I push it open with a bump of my hip. Behind his desk, Adrian is leaning comfortably on his leather chair, tenting his fingers over his lips and reading something on his laptop.

      "Hi!" James yells, shaking his maraca in loud greeting. 

      Eyes lighting up, Adrian pushes himself off his chair and approaches us with a wide grin.

      "Hey, big man," Adrian takes the child into his arms and nuzzles his nose into James' cheek, making him ticklish.

      "Hey, little woman," he turns to me and winks playfully.

      "Hey, microscopic being," I feign a sarcastic grin before capturing his plush leather chair and sinking into the warmth Adrian left behind. This chair is great on my back, providing a gentle and snug solace as I lean back. 

      "Get off my chair," Adrian frowns at me. Yeah, he's definitely back to normal.

      "You let me sit in it yesterday," I mumble as I slowly get up, already missing the therapeutic massage on my back.

      "That's because I wasn't already sitting on it," he holds his nose in the air and makes a show of sitting down and getting cosy on the cushion. I pout angrily and sit on a free space at the edge of his mahogany table. 

      "Anyway, are you done with work?" I ask.

      Adrian smirks. "Who's asking?"

      "Me, duh?" 

      "For what reasons?" 

      My pout deepens as his smirk does. He can be frustrating but I guess I'm able to tolerate it. Barely. James laughs at my expression while sitting on his father's knee, abandoning Mr Zebra on his desk. He peers over the wood to look at the laptop screen, staring at it in wonder.

      Adrian shakes his head and rakes a hand through his hair. "I wasn't actually working."

      "Oh?"

      He hums and turns the laptop over to my side so I can see. It's a Word document, listed with details of some sort. I scan through the lines and see Lucy's name pop up every once in a while.

      "What is it?"

      "Lucy's pregnancy reports," Adrian mumbles and takes a sudden interest in James' hair.

      I soften a little at his demeanour. "Did you find out anything?"

      He nods and scrolls down to a specific line, highlighting it with the mouse.

      "Health complications achieved during labour... Oh God," I mumble.

      "It could be what led her to abandon James on your doorstep," Adrian says quietly, still fiddling with the baby's curly locks.

      I gulp a little. "But the note she left—"

      "I know," he sighs, "I'm still confused."

      "If you don't mind me asking... since you got an autopsy done, do you know how she died?"

      "She was weak from the health complications but," he sucks in a sharp breath, his expression hardening, "she was murdered."