OFF-LIMITS

10.

Chapter ten | Adrian
"Layla?" I ask again, knocking on her door for the second time, three seconds pass before the door is wide open, and for a moment it feels so fucking hard to breathe, I don't even know why, she stares at me wide-eyed for a beat before she blinks a couple of times, "Adrian." She says, letting out a breath, as she slowly cracks her knuckles, she's nervous.

I raise a brow, "we need to talk, darling." I say and heat creeps up her neck, Satisfaction runs hot through my blood, even though I wanted more than that, than just a blush, but everything I want from her, I'll take it slowly, but I'm waiting, for the exact right moment, meanwhile, we actually need to fucking talk.

She clears her throat, leaning closer as the scent of her hits my nostrils, it's a mix of coconut and..roses, she slowly regains her focus back, I don't know why but knowing that I'm the one who makes her all nervous and shit, that makes me hard, "about what?" She asks looking up at me, her tall frame not making the height difference between us awkward like it's with most people, however, I'm still taller than her by a couple of handful inches "when you were kidnapped." I deadpan.

Her brows shoot up then slowly she nods in understanding as she motions at something behind her, "just give me a minute to...um wear something better in front of your mother." She says looking down at her hoodie and sweats, I raise a brow, not liking the way she even considers that bitch, it seems like she needs an incentive so I add "urgent, Layla it can't wait." I say and her lips tighten in a line, then she nods "okay, then" She says softly.

I stare at her for a second more before I walk away, she follows me but I don't look back, because I know that if I do right now, I won't be able to look away, and the only thing that I need right now, is my focus when I'm near Layla, I seem to lose all that focus, it seems like she melts away all my harshness and creates a new part of me that wants to just fit in her exact standards, but well, I have a problem that's stopping me from this, my dear brother.

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She brushes a strand of her hair, behind her ears, looking at me with those big brown eyes, A brown so light, it's unreal, One look from this woman and any man would be on their knees, and what makes this even better is that she doesn't realize it, she doesn't know that she has that effect on people, "what did you want to talk about?" She asks pulling her eyes away from me as she warily glances at my mother.

My mother's icy eyes meet mine for a moment before she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, her gaze bouncing between me and Layla, as she frowns, "isn't she your brother's girlfriend? Stay away from her, Jesus." She mutters under her breath and I keep my expression blank although I feel my jaw tightening as I try to regain the composure that is beginning to slip through my fingers, I don't need a constant reminder that she isn't mine, yet anyway.

Layla surprisingly replies, "I'm just talking with him, what does that have to do with this?" She asks and a feeling of pride spreads through my veins, Layla barely stands up for herself when someone says anything so the fact that she did right now, it does some stupid shit to me.

Mother rolls her eyes but I shift my eyes from hers to the person who matters, she avoids my gaze as she keeps checking her manicured nails, I run a hand through my hair as I try to remember why we're even here, "I need details about what happened." I say and a shiver runs down her spine, as she cracks her knuckles, I swallow down the knot in my throat, I knew this wouldn't be a very comfortable chat but I don't like the way I'm making her feel, but I also need to know, fuck.

She scratches her neck as her eyes linger on mine for a beat, "I don't remember much.." she says softly her sentence ending in a whisper, a muscle in my jaw ticks as I wait patiently for her to gather her thoughts, "I just remember that...um, I came home searching for Damien, then I woke up there." She says and my mother's scoff interrupts us, "it's not your home." She says raising a brow at her, an embarrassed expression washes over her as my hands clench by my side, "I didn't...mean it literally" she says quietly looking away as fire spreads across my veins "actually it's not yours." I say calmly, my mother's eyes widen then expectedly...she glares at me.

Snarling as she stands up, "you're so disrespectful, see both you and dam my sweet boy were raised in the same house, look how different you both turned out, you are just like your father." She says staring at me as all my emotions turn into pure rage spreading through my body like a fucking beast, however, I keep my expression the same, it's something I've learned over the years, and it became a fucking habit, that's why I find that Layla and I are so similar yet so different.

She always keeps her expression the same, happy, grateful, joyful, person, meanwhile, she's falling apart on the inside, me on the other side, I keep my expression blank while hot rage is boiling inside of me, Layla's lips part as shock glistens over her small features, "maybe we both turned out different because one of us was abused....maybe by his own mother too?" I ask, making an innocent face at her as she glares at me again, normally this look would make me stop, but not today.

I look back at Layla whose expression has completely changed, it's filled with...sympathy, and her eyes are filled with pity, I don't like that fucking look, especially not from her, however, she doesn't push me, I hear my mother's footsteps fading in the background but I don't care, my focus is completely on the effortlessly beautiful woman in front of me, "so." I clear my throat, my voice coming out raspy.

"Can you describe to me everything you saw, any person, the place, anything?" I tell her and it takes her a moment to nod and when she tells me everything with the descriptions, I stand up thanking her, and jog towards the door, Ezekiel, my old guard is waiting for me, the punk looks intimidating as always, he's muscled with a less bulky look, If we're comparing him to the other guards.

He has an eyebrow and a nose piercing, the fucker thought piercings were really cool so he got one everywhere he can, he's still babbling about a fucking nipple tattoo, and I'm not even going to fight him over this one, I gave up, he grins stupidly at me as I get in my black mustang, my personal driver already in it, "any updates?" I ask Ezekiel.

He slowly shakes his head, "we still can't locate where they are." He hisses as he bares his teeth, I curse under my breath and cock a brow, "she described some of them to me, but there are so many holes missing, she doesn't remember much." I say and he nods like he expected that.

"Yeah, she told me." He says causing my movements to pause, "are you friends or something?" I ask, my voice hard just as my look, he warily shakes his head, "nope we're not, she's just...look I tried to warn her, but she was just bored so kind of became...just I don't know if we're friends, maybe we are?" He says and I glare at him, calmly scrolling through my phone, "get close to her again, Russo, and I promise you, you'll wake up the next day without a hand, and we'll keep going like this until you lose all your limbs, get it?" I ask raising a brow, it's a code between us that when I call him by his last name, that means I'm dead serious, it takes him a second before he nods, a smile slowly spreading on his fucking face, "the hell you're smiling at?" I ask, anger catching up to my voice, "you're jealous." He says playfully and I narrow my eyes then grit my teeth, "fuck yeah I'm."

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