"And who might this beautiful lady be?" George's eyes raked over me, making me squirm in my place as I forced a smile on my face.
"Laura." I answered and his grin grew wider.
"Laura." He tested the name on his lips before smirking and looking at Lewis.
"Looks like you got lucky today Lewis." He said to the man beside me who gave me a heated look and smirked.
"I sure did." He said as George settled down and started talking with the lawyers, my ears now hanging onto each and every word.
Is he the one laundering the money from Adam's company?
But I thought Adam trusted him and his father.
"Yes, I have his signatures." George said pulling out a few papers from his bag and I noticed the signatures immediately, the cursive writing more familiar to me than anything.
Adam Thorne.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice a hand sliding up my thigh and nearly flinched.
"You look lost somewhere." Lewis said in my ear and I offered him a sheepish smile before shrugging.
"Just thinking about random stuff." I shrugged nonchalantly, trying hard to hide he panic on my face when he nodded, turning to George again.
"I'll make sure the transfer goes smoothly without any disturbances. And don't worry, he won't be notified either." Lewis said confidently and George nodded, leaning back in his seat before his eyes came to me, scanning me.
"Laura." He said and I looked at him with a small smile.
"Yes?" I smiled politely when his grin grew.
"You look awfully familiar. Have we met before?" He said and I felt my breath get stuck in my throat as I feigned confusion.
"I'm sorry?" I asked confused.
"You look like someone I know, except she is English." He said and I forced a small smile.
"I get that a lot, but I haven't seen you before, sorry." I said smiling sheepishly when he nodded, but his eyes narrowed at me in the slightest and I could feel my palms getting sweaty.
Is he suspicious?
"Oh, no need to apologize. We could always get to know each other later." He said suggestively and my smile faltered for a brief second before I nodded.
As the men talked further, I felt Lewis place his hand on my bare thigh again, sliding it upward towards the slit while I clutched my drink tighter, glancing at him but he was talking to the lawyers and didn't look at me once.
I tried to remove his hand discreetly but he only gripped my thigh tighter and I felt like throwing up at the feel of another man's hands on me.
It was absolutely disgusting.
Briefly, my eyes caught George's who was watching the exchange between me and Lewis curiously, his eyes on the hand on my thigh, narrowed in the slightest while he waited for the next move as his hand slid under the slit of my dress.
I flinched slightly at the touch but covered it up immediately, bringing my drink to my lips, thankful that his hand had stopped moving up but still dreading the fact it was under my dress.
My eyes wandered around the club to distract myself when they met blazing blue ones and I nearly choked on my drink.
Shit.
His eyes were solely on mine, furious, angry, livid before they slowly moved towards the hand on my thigh and darkened even more, if possible.
His jaw clenched so tightly I thought it would break as he clutched his drink tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the grip on it.
Suddenly, my attention was drawn back to the men in front of me who stood up and I breathed a sigh of relief when Lewis' hand left my thigh.
He shook hands with George who then turned to me with a smirk on his face and took my hand, kissing my knuckles.
"I hope I see you again soon, Laura." He said and I smiled and nodded.
"Likewise." I said when he straightened up and fixed his blazer before leaving with his lawyer.
"Well, I guess it's time I take my leave as well Lewis." Mark shook hands with Lewis who nodded before he left, leaving us two alone. Lewis sat down next to me, way to close for my liking and trailed a finger up my bare arm.
"Now that everything's done, why don't you and I go somewhere more... private... to continue our little meeting?" He said suggestively and I flashed him a wide smile before standing up.
He followed suit, his hand on my bare back but I stepped away from him immediately when I felt someone glaring daggers at me.
"I'm sorry Lewis, you seem like a great guy but I suddenly remembered I have a boyfriend." I said and saw his frown before he smirked.
"Oh? Well he's not here right now, is he? What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He said and inched closer to me but I held up a hand to stop him.
"I'm lesbian." I suddenly blurted out and saw his confused expression.
"What? Didn't you just say you had a boyfriend?" He asked and my eyes widened.
Well shit.
"Y-yes well, I do have one but I recently came out and I don't want to break his heart so I'm just thinking of a gentler way to break the news to him." I said in a fake hurt tone.
"But I can still fuck you, right?" He said and I cringed in disgust.
"What? No!" I exclaimed and turned away from him, about to walk away when his hand caught my arm in a tight grip.
"You're not going anywhere till I'm done with you." He said, his hands trailing up my body as I looked at him in panic and without thinking twice, I stomped my heel on his foot and he immediately let go of me.
Taking that as my cue to run, I sprinted past him as fast as I could in these insane heels and ran own the VIP section stairs, making my way through drunk people and spilled drinks, I looked behind to see Lewis running behind me.
Great, just great.
I cursed myself and my fate as I ran for my life only to be yanked into a dark hallway by my arm. I was about to scream on instinct when a large and warm hand covered my mouth and I was pressed against someone's front.
"Hush sweetheart." I heard his deep voice in my ear and my body relaxed in his hold immediately as I rested my head back against his chest.
We waited for a few moments before his hand left my mouth and I was instantly turned around and pressed against the wall, staring into blazing blue orbs.
"A-Adam." I stuttered out, and seeing him only made me feel weaker especially when another man had touched me without my permission.
I felt disgusted by myself for not doing anything. For agreeing to this stupid thing and for letting that man touch me without my consent.
As a tear slowly slid down my cheeks, I saw the fire in those blue eyes immediately dissipate as they softened before pulling me into his chest, where I let the tears fall down freely.
"I-I'm so s-sorry." I said between sobs while he rubbed my back soothingly.
"It's okay baby, I know, it wasn't your fault." He whispered, kissing my forehead before pulling off the scratchy wig from my head and letting my brown hair tumble down in waves down my back.
"Better?" He said and I nodded, clinging onto him like a child as he effortlessly picked me up in his arms bridal style and took me out of the club.
"What's wrong? What happened to her?" I heard the concerned voices of my brothers but I was too tired to do anything, so I just snuggled deeper into Adam's hold, his arms tightening around me as he told them he was taking me home.
I was carried to his car where Carter was waiting for us and I briefly saw his concerned expression as he opened the door for us to get in.
I was in Adam's lap the whole way back and he even carried me to the bedroom, gently making me sit on the sofa, he started to take off my heels for me, slowly massaging my feet to help ease my aching feet.
My heart warmed at the action when he took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves, walking into the bathroom.
I heard water running and a few minutes later he came back out and picked me up again and carried me inside the bathroom, making me sit on the counter.
He took out my make up wipes and carefully and gently wiped my face clean, kissing my forehead afterwards before taking off my jewellery and putting it aside.
"Can I take this off baby?" He asked and I nodded as his fingers started undoing the ties at the back of my dress, letting it fall down my shoulder and then to the ground.
He reached for my panties and helped me take them off, his eyes on my face the entire time when he picked me up again in his arms and led me to the bath, carefully lowering me in it.
"Feeling better?" He asked, leaning against the counter while I watched him with hooded eyes, drinking him in before I nodded.
"Thank you." I whispered and saw his slight smile as he came forward and cupped my cheek, softly stroking my skin.
"Anything for you baby." He said softly and I immediately felt the guilt eating me up when I looked into his midnight blue eyes.
Beautiful.
"I'm sorry Adam. I let him touch me, but he wouldn't stop even when I tried to stop him." My voice cracked at the end as his jaw clenched.
"It's not your fault sweetheart, it's his, and I'll fucking kill him for laying a hand on you." He said angrily while tears cascaded down my face.
"Please, look at me, Rose." He gripped my chin and made me look at his concern filled eyes.
"It's not your fault, okay? I love you baby, and I'll always love you no matter what." He said before pressing his lips to mine in a soft kiss.
I kissed him back immediately, his hands cupping my face and everything about his touch felt right.
After my bath, I wore one of Adam's t-shirts and an underwear underneath as Adam carried me to bed, pulling the covers over me.
"I'll go change and be back in ten minutes." He said before heading towards the bathroom where I heard water running and assumed he was taking a shower.
My eyes were feeling droopy and closed on their own when the bathroom door opened and I heard footsteps around the room before the bed dipped beside me and I was pulled into a warm body.
I sighed in content when his warm lips pressed against my temple while he uttered sweet nothings into my ears.
"I love you." He whispered, placing small kissed on my face a I snuggled deeper into his chest, breathing in his familiar intoxicating scent.
I think I do too.
* * *