Page 28 of Sold to Her Enemy

Adrian watches me as I take each bite until my plate is clean.

He takes away the plate and then comes back and refills my wine glass.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mckenna.” He traces my chin with his finger. His touch feels so good—too good. I close my eyes against it.

“Maybe we can be civil, at least for a bit.”

“A bit?”

Adrian pulls out the chair beside me and sits. “Call it a break. Before I go over what is going to happen tomorrow, I want to take us into the past. I want to talk about the day we informed the board of MM Industries that they were fired. The day all of Davis’s assets were seized. What were you doing at the office that day?”

My hands shake as I bring the wine glass to my lips.

I don’t want to remember that horrible day. Chills creep up my spine.

That day is so vivid in my memory, and as much as I want to block it out, I can’t. The memory plagues me and wakes me up in a cold sweat.

It was a Friday. The NVALE was on Monday, but I never made it.

My parents convinced me to take a break from studying and go out to breakfast with them before I went to the stables to give a private lesson to one of Grace’s students. She had called me the night before and asked if I could, as her husband had a rare day off and they wanted to spend it together.

I remember thinking that it was the perfect start to the weekend and the break I needed before taking the exam that would cinch my dream.

We finished breakfast, my dad kissed me goodbye, and my mom visited friends.

I was halfway to the stables when Ben Growler, our business advisor, called me to say that my dad hadn’t shown up. They couldn’t reach my mother, and they needed me to come in to represent the family because my dad’s team needed someone.

This wasn’t that unusual. I had done this a couple of times since I became an adult. I loved hearing what worked for the business, what needed improvement, and what companies were interested in acquiring my father’s technology. My father’s team was separate from the business side, so only my father’s staff was there.

I blink back tears, missing my dad so much.

“Mckenna?”

Adrian stands, drags my chair to face him, and then sits back down, his hands on the tops of my legs.

“It’s hard for me to talk about.” I bite my lip. That day was the start of our downfall. Seeing the police come into our house and tear the place up, never telling us what they were looking for, a search for my father and everyone my mother knew, all the friends she had, turning their backs on her once the news got out.

“I can appreciate it’s not easy, but answer my question, Mckenna or safeword.” His tone is soft but steely.

He slides his hands in between my legs, pushing my legs open to him.

I gasp as his thumbs sweep over my clit. My mouth goes bone dry as he explores my outer pussy lips. The desire sparks again and my pussy clenches for a touch that is just out of reach.

“It was a board meeting. Mr. Growler called me in because my mother was visiting friends, and they couldn’t reach my father. You know that wasn’t unusual.”

Adrian’s lip quirks up slightly. “He loved his lab.”

“Yeah,” I swallow as a new wave of regret washes over me. I wish I had seen his lab one last time before it was destroyed.

The memory of Adrian, his hands in his pockets, standing there in front of men and women he’d known for years as he coolly fired them, flashes through my mind again. He fired them and then told them that the lab was being destroyed as he spoke.

“Did you see your parents before you came into the office?”

“Yes, we had breakfast together.”

“Was there anything unusual?” Adrian leans forward.

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