Chapter 131

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the pavement as Vivian watched their retreating figures vanish around the corner. Turning back to Adrian, she squared her shoulders with deliberate composure. "Leave Sebastian out of this. I'll attend your grandmother's gala if you drop the matter."

Adrian's lips curled in a sardonic smile, his gaze sharp as cut glass. "Since when did the brilliant screenwriter become a bodyguard for some rookie actor?"

Vivian didn't flinch. Her voice remained steady as tempered steel. "Do we have an agreement or not?"

A muscle twitched in his jaw before he exhaled sharply. "Fine. The boy's hardly worth my attention anyway." His eyes flickered to the angry red mark on her collarbone where Sebastian had shoved her earlier. The rigid set of his shoulders softened marginally. "Let's get that looked at by a physician."

She opened her mouth to protest, then caught the dangerous glint in Adrian's eyes. One wrong move and his simmering temper might redirect toward Sebastian. Swallowing her pride, she gave a terse nod. "Let me get my purse."

Adrian tapped his watch. "Five minutes. I'll be in the car."

Outside The Emerald Pizzeria, Vivian approached the waiting Bentley where Ethan already stood holding the rear door. Leaning against the polished black chassis with phone pressed to his ear, Ethan barked orders to someone. "Have the medical team meet us at Seabreeze Villa immediately." Vivian's brows knitted in confusion - since when did a minor scrape warrant summoning the Blackwood family physicians?

Her indifference toward medical attention paled against her greater concern - keeping Adrian's wrath from falling on Sebastian. Complying with his demands seemed a small price to pay. Without comment, she slid into the supple leather seat.

Adrian sat immersed in a video conference, the glow from his laptop accentuating the sharp angles of his profile. Power radiated from him like an electrical current, that effortless magnetism that made boardrooms fall silent when he entered. This was a man accustomed to bending the world to his will.

Vivian averted her gaze, sinking deeper into the seat just as Adrian abruptly closed his laptop. His hand shot out to adjust her disheveled sweater, making her recoil violently. The sudden movement caused the loose knit fabric to slip, exposing the delicate curve of her shoulder. His fingers stilled against the fabric, eyes lingering on the flushed skin before traveling up to meet her startled expression.

Her wide eyes held the skittish wariness of a woodland creature caught in a hunter's sights, torn between fight and flight. For a suspended moment, the air between them crackled with unspoken tension.

He released the fabric with deliberate slowness. "Dress more appropriately next time," he clipped, returning his attention to the laptop as if nothing had happened.

Vivian hastily righted her sweater, her pulse hammering against her ribs. "It's just a scratch," she muttered, turning to stare resolutely out the tinted window as the car pulled away from the curb.

The silence between them stretched taut as a bowstring, charged with all the things left unsaid.