Chapter 4 HIS OBSESSION

Star was so frustrated that she accidentally tore her notebook with her pen. Instead of answering her professional questions seriously, Adrian gave tricky, seductive answers that made her feel like he was mentally undressing her.

"Last question, Mr. Scott," she snapped, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and a heat she refused to acknowledge.

"How do you respond to those who say you're a predator who enjoys watching his rivals suffer?"

Adrian didn't blink; his eyes never leaving hers

"I respond by saying that 'suffering' is just a lack of surrender," standing up now,he purred, stopping inches from her chair.

He leaned down, his large hands gripping the armrests, trapping her between his body and the leather.

"Some people need to be broken before they can be enjoyed. They fight because they think it keeps them in control, when really, they're just begging for someone strong enough to take it from them."

The scent of him, sandalwood, clean citrus, and something warm and fresh she couldn't place, wrapped around her, overwhelming in its quiet intensity.

"I think we're done here, Mr. Scott," Star said, her voice shaking with a mix of fury and a heat she couldn't suppress. She snapped her notebook shut, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the silent room. "I have enough for the article,you'll have a copy at your desk by Friday" she stood up to leave .

Before she knew it ,his hand slammed against the wood right above her head, the force of it vibrating through her entire body. Star spun around, a gasp dying in her throat.

Adrian was looming over her, he didn't touch her, but he trapped her in the small space between the door and his massive frame. He leaned down, his face so close his nose brushed against hers.

"You're so good at running, Star," he growled, his voice dropping into a dark, gravelly register that made her knees turn to water. "But you forgot one thing. I don't let anything leave my office until I'm finished with it."

"The interview is over, Mr Scott," she repeated, her hands flat against his chest to push him back. But it was like trying to move a mountain. Under the fine fabric of his shirt, his muscles were rock-hard and radiating a heat that began to seep into her palms.

"Is it?" He leaned in closer, his lips grazing the shell of her ear, his breath hot and damp against her skin. "Because your mouth is saying it's over, but your pulse is telling me a different story."

Star's breath came in ragged hitches. She wanted to slap him. She wanted to scream.

But more than anything...more than she had ever wanted anything in her life, she wanted to grab his tie, pull him down, and see if his mouth tasted as dangerous as it sounded.

Her body was betraying her, turning traitor as a heavy, wet ache bloomed between her legs, making her long to feel his weight crushing her against the door.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and dark with a mix of hate and raw, naked lust. For the first time, she wasn't resisting him; she was resisting herself.

"Your life is about to get very complicated," he murmured, his lips dangerously close to her skin. "Because I don't think you realize yet... that I've already decided you're mine. And I've never been very good at letting my favorite things go."

He stepped back abruptly, the sudden loss of his heat making Star shiver. He opened the door with a mocking, elegant tilt of his head.

"Get home safe, Star. Try to forget about me. I dare you."

Star left the office like she was running from a monster she had foolishly stepped too close to.

Her steps were fast, uneven, her heart racing as his voice followed her down the hallway....Smooth,Low and seductive. She hated that it reached her. Hated that it slipped under her skin so easily, wrapping around her thoughts when it had no right to be there.

Adrian was standing in the doorway, watching the sway of her hips with a look of pure, unadulterated hunger. He had had the best the world could offer, but it meant nothing now.

He wanted Star Crawford, and he would burn every bridge she had to make sure she ended up in his bed.

As soon as the seamless glass partition hissed shut behind Star, the predatory hunger vanished from Adrian's face, replaced by a cold, calculating focus.He stood in the center of the silent room, his body still humming with the raw, carnal tension Star had left behind.

He didn't sit back down. He walked to his desk and pressed a haptic sensor.

"Marcus. My office. Now."

Seconds later, his assistant stepped through the frosted sliding panel. "Yes, sir?"

"Star Crawford," Adrian said, her name sounding like a command. "I want a full sweep. Financial records, academic history, and a minute by minute log of where she goes.

I want to know where she sleeps, how she breathes, and who she talks to. If she bought a cup of coffee three years ago, I want to know what flavor it was. Everything, Marcus. In detail."

"I'll have the preliminary file in ten minutes, sir."

True to his word, Marcus returned with a tablet. Adrian grabbed it, his eyes devouring the digital pages.

He scrolled. Parents: Deceased. A car accident ten years ago. She was an orphan who had clawed her way into a top tier university on sheer grit.

He felt a dark pang of respect and an even darker urge to be the only thing she had left to lean on.

Then, his fingers froze on the screen. His jaw tightened until the bone threatened to snap.

Current Residence: Shared with Alex Turner.

Adrian scrolled further. Alex was a parasite. A low level gamer with a mounting mountain of debt, a man who spent Star's hard earned money on digital gambling while she worked double shifts at a dive bar.

The file showed Alex hadn't held a job in six months. He was an anchor dragging a goddess into the dirt.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a secondary, encrypted phone. He stared at the blank screen for a moment, his thumb hovering over the dialer.

He tapped a single speed-dial button. The phone didn't ring; it simply connected.

"Elias," Adrian said, his voice dropping into a cold, focused chill that hid the dark heat raging inside him. "I have a specific assignment. No tech, just boots on the ground..."

"I want a 72 hour surveillance on Star Crawford," Adrian continued, his eyes fixed on the city below. "I want to see how she lives, who she interacts with, and exactly how that... boyfriend of hers treats her.

Stay invisible, but don't miss a single breath she takes."

"Consider it done, Mr. Scott," Elias replied.

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For the next three days, Adrian was forced into a state of agonizing patience. Because Star only worked day shifts at the bar this week, there were no late night encounters, no "accidental" meetings under the streetlights. He was a king locked in a tower, watching his kingdom through another man's eyes.

Elias became her shadow. He watched her walk to the bar in the early morning light, her face pale against the cold. He watched her serve drinks to men who didn't deserve to look at her, and he watched her return to that crumbling apartment every evening, her shoulders drooping more with every passing day.

On the third night, Adrian sat in his dimly lit penthouse, a glass of neat bourbon in his hand. The only light came from the laptop screen displaying Elias's latest report.

Surveillance Log - Day 3:

7:30 PM: A heated argument broke out between Subject Crawford and Alex Turner. Turner was heard shouting about $400 missing from her savings.

9:00 PM: Subject Crawford is alone in the kitchen. The heat is off. She is visibly distraught and crying.

Adrian's grip tightened on his glass until the crystal groaned. He stared at a grainy photo Elias had snapped through the kitchen window Star, huddled in a sweater, her face buried in her hands.

He hated that she was crying, but he felt a sick, victorious thrill. Alex was destroying her life, clearing the path for Adrian to step in and rebuild it in his own image.

"Almost there, Star," he whispered, his eyes dark.... "Just a little more pain, and then you'll become mine.