CHAPTER 34: 34: OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS

Alexander’s eyes snapped open. He immediately spun around, pulling Adrian behind him, shielding him with his body. He slammed his hand against the wall, finding the light switch, and flipping it on.

The light flooded the small room, revealing Alexander standing defensively in front of Adrian. A large man in a ski mask and a heavy jacket stood in the doorway, momentarily stunned by the sudden illumination and the sight of the city’s most powerful billionaire locked in a storage room.

"Devereux!" the masked man yelled, raising his gun.

Alexander didn’t flinch. His mind was instantly back in CEO mode, focused on survival and damage control.

"Get out," Alexander commanded, his voice cold and commanding, staring down the barrel of the gun with icy contempt. "The building is locked down. My security team has the exits covered. Drop the weapon and you might walk away with a prison sentence, not a body bag."

The man hesitated, glancing back down the corridor, hearing distant sirens and shouts. He tightened his grip on the gun, his eyes flicking from Alexander to Adrian, who was still pressed into the corner.

The threat of imminent violence shattered Adrian’s post-kiss confusion. He knew what these thugs wanted—the Devereux money, or the man himself.

Alexander, in his arrogance, was prioritising threats and control over his own life, which showed Adrian just how egoistic Alexander was.

Seeing the ski man’s eyes land on him, Adrian seized the opportunity, his mind finally snapping back to his core mission: protecting himself and distracting the man with what he knew he wanted.

"Wait!" Adrian choked out, pushing past Alexander, his voice high-pitched and laced with panic. He rushed toward the masked gunman, stumbling slightly.

"Don’t shoot him! Don’t shoot! You want the money, right? I know where Alexander keeps the offshore account information! I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight for security! It’s Chloe! She knows and will take you to it. If you shoot him, you lose the deal!"

The mention of the one name Alexander had tried to bury all night—Chloe—and the sudden, strategic link to the highly exclusive offshore accounts was enough to stop the gunman. And more importantly, it stopped Alexander.

Alexander froze mid-movement, his eyes snapping from the gunman back to Adrian, fury and utter shock mingling on his face. He had never mentioned his offshore accounts to anyone—they were the most sensitive, protected, and potentially ruinous part of his financial empire.

"What did you just say, Adrian?" Alexander snarled, spinning to grab Adrian’s arm.

Adrian quickly yanked his arm back, his eyes still fixed on the gunman, maintaining the pretence of a desperate bargaining chip.

"We saw it, Alexander!" Adrian cried out, using the intimate name again in the heat of the moment, leveraging Alexander’s paranoia. "Chloe, she knows about the accounts and the codes! She was going to use the Expo to leak the location! She told me everything, trying to get me to help her!"

The gunman lowered his weapon slightly, his attention completely diverted from shooting to the promise of billions. "The offshore accounts? Where is the woman?"

Adrian was breathless, having successfully replaced fear with strategic panic. He had used ’Chloe’ and ’offshore accounts’ as a double-barreled tactical distraction.

Alexander looked from Adrian’s terrified, bruised face and surprisingly coherent lie, to the now-confused, gun-wielding criminal, and finally, the reality of the situation crashed over him. The immediate danger was the gunman, but the ultimate danger was the leak.

"You’re lying, Mr. Cole," Alexander ground out, his voice dangerously low, torn between silencing Adrian and demanding more information.

"Am I?" Adrian challenged, staring intensely at Alexander, the initial ponder of their relationship suddenly unimportant. "Find her, Alexander. Before she ruins the entire Devereux empire. The money is in a Swiss vault. The key is a digital chip hidden in your mother’s locket."

The specificity of the detail—a hidden chip in his own mother’s locket—was impossible to ignore. Alexander’s mind raced. His mother had been the one who forced Chloe on him tonight. And from the looks of things, Chloe wasn’t here tonight, was she trying to steal the locket from his mother?

The gunman, however, took Adrian’s words as gospel. He had his new target.

"The bitch is the real prize," the man hissed, lowering his gun fully. He threw one last glance at Alexander. "I’m out. You’re lucky, Devereux. But your whore just saved you a bullet."

The gunman turned and bolted out of the storage room, running in the opposite direction from the corridor where the security team and police sirens were closing in.

Alexander didn’t try to stop the gunman. He didn’t even register the insult. His attention was solely focused on Adrian, who was now leaning against the shelf, trembling, but with a look of terrifying, cold competence in his eyes.

"Adrian!" Alexander whispered, his voice dangerously soft.

He strode over and pinned a glare on Adrian, "Are you crazy –"

"I’m sorry, boss. I know it wasn’t my place to know or even talk about the offshore accounts, but –"

"Do you think you’re brave?!" Alexander growled, clenching his fists to stop himself from slamming the shelves again.

Adrian was still trying to understand Alexander’s feelings and emotions when they heard a gunshot followed by the very loud scream of a familiar voice.

The ski mask criminal Al has been caught.

Adrian chuckled, "You see? I knew they’d get him."

Alexander frowned, "Is this some kind of joke to you? Toying with a man who has a loaded gun? Endangering lives?"He stepped closer, his eyes darkening.

Adrian turned serious, a slight crease forming on his forehead as he shook his head, "N-no, no, boss, you misunderstood me. The only life I was endangering was my life –"

"That’s my point!" Alexander growled, heaving loudly as he locked his eyes with Adrian.

Adrian froze, if he heard correctly, Alexander was insinuating that... "You’re worried about me?" He asked softly.

Alexander scoffed, "You’re not worthy of my worry, Mr. Cole. I just hate it when people I thought were smart make stupid decisions in front of me." He gritted his teeth and turned away.

"The Swiss vault. You better have a damn good explanation for knowing that, Mr. Cole," Alexander said and strode out of the storeroom.

Adrian released a shaky breath, staring at the empty door as his hand went up to his lips, and his fingers tenderly trailed over them.

Yes, he had more pressing issues like explaining how he learnt about the offshore account, but...

’I can’t believe he kissed me. Me. As in Adrian, not Adrienne,’

Adrian was fighting complex feelings within him. He was going crazy.

Alexander had just helped distract him from his phobia, nothing else. After all, it was what anyone else would do.

"Yeah. Just helping me," he muttered and leaned off the shelf.

He had to leave and force his mind to be on the issue and only the issue.

He walked out of the narrow passage and into the hall which had been vacated by guests but filled by officers.

They were probably estimating the damage of things.

Broken chandeliers, upturned tables and broken chairs. The place was a disaster.

He looked around and couldn’t find Alexander in the crowd and his heart tugged painfully.

"Of course, he left," he murmured and slowly walked out of the hall.

The night was cold, cooling his warm cheeks and blowing away his unshed tears.

He walked around the crowd, trying to find his way out of the gate.

He had left his bag in Sebastian’s car, and from the looks of it, Sebastian was gone, too.

Adrian hugged himself as he walked slowly.

All he wanted was to be free. To leave his life however, and with whoever. But, he ended up becoming a bargaining chip for two idiotic billionaires.

However, he couldn’t do anything to change that and the reality of it all crushed him.

"Adrian," Sebastian suddenly called as Adrian approached the gates.

He paused, but didn’t turn around.

He wasn’t as excited as he thought he’d be.

Sebastian hurried over and held Adrian’s arm, blocking his path, "Adrian, I’ve been searching everywhere for you. Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes scanning Adrian’s face.

Adrian slowly nodded, "Apart from the bruises, I’m fine." He sighed.

Sebastian touched Adrian’s face, "It’s alright, Adrian. How about I take you home –"

"He’s coming with me," Alexander suddenly strode over, "his eyes completely avoiding Adrian.

"We have some serious business to discuss," Alexander said, pulling Adrian to his side.

Sebastian nodded, "It’s okay. I’ll just grab your bag in my car, Adrian." He said, observing Adrian’s suddenly troubled eyes.

He sighed and left, he couldn’t force Adrian to open up to him, especially not with Alexander beside him.

Adrian stood quietly, his eyes darting around the compound and watching people leave for their homes.

He wished he could be them, happy, rich, no debts, no sick mother, no ’sick’ father. He just wanted to be normal.

Beside him, Alexander watched him with an unreadable expression. His eyes slowly raked Adrian’s body, his face, taking a longer time to stare at those lips he had so brutally kissed in the storeroom a few minutes ago.

’No wonder he loved biting his lips. They were so...’ he shut his eyes for a second, willing his thoughts away as he saw Sebastian approaching them.

"Here, Adrian. Call me when you get home, alright?" Sebastian cupped Adrian’s cheek and searched his eyes, "If you ever want to talk about anything... I mean, anything, I’m here for you, yeah?" He asked tenderly.

Adrian smiled politely, "Thank you, Mr. Vale." He nodded and took his backpack from Sebastian.

Sebastian smiled and stepped back, "Goodnight." He said and left.

"To my car, Mr. Cole. You and I have a very long conversation to discuss," Alexander ordered and gestured his hand toward his car.

Adrian gulped.

Now that he’s kissed Alexander, everything is going to be a lot harder for him than it ever has.

As the car door shut beside him, Adrian’s heart thudded louder than the distant sirens.

Alexander didn’t start the engine.

"Now," he said quietly, turning to him with that same dangerous calm, "tell me everything you know about Chloe."

Adrian froze.

The kiss might have saved him in the dark — but in the light, it could destroy them both.