Chapter 6 - The Storm at the Docks
The conflict at dock four was not a simple legal dispute; it was a targeted effort by a rogue faction of the federal task force to break Mercer Holdings' control over the Boston waterfront.
For three days, Adrian was gone.
The mansion was put under high-level security containment. Armed guards in plain clothes patrolled the perimeter fence. The iron gates were locked, and no one was allowed to enter or leave without Frank Rossi’s direct clearance.
Claire stayed with Lily in the east wing, keeping the child calm, reading stories, playing games, and maintaining a sense of complete normalcy. But inside, Claire was consumed by a quiet, gnawing agony.
She realized, with terrifying clarity, that she had fallen completely, irrevocably in love with Adrian Mercer.
She didn't care about his money. She didn't care about his vast empire. She cared about the man who held his daughter with fierce tenderness, the man who had lifted the crushing debt from her family’s shoulders without demanding anything in return, the man whose silver eyes made her feel like the most desirable woman in the world.
On Friday night, at eleven o'clock, the storm returned to Boston. High winds rattled the glass windows of room 104, throwing sleet and rain against the glass.
Claire was sitting up in bed, wearing a soft cotton nightgown, reading a book under the dim light of her bedside lamp, when her bedroom door opened.
She gasped, dropping her book.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
He looked battered. His dark coat was soaked with rain, his hair was wet, sticking to his forehead, and there was a dark, purplish bruise forming along his jawline. His eyes were shadowed with pure, unadulterated exhaustion.
"Adrian!" Claire cried out, throwing her covers aside and scrambling out of bed.
She ran across the carpet toward him, completely forgetting her nightgown, forgetting her role, forgetting everything except the sight of him standing there.
Adrian stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, and caught her as she reached him.
He pulled her violently against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist, lifting her off her feet as he buried his wet face into the warm crook of her neck.
Claire wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, holding him tightly, feeling the intense, desperate tremor running through his massive frame.
"Are you hurt?" she whispered frantically, her hands moving over his back, his shoulders, his rain-soaked hair. "Adrian, what happened?"
"It's over," Adrian rasped against her skin, his hands gripping her waist with brutal, possessive intensity. "The warrant was tossed. The judge sanctioned the task force. The docks are clear."
He pulled back slightly, holding her face between his large, warm hands, looking down into her dark eyes with an intensity that made her lightheaded.
"I haven't slept in seventy-two hours," he growled softly. "All I could think about... all that kept me going through that absolute hell... was coming back to this room. Coming back to you."
Claire felt tears filling her eyes. "Adrian..."
"Tell me to leave, Claire," Adrian warned, his voice shaking with restraint. "Tell me right now. Because if you don't, I am never leaving this room again."
Claire looked up at the dangerous, powerful, magnificent man who was trembling in her arms. She reached up, placing her soft hands over his, her thumbs tracing the dark bruise on his jaw.
"Don't leave," Claire whispered clearly. "Stay with me."
Adrian let out a low, rough sound from deep in his throat and pulled her into a fierce, deep kiss.
His lips were hot, demanding, and filled with a raw, desperate hunger that swept away every lingering doubt in Claire’s mind. She opened her mouth to him, her fingers tangling into his wet, dark hair, pulling him closer as she gave herself up to the storm of his touch.
May you like
He lifted her easily, carrying her across the room to the large bed. He laid her down on the white sheets, taking off his wet coat and shirt, his massive, muscular chest bare and warm against her soft skin.
That night, as the sleet hammered against the glass windows of Mercer Manor, Claire Bennett gave herself entirely to Adrian Mercer, and found, in his powerful, protective arms, a love that would hold her for the rest of her life.
