Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I spent seven years trailing after Adrian Sterling like a lovesick fool, and in the end, I finally clawed my way into the position I’d wanted most—I became his boyfriend.
Then the one who got away came back to the States.
Adrian and his friends humiliated me however they pleased, like I was something disposable.
So I decided to break up with him.
A friend asked me, “Can you really let him go? You loved him that much.”
I only smiled and said nothing.
That same night, I showed up in my first love’s bed.
“Julian,” I whispered, my voice breaking, “I really feel awful…”
I leaned against the hard plane of his six-pack and cried.
It broke his heart.
When I dragged my suitcase back home, I ran straight into a young man on his way out.
He was Adrian Sterling’s new assistant. Clean-cut, pretty in a polished way.
He wore a crisp white dress shirt, tailored slacks, and a pair of handmade leather shoes. The same brand Adrian usually wore—far above what an assistant would normally spend.
The second he saw me, his eyes flickered away, guilty for half a beat. Then he smoothed his expression over and greeted me politely.
“Mr. Carter. You’re back?”
“Yeah. Good evening.” I pretended not to notice the red marks on his neck.
Adrian appeared in the doorway behind him, wearing nothing but a dark blue silk robe.
He leaned lazily against the frame, hair still damp, his sleepy eyes half-lidded. In one hand, he held a Cartier shopping bag.
“You forgot this.”
The assistant stepped forward at once and took it from him. “Thank you, Mr. Sterling.”
Before he left, he shot me a look—smug, contemptuous, triumphant.
All at once, the suitcase in my hand felt heavier.
Inside it was the gift I’d bought for Adrian after saving up half a year of salary.
It still wasn’t worth a fraction of whatever he’d casually handed that assistant.
Adrian didn’t look even remotely uncomfortable about being caught. He just asked, “Why are you back early?”
I forced a smile. “I wanted to surprise you.”
He looked straight into my eyes, his face unreadable.
“Don’t do that again. I don’t like it.”
“Okay.”
I walked inside. He asked, “Want me to have the housekeeper make you something to eat?”
“No. I already ate.”
In reality, the budget airline hadn’t served food, so I hadn’t even had dinner.
But I couldn’t stomach anything now.
I felt sick.
I went upstairs to shower in the guest bedroom. When I came out, Adrian was already half reclining on the bed.
The moment he saw me, he crooked a finger.
I walked over. He rolled and pinned me beneath him, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
His body was already moving lower.
I only had to lower my gaze to see the hard definition of his abs.
His breath brushed against my skin, carrying a faint rose scent.
It wasn’t the cologne he usually wore.
I put a hand against him and pushed lightly. “Why was your assistant here?”
“He dropped off some documents.”
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Then why did you tell him he’d left something at the house?”
“Last time I was on a business trip, his suitcase was too full, so I brought it back for him. He forgot to take it.”
I stared at him. “You packed things for him? Which one of you is supposed to be the assistant?”
Adrian clicked his tongue, instantly annoyed.
Then he got off me, climbed out of bed, and walked straight out of the guest room.
I met Adrian Sterling in college.
He was the kind of guy everyone knew. Student body president, campus heartthrob, top of the department—one of those men who seemed born to stand in the center of every room.
He was handsome, brilliant, and came from money on top of it.
There were always people orbiting him.
I was one of them.
The first time I saw his profile, my heart slammed so hard it felt like thunder in my chest.
Unlike everyone else, I didn’t back off after failing a few times. I was absurdly persistent.
Only later did I learn why I’d succeeded.
It wasn’t because I was better at chasing him than the others.
It was because, out of all the people throwing themselves at him, I was the one who looked the most like the one who got away.
Adrian had never lacked for flings. Even while he was with me, he never settled down. He kept collecting men who resembled Sebastian, the way some people collect rare stamps.
The next morning, when I woke up, Adrian was already gone.
I only found out where he was from one of his friends’ Instagram stories. He’d taken that assistant from yesterday to a shooting range.
I packed my luggage and pulled myself together.
Then I headed out to work.
It was a weekday. I couldn’t be reckless the way Mr. Sterling could.
By the time I finished overtime, it was late. I followed the location his friend had tagged and made my way to a bar.
When I pushed open the door to the private lounge, the young assistant was sitting right beside him.
He was holding up a glass of liquor to Adrian’s lips.
Compared with yesterday’s awkwardness, he looked much bolder now that he saw me. If anything, he pressed even closer to Adrian.
“Mr. Sterling, help me finish this one, okay?”
His voice was soft, syrupy with flirtation.
But his eyes were on me, smug and challenging.
Adrian looked at me too. Everyone else in the room did the same, all of them waiting for the show.
I walked over and looked down at the assistant. “What are you, a nightclub hostess? Pushing drinks this hard?”
As I spoke, I flicked a glance over the coffee table. Bottles were lined up across it, and at least half of them were already empty.
“Go ahead and open ten more bottles of Château Lafite if you’re that serious about making quota.”
The assistant froze.
I reached out, took the glass from his hand, and said, “Put it on Mr. Sterling’s tab.”
Then I looked at him and smiled faintly. “Kid, that’s not how you pressure someone to drink.”
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The next second, I swung a leg over and settled myself on Adrian’s lap.
I took a sip from the glass, then grabbed a fistful of his hair and tipped his head back slightly before kissing him.
I poured the liquor into his mouth that way.
The instant my lips touched his, his arm came around my waist.
He took control almost immediately, stealing the drink straight from my mouth.
The sound of it was wet and intimate.
He didn’t let me go until the taste of alcohol had completely vanished from my tongue and my mouth had gone numb.
Only then did he release me.
I buried my face against his shoulder, breathing hard.
Then I turned my head and stared, almost obsessively, at the dark beauty mark beside his nose.
After that, my gaze slid past him to the assistant, who was sitting there stunned into silence.
I curled my lips into a smile.
“See that? That’s how you close a sale.”
The room exploded with laughter. It was full of Adrian Sterling’s rich, useless friends.
“Kid, take notes from Elliot,” one of them jeered. “Mr. Sterling likes them with some heat.”
Another one, already drunk enough to be reckless, grinned at me. “Elliot, give me a kiss and I’ll open ten bottles of Romanée-Conti for you—”
Adrian’s gaze sliced over.
The guy shut up instantly.
He took an awkward swig of his drink and muttered, “Jesus, I was kidding. Don’t be so possessive, Adrian.”
The assistant finally snapped out of his daze, his whole face flushing a dark, ugly red.
Then he bolted straight out of the private room.
I leaned close to Adrian’s ear and murmured, “Mr. Sterling, why aren’t you chasing after your little assistant?”
Adrian lounged back against the sofa, lazy as ever. “You want me to go after him? Then get off me first.”
I lifted a brow and made a show of climbing down.
But the hand wrapped around my waist didn’t loosen in the slightest.
He wouldn’t let me go.
Because he was hard.
Adrian had always had a strong appetite.
And by some unfortunate stroke of compatibility, we were perfectly matched in bed.
He was never the type to deny himself. He pulled me up and dragged me straight into the bathroom inside the private suite.
Then he started yanking at my pants.
“There are people right outside…”
I caught his hand, refusing.
“Let go.” His voice turned cool.
I was afraid of setting him off again, so I loosened my grip after all.
Instead, I slid my arms around his neck and kissed the beauty mark beside the bridge of his nose.
We stayed in that bathroom for more than half an hour.