Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Which confirms the suspicion that’s been niggling on the edge of my mind all morning. It was just so absurd, I didn’t think there was any way—
But it’s terribly clear now.
I was drugged.
I was fucking drugged last night.
At the engagement party? At Adam’s?
Did Adam Archer drug me?
Even as I think it, it sounds absolutely ludicrous. He’s New Olympus’s golden boy. Heir to a billion dollar empire.
But I’ve been drugged before…and this felt eerily similar. And Adam was at the Autumnal Ball. So was Logan. And a lot of other people were at both events, for that matter.
I rub a hand at my pounding temple. Then another terrifying thought strikes. Did anything else happen to me while I was unconscious? But I squeezed my thighs together and do a quick inventory of my body and nothing feels off or like it was…invaded. At least physically.
But how in the hell did the paper get the pictures? I look back down. Adam looks asleep in the pictures, too. So who took them? What the hell is going on?
All I know is that it’s time to get some answers. I’m tired of being in the dark.
I hold up my hand and call, “Taxi!”
“She insisted she see you, sir,” Adam’s harried assistant follows after me when I barge into Adam’s office. His corner office is on the top floor of Archer Industries, as spare and masculine as his apartment.
There are several other men in suits opposite Adam’s massive desk but he waves to his assistant. “It’s all right, Gladys. If you’ll excuse me, gentleman, I’ll need to conclude this meeting early. I have a pressing appointment.”
Adam nods my way as the gentleman get up and gather their things, immediately at his beck and call.
Adam walks over towards me, blond hair styled to perfection. “I’ve been trying to call you all day. Are you okay?”
I frown at the concern in his eyes. He seems absolutely genuine but something makes me shiver. I don’t know why goosebumps suddenly run up and down my arms at his proximity.
“You have?” I pull out my phone, only now realizing it’s dead.
“I’ve had my publicist trying to get ahead of it. I can’t believe Rachel would do this to us.”
I blink. “Wait, what? Rachel?”
Adam stares at me a moment, before saying slowly, “What do you think happened last night?”
He urges me to come in and take a seat. I feel a little like I’m being herded, but I do sit down.
He offers me a bottle of water. For a second I stare at it, remembering when he offered me water last night.
“I think I was drugged,” I finally say, carefully watching his reaction.
He wipes a hand down his face and looks towards the window before softly cursing. “I can’t believe she would go that far…but you did seem out of it. When you wandered into my room, it was like you were sleepwalking but I couldn’t wake you up. You just climbed into bed with me and it seemed better to just let you rest there.”
His head snaps back to me, hands up. “I was a perfect gentleman. I didn’t do anything. We just slept. But Rachel must have come in at some point and taken those horrible pictures. And gods, if she drugged you to make you so out of it just so she could get the shots…”
I shake my head. “None of what you’re saying makes any sense. Why would Rachel do any of that? She’s my best friend.”
Adam cocks his head to the side. “Is she? I’ve gotten to know her a little in the past few weeks while you were out of town, to help me with planning and coordinating meetings with Belladonna.” Adam reaches out and puts a hand on my thigh. It feels wrong and I pull away. It could just be because anyone besides Logan touching me feels wrong. Adam lets me pull away without comment, then continues on about Rachel.
“To me, it’s felt like she’s jealous of you. She complained about how you’re always getting all the attention, even when you weren’t there. She said your friendship was always about you and never about her. I don’t know, I can only guess. But it was definitely her who sold the pictures to the Inquirer. I had my people look into it. Maybe it was just for the money. She sold them for half a million dollars.”
All the air heaves out of my lungs at his words. Half a million dollars? Holy shit. That’s enough money to tempt anybody.
But still, Rachel? I’ve known her for years. I thought we were…friends.
Though maybe that was all in my head. Maybe in reality I was just her boss who she put up with because, well, I was paying her salary. And when a better opportunity came along…
I stand up and turn away from Adam. “I need to go.”