Chapter 6
"You are very bad at hiding," Adrien noted, his tone deadpan but laced with an undeniable amusement. "You giggle too loud."
"I am a good hider!" Lily protested, sitting up and crossing her tiny arms. Her bright brown eyes locked onto his. "You just have big ears."
Clara gasped, horrified. "Lily! Do not speak to Mr. Moretti like that. I am so sorry, sir, she has no filter."
Adrien held up a hand, silencing Clara instantly. He didn't look away from the little girl. "She isn't wrong. In my line of work, you need big ears. You need to hear everything."
He slowly stood up, towering over the child, and then looked at Clara. The playful moment shifted, the heavy reality of the night settling back over his broad shoulders.
"Where is her father?" Adrien asked, his gray eyes piercing through the dim light of the library.
Clara flinched, her fair skin paling again. She dropped her gaze to the floor. "He is gone, sir. It's just Lily and me. I work the night shifts because the pay is better, and I usually have a neighbor watch her. But the neighbor was taken to the hospital tonight. I was desperate."
Adrien studied her in silence. He was a master at reading people, at detecting lies and weakness. But in Clara, all he saw was a fierce, desperate mother trying to survive in a harsh city.
"Thomas," Adrien said aloud, not raising his voice.
Within seconds, the head butler appeared at the library doors, looking breathless and deeply anxious. "Yes, Mr. Moretti?"
"Go down to the kitchen," Adrien commanded, his voice returning to its intimidating, authoritative chill. "Have the chef warm up a glass of milk. Bring it here. And bring a plate of those Italian cookies from the pantry."
"For... for the child, sir?" Thomas asked, clearly struggling to comprehend the order.
"Do you require me to repeat myself, Thomas?" Adrien’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
"No, sir! Right away, sir," Thomas bowed hastily and practically ran back toward the hallway.
Clara looked at Adrien, completely overwhelmed. "Mr. Moretti, you don't have to do that. We can just go back to the laundry room."
May you like
"She is not going back to a laundry room," Adrien stated firmly. He looked down at Lily, who was busy trying to pull her fallen white sock back up her leg. "She is a guest in my home tonight. And in my home, guests are treated with respect."
Before Clara could process his words, a heavy, urgent knock echoed from the main hallway. The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. The warmth vanished, replaced by a suffocating, lethal tension.
