Page 19 of Care: Part 1

He didn't say anything after that. All he did was continue to watch her as if she were some kind of puzzle he was trying to solve.

She was taking his silence as a yes.

Avelina made her way out of the office and over to the elevator. She didn't understand why she couldn't shake this nauseous-like feeling. She had only just met Adrik, but for some strange reason, there had always been this lingering feeling of a deep connection.

With an irritated groan, she pressed the down arrow beside the elevator and awaited its arrival.

She began to not understand why she needed to be with Adrik at work when it was clear he had all the help he could ever possibly need with Zaria.

"You're so tense, boss. I'm going to massage your big, big muscles, boss," Avelina mocked as she stepped into the elevator.

When she had turned around, her hear dropped down to her gut at the sight of Adrik directly behind her. "Adrik!"

She had only hoped that he didn't hear her mocking Zaria. It was as hard to predict if he had seen it.

"I'm not quite sure if you were speaking to me or repeating Miss Kensley's previous words," Adrik spoke, his head slightly tilting in confusion.

"I was mocking her as a joke. I'm sorry, it was kind of mean.”

Avelina wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but she wanted to see more of Adrik's gigantic office building. It seemed so unreal that it all belonged to him.

"I understand that you are jealous," Adrik said calmly.

The elevator began to descend just as Avelina's jaw dropped, and her blush seemed to escalate.

She scoffed, "you must want me to be jealous.”

He didn't bother to make a remark, leaving her gaze to shift over to him. Once again, she found herself looking at him as he looked at her.

"I want you to be naked," he said in his full bluntness.

Avelina still had to get used to his honesty.

"Adrik.”

Her words seemed to fall from her lips, seductively. It truly wasn’t her intention, but at the same time, it was.

Their eyes held onto one another. He took a step closer to her before placing his hand on her hip.

"Avelina.”

She found herself wanting him to come closer. There was something so addicting about him. As her eyes drank him in, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have him press against her. She wanted to feel his lips against her own as her fingers would easily tangle themselves in his hair.

Forcing her out of her naughty thoughts, the elevator dinged. The ding alerted them that they had less than a second to pull apart before the doors would begin to open.

The loudest sound of chatter was quick to disperse all around them when the doors split apart. Adrik gently pulled himself away from Avelina just before fixing his suit jacket.

"Explore.”

Avelina let out a shaky breath but moved to step out of the elevator. Adrik followed behind her while she wandered the place. As she trailed over to the golden railing, her fingers grazed the cold metal.

Her eyes settled on the scene that took place in front of her. It was a massive casino with millions of people splurging their money only by taking a chance of faith.

"Your office is a casino?" She questioned, her eyes growing wide.

There was a bar on the far side of the place where pairs seemed to sit and speak on meaningless nothings. The casino presented itself in an illusion that made it easy pretending as if you were someone else.

"One of them," he stated.