My Million Dollar Boyfriend

Chapter 52

The next morning, Adrian opened the door of Florence's apartment with James following close behind.

"Adrian," James called, catching Adrian's attention.  "Do you really think that this is a good idea?"

Adrian glanced at him and took off his shoes. "Do you think I have that many options? If I did, I would have avoided this plan. It's either taking actions like these before Raymond gets close to Florence or letting him do as he please," he said firmly as James stared at him with a disapproving yet not surprised face. He quietly opened Florence's bedroom door but didn't see him sleeping there. "Huh? Did he already go out? But his shoes are still here." He walked to the living room and met Claude who had a sleeping Florence on him.

Claude held his index finger in front of his mouth. "He's still sleeping," he whispered with a cheeky smile as Florence was still snoozing against his chest.

"Wake him up for me. I don't have all day," Adrian snapped while Claude was greeting James. "Tell him that mother's waiting for us at home. We'll be at the entrance."

Claude watched them walk away with a confused expression and lightly shook Florence awake. "Wake up, sweetheart," Claude cooed as Florence lightly frowned. "Your brother's already here waiting for you."

"Who?" Florence mumbled half asleep as Claude kept poking his cheek to wake up.

"Adrian," he replied, which made Florence jump up and get off of Claude. "What's the hurry?"

"Oh no. Adrian saw me sleeping on Claude," Florence whispered to himself as he checked what he was wearing and looked around for him.

"It isn't such a big deal right?" Claude asked as doubt became clear in his voice. "He already knows that we're close, so you don't have to worry too much about that." He smiled, which made Florence feel a little more at ease. "He's waiting at the entrance for you. He also seems to be in a rush, no idea why though. Maybe it has to do with that brand deal he was talking about yesterday."

"That could be it," Florence replied. "I forgot about that," he muttered as he stood up from the ground. He glanced at Claude and averted his eyes as his face flushed. "I'll be back soon."

"Don't go too long or I'll be lonely," Claude teased, making Florence's face redder. Claude turned the TV off and looked if he had any notifications on his phone. He saw that Raoul called him twice late at night but didn't text him at all. Claude dialed his number and he answered within two rings.

"Hello?" Raoul said with a groggy voice.

"Damn did I wake you up?" Claude snickered as he heard Raoul groan. "Why did you call me at 4 AM?"

Raoul scratched his head as he looked at the empty bottles on the table and Sydney sleeping with half a bottle of soju next to him. "I don't even remember. We drank too much," he replied, his head hurting too much trying to remember. "Bro, it's fucking 10 AM right now can we talk about it later?"

"Sure. Should I come around to make something for you two to eat?" Claude asked. "There's a high chance that Flory's going to his parents' place for some collaborated thing."

"Please come," Raoul whispered as he felt his eyes closing again. "In like four hours or something. Goodnight."

Raoul hung up and Claude stared at his phone. "How much did he drink?" he whispered to himself as he walked to Florence who was putting his shoes on.

"How long will it take for all this to finish at home?" Florence asked Adrian. "I still have a lot of things to finish for this week."

Adrian glanced at his watch and eyed James who looked at him with a deadpan face. "Just take some of it with you. I'm not entirely sure if mother wants to keep you at home for dinner but we both know that there's a high chance that she forces you to stay."

Florence smiled at Claude with a slightly guilty smile. "Guess I won't be here for dinner then," he said.

"No worries, it's nice to eat with your family once in a while," Claude replied, petting Florence's head. "And I was planning to go to Raoul's place to nurse him back to health anyways."

"Is he sick?" Florence asked, concerned.

Claude shook his head. "He and Syd had a little too much to drink," he sighed and chuckled at Florence's knowing face. "Go and grab your stuff, love. Adrian is waiting for you."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, scurrying off as he tried to hide his face from his brother.

James nudged Adrian and leaned closer to whisper something in his ear. "Didn't you say that their relationship was purely contractual? They appear to be way closer than that," he said as Adrian looked at Claude who was busy with his phone.

"I'm not sure myself, but I doubt that it's all just an act. If I compare him to other people who had an interest in Florence, Claude isn't that bad of a person. His unbearable personality aside, he does genuinely care about Florence and his well-being," he replied with a dreadful sigh. "But even so, it's just better if he wasn't dating anyone at all. Every time I see him with another person it just makes my skin crawl."

"There he goes with his brother complex again," Claude thought when he heard Adrian's response. "He will take his sweet time with his pretty makeup if you don't tell him that you're in a hurry," Claude said.

"Shit," Adrian cursed under his breath as he stomped to Florence's room. "Florence! You can do this either in the car or at home! Just hurry up!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!" Florence yelled back with his hands full, which made Claude and James look in the direction that his yell came from. "I'M NOT GOING OUT HALF DONE LIKE THIS!"

Claude and James looked at each other with wide eyes and shrugged with confused faces.

After half an hour, Florence went out of his room with his bag and looked at Adrian who was silently waiting on him to finish. "I'm ready now. Let's go," he announced as he walked to the front door.

"Don't forget to text me when you're bored," Claude shouted to Florence.

"I know," Florence shouted back after a few seconds with a red face and left together with Adrian and James.

After they arrived home, Florence noticed that the security became a little tighter than normal. "Adrian?" Adrian turned to look at him after they got out of the car. "Am I going crazy or are there more security guards than the last time I visited?"

"You aren't going crazy. I hired a few more," Adrian replied as they walked inside their parents' house. "They were actually hired to keep you safe."

Florence furrowed his eyebrows. "But I don't even live here, so what's the use?"

"No you don't, but you will be staying here for a bit," Adrian said, which made Florence even more confused.

"Wait, wait," Florence said as he stopped walking. "What do you mean by that exactly?"

Adrian turned to him with lifeless eyes. "You're staying here until Raymond is taken care of. I don't care how long it takes, I'll keep you here until he's dealt with," he said with an icy voice. "I'll be limiting any communication, even with Claude. But don't worry, I'll let you call him once in a while. It won't take long until you see him in person again, I'll make sure of that myself," he added, his smile not matching his eyes.

Florence blinked at him with a dumbfounded expression. "What?"

A/N I turned 19, I wanna go home, and don't kill mice

-Rey