The Shadow Kingdom

Chapter 16i

"You don't know him as well as I do. He puts my protection above all else, and sometimes, it can get the best of him. When we thought the Ashcrofts were coming after me, I spent a month locked up inside this building."

"You what?" Alex starts to regain her voice. "Scarlett, why would you want to stay with a person like that?"

"He does it because he means well. And at the end of the day, the world really is a dangerous place. When you first showed up at Saffron Imperial, I was a little suspicious too."

"Oh my god Scarlett, what has gotten into you?"

"Reality – that's what's gotten into me. The world that you think you live in is just a sugary coating. This is the real world, the world in which I live. There are dangers at every corner, and they will never truly disappear. I'm sorry, Alex. But all we can do is accept it."

After a while, Alex is able to tolerate being in the same room as Adrian again. He apologized profusely, but for a regular person, having a gun shoved in their face isn't something they can get used to.

I made us a simple meal for dinner, and we all settled down in the dinning room. "Do you do all the cooking around here?" Alex asks.

"Adrian can't cook." I smile and give him a quick kiss on the head. "It's one of the few things he can't do."

"Am I the only one here who feels that the two of you have a somewhat unbalanced relationship?" Alex says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, he's one hundred years old, and he's a billionaire with magical powers. You're an eighteen-year-old college dropout who, thanks to him, now owns an art gallery. The power dynamic here is kind of lopsided."

I never really thought about that. "What is your point exactly?" Adrian asks. "At the end of the day, all that really matters is that we want to be together; is it not?"

"I suppose." Alex shrugs. "I just can't help but feel as though you're... well, taking advantage of her."

"Taking advantage of her?" Adrian repeats each word slowly. "She's here because she wants to be. Her business transaction with my father is concluded; if she wanted to leave, she would be free to do so whenever she pleases." The annoyance in his tone rings clearly.

"Except there are powerful people in this world who want to kill her. She needs you for protection regardless of what her last name is. And she's going to need it for the rest of her life. The two of you will never be equals." Adrian and I exchange glances. Alex has a talent for creating awkward moments.

Adrian tells her that she can stay in the house for a few nights if she likes but that she has to return to Pittsburgh as soon as possible. It's as she said; there are powerful people who would harm me. Harming her would be one way of doing so.

After he makes sure that she is comfortable in the guest room, Adrian and I retire to the master bedroom for the night. "I get this weird feeling that your dad is very anti-drug." I try to make some light conversation. "He sabotages the Ortega's drug operation as much as possible, and he doesn't allow anyone to sell drugs in his own territory. Why is this?"

"It's not just him actually. China as a whole has a zero tolerance policy against narcotics. Creating fifty grams of methamphetamine can get you the death penalty. In the case of my family, one of the reasons why House Ashcroft was able to abuse us so easily before I was born was because of the Opium Wars. China had a massive epidemic of drug addiction back then, and the British brought in the drugs. Needless to say, the Ashcrofts had a big share of that business."

We lie in awkward silence for while until Adrian finally brings up the elephant in the room. "What did you think about what Alex said?"

"Which part?" I ask.

"The part about me taking advantage of you." He replies.

I sit up and roll over to straddle him while he lies down. "That thought has never, not for one moment, crossed my mind. Our relationship is complicated in a way that normal people can't possibly understand. When we first met, yes, it was under awkward circumstances, you being kind of a stalker and all." We both laugh. "But you've never done anything to me that I didn't ask you to. And I certainly don't love you because of your money or your security. I love you because I love you."

I lean down to kiss him fervently with the added taste of reassurance. "So if I weren't a rich and powerful crown prince, you would still love me?"

"If I weren't a beautiful, exotic, virgin princess, would you still love me?"

Adrian runs his fingers down my back, and after a moment, he finally smiles. "Let's hope that we'll never have to find out."