The Professor's Mate Clause novel Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

ADRIAN’S POV

“Freya-”

“Clara.” She turns. Sees Clara in the kitchen doorway. “You promised. You promised you would not tell

him.”

“I am sorry. I had to. He needed to know you were safe.” Clara does not move closer. “Please understand. I did it for you. To protect you.”

“To protect me? Or to protect him?” Freya stands. The blanket falls. “Everyone keeps saying they are protecting me. But all you are doing is controlling me. Deciding what I can and cannot do. Who I can and

cannot see.”

“That is not fair.” I stand too. “I am trying to keep you alive. Asher wants you dead. Kelvin is trying to manipulate you. You have no money. No plan. No way to survive. What was I supposed to do? Just let you wander the streets?”

“Yes. Because it is my choice. My life. My risk to take.” She grabs her shoes. “I am leaving. Do not follow me. Either of you.”

“Where will you go?” Clara asks.

“Anywhere but here. Anywhere you are not.” Freya looks at me. “Anywhere he is not.”

She heads for the door. I move to block it. Cannot let her leave. Cannot let her run again.

“Move Adrian.”

“No, why do you keep running, you keep running and getting into trouble, do you want to get killed, why can’t you look at it from my perspective, why Freya, why?”

“Adrian move, get out of my way”

“No.”

“I said move.”

“And I said no. You are not leaving. Not until we talk. Not until you listen.”

“You can hate me. You can be angry. But you are not running into danger because you are too stubborn to accept help.”

Her eyes flash. “You cannot keep me here.”

“Watch me.”

We stare at each other. The air between us crackles with tension. With anger. With the bond pulling and demanding and refusing to break no matter how much she wants it to.

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“I hate you.” She says it with such conviction. Such pain. “I hate everything about you. Everything about this. I hate that I ever met you. That I ever trusted you. That I ever thought any of this could be real.”

The words are knives. Each one finds its mark. Each one draws blood.

But I do not move. Do not let her leave. Because keeping her safe matters more than her hate. More than her anger. More than anything.

“I know. And I am sorry. But you are still not leaving.”

Her hand moves before I see it coming. The slap echoes through the apartment. My head snaps to the side.

I do not stop her. Do not grab her wrist. Just take it. Because maybe I deserve it. Maybe I deserve worse.

“Let me go.” Her voice breaks. “Please Adrian. Just let me go.”

And looking at her face. At the tears. At the pain I keep causing. At the woman who would rather risk death than stay with me.

I step aside.

She stares at me. Shocked. Then she runs for the door. Throws it open. Disappears into the hallway.

Clara moves to follow. I hold up my hand. “Let her go.”

“Adrian she will disappear again. We will lose her.”

“I know. But I cannot keep her prisoner. Cannot force her to stay. Cannot be another man who takes away her choices.” I move to the window. Watch the street below. See her run out of the building. “Just keep the surveillance on her. Make sure she stays safe. But do not interfere. Let her have what she

wants.”

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