Page 61 of Protected By My Playboy Billionaire

“And they also sent me this,” Adrian adds, showing me a picture of us taken from the elevator cameras, with me visibly upset, with tears streaming down my face, and Adrian appearing to corner me.

I feel a wave of disbelief wash over me as I realize what’s happening.

“Whoever did this is trying to make it look like you forced yourself on me,” I whisper, my mind racing.

Adrian nods grimly. “Exactly. And I think I know who’s behind it.”

I look up at him, my eyes wide with alarm. “Victoria?”

“Yes,” he replies without hesitation. “There’s no one else who could have done it. She must have been close by last night.”

My stomach churns at the mention of her name, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. She watched Carson almost… she saw what happened and didn’t come to help me, didn’t do anything.

“Last night, when I pushed her away, she threatened to tell Ethan everything,” Adrian murmurs. “But I thought she was bluffing. I didn’t think she was spiteful enough to do something like this.”

“I meant to tell him.” I look up at Adrian. “I meant to tell him as soon. How did Victoria even contact him?”

Before Adrian can respond, the elevator dings and the doors slide open to reveal a furious Ethan standing on the other side.

Chapter twenty-five

~ADRIAN~

“Get the fuck away from her.” Ethan storms over to me, his fists clenched at his sides.

“Ethan, I—” My world spins as Ethan’s fist connects with my jaw. Shit! The force of the blow sends me staggering backward, my head swimming with shock and pain. I try to steady myself, but before I can regain my balance, Ethan is on me, raining down blows with a ferocity that takes me by surprise.

“Ethan, no!” I hear Elana’s scream as Ethan delivers another blow.

All instinct urges me to fight back, to defend myself against the onslaught. But my love holds me back,a deep-rooted reluctance to hurt my best friend, my brother.

And that’s exactly what you did. You fucking deserve this.Despite the pain coursing through my forearms from blocking his blows, I refuse to retaliate. I can’t hurt Ethan. I would never hurt him.

With each strike, I feel the weight of Ethan’s anger, my heart breaking at the sight of him lashing out with such fury.

“How could you? You, out of all people? How fucking could you lay a hand on her? How could you do this to her?” Ethan’s voice is filled with anguish, tears of rage streaming down his face. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“It’s not what you think!” Elana tries to protest, but her words are lost amidst the chaos of our brawl.

“How could you do this to her?” I can see more tears streaming down Ethan’s face. I can hear the crack in his voice as he screams accusations and curses.

“Ethan, I didn’t—”

“You were my brother,” Ethan cries out, his voice breaking on the last word. “I loved you like a fucking brother, and you took advantageof her.”

The accusations pierce my heart like daggers, each word a painful twist of the knife. Brother. This is my brother. Despite the pain coursing through my body, I refuse to fight back, my only goal being to weather the storm of Ethan’s fury until I can explain everything.

As the brawl continues, my thoughts drift to Elana, my heart aching knowing that she is witnessing this. I want to protect her, to shield her from the ugliness of it all. I have to give Ethan time to get it all out. Once he does, he’ll calm down, and I can explain.

And so, with every blow, I brace myself, enduring the pain in silence as I wait for the storm to pass, praying that after it’s over, Ethan will understand the truth—that I would never, could never, hurt Elana or him.

But he shows no signs of stopping. I don’t want to hurt him, but this has to stop. I twist and quickly pin him to the floor, his arms locked behind his back as he struggles under me.

“Let go of me, you piece of shit!” Ethan barks out from under me as I pant, careful not to press too hard nor let him slip away. As I pin Ethan beneath me, his struggles grow more frantic.

“Ethan, listen to me,” I plead, trying to steady my breathing.

“Fuck you!” he spits out and uses his whole weight to twist away. I try to maintain my grip, to hold him back and quell the storm of his fury, but his thrashing only intensifies, pushing me to my limits. He’s always been the only person who can match my strength in a friendly brawl, but this? This is completely different.