<h4>Chapter 293: Shocked</h4>


    Adam woke up with a pounding headache that felt like a jackhammer going off inside his skull. His mouth was dry, his limbs heavy, and every blink brought a fresh throb behind his eyes. He groaned and rolled onto his back, shielding his face with one arm from the early morning light filtering in through the curtains. Just as he began to shift, the nket slipped off his chest—and that’s when he noticed it.


    He was naked.


    Completely, unmistakably naked.


    "What the hell?" he muttered, shooting upright—too fast. The room tilted around him, and he nearly copsed back onto the bed. His head pounded harder in protest, but the shock cut through the fog just enough for his eyes to refocus. A prickling awareness spread over his skin, and that’s when he felt them.


    Scratches.


    Tiny, stinging lines across his shoulders and down his sides. He slowly ran a hand over his chest and winced. There were definite marks there—more than one—and they weren’t the kind that came from tripping over furniture.


    Heart hammering now, he pushed the nket away and forced himself to his feet. The floor felt unsteady under him, and he stumbled, catching himself on the edge of the bed. His legs still felt like jelly from the previous night’s binge, but panic overrode the nausea curling in his stomach.


    He staggered to the mirror on the far wall and pulled himself upright to examine the damage. His eyes widened. A small bruise had bloomed at his waist, purplish-blue and tender to the touch. Across his abdomen and shoulders were faint red scratch marks—some shallow, others deeper.


    "What the <i>hell</i> happenedst night?" he whispered, staring at himself like a stranger.


    No. No, no. He would never—<i>could</i> never—cheat on Mnie.


    Not even drunk. Not even by ident.


    But the evidence... It was there, staring back at him. And he didn’t remember anything beyond stumbling into the room. He had been drunk, yes—more than drunk. But beyond that? Aplete nk. He shook his head, hard, as if trying to shake the truth loose. No. Someone had to have done this <i>to</i> him. It didn’t make sense any other way.


    Fumbling, he reached for his T-shirt and shorts and threw them on hastily, grimacing at every scrape of fabric against the irritated skin. He needed to know what had happened. <i>Who</i> had entered his room. Maybe the hotel cameras had caught something. He had to check before Mnie ever found out. But he would have to confess... He couldn’t let her think—God, he himself couldn’t even think it.


    He shoved his feet into his slippers and opened the bedroom door in a rush.


    The moment he stepped out into the suite’s dining area, he was hit by an explosion of noise and light.


    "<i>SURPRISE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!</i>"


    He blinked, recoiling instinctively as shes from cameras burst in his face. Dozens of balloons bobbed in the air, banners reading <i>HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!</i> strung across the walls, and standing right in the middle of it, were Mnie and Adir, standing there grinning.


    For a minute, he felt his hearte into his throat... until Adirughed and said to Mnie with a chuckle," I got the perfect ckmail material image. Look."


    Mnie turned toward Adir as he held up the small tablet they had used to sync the camera timers. The screen disyed a slightly tilted photo taken just as Adam stepped out of the bedroom-a wild mess of bed hair, his T-shirt half inside-out, shorts wrinkled and slung low on his hips, and his face caught mid-blink in sheer panic. His hands were raised like he was about to ward off an attack, and his mouth was open as if he’d received an electirc shock.


    While Mnie and Adir chuckled, Adam’s brain finally seemed to have caught up as he let out a slow sigh of relief and almost fell over. Dam* it! He’d almost had a heart attack! Finally, he had broken segments of memorying back, of pulling Mnie onto the bed under him.. His eyes narrowed... Just to make sure that he was not fooling himself, he focused on her neck... yep.. there it was... a faint mark. Now, he could breathe."


    As he finally started to breathe again, Adir came running to him, grinning from ear to ear, as he jumped into his arms and shouted," Happy Birthday, Adam!"


    Adam caught him easily, lifting him off the ground with a soft grunt and holding him close, pressing a kiss into his hair. The tension that had knotted itself deep in his chest loosenedpletely.


    "Thank you, buddy. And wait till I get my hands on that ’ckmail’ worthy picture that you’ve taken. You’re going to be in for a tickle attack."


    Adir giggled. "It was Mnie’s idea! Tickle her. And, I brought you a gift! Put me down! I forgot it in the room. I’ll go and get it now!"


    Adam put him down as Adir kicked his legs and before he could even say anything, the kid had already run away...


    As soon as he vanished into the room, Adam straightened and found himself face to face with Mnie.


    She stood there quietly, looking at him with a calm smile. Quickly, he buried his face in her neck, breathing in deeply. "You scared me to death, you know that?"


    Mnieughed at that and said," Did I? Who told you to get so drunk and then flirt with me? You deserved it."


    Adam didn’t answer right away. He just held her tighter, finally calm that he had not done something incredibly stupit and unforgivable.


    Then, without warning, he slipped his hand down and gave her bottom a firm smack.


    Mnie let out a sharp little gasp and pulled back slightly to re up at him.


    He smirked. "That was for letting me believe I’d hallucinated everything and the little stunt you pulled... You will pay for that prank, my sweet little melon."


    Mnie grinned," You thought you slept with someone else, didn’t you?"


    Adam shook his head,"I’ve been traumatized for life. Never... Never will I ever drink again on business trips."


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