Chapter 112: That Kind Of Closeness Only Belongs To Me.

Inside the elevator, Bryce could hear whispers rising from every corner of the building. His name followed him through the walls, carried by voices scattered across the floors.

"Bryce is here."

That was all he seemed to hear.

His heightened senses had become a torment.

Every conversation, every hushed remark, every curious murmur reached him.

He tried to shut them out, but the effort only seemed to make them more pronounced.

Some remarks were harmless. Others were not. He caught pieces of speculation, his name repeated alongside references to Vincent and Dave.

By the time the elevator finally stopped at Vincent’s floor, Bryce felt as though he had spent the entire ascent trapped inside an echo chamber.

The doors opened, and he stepped out quickly, almost stumbling forward, as though the elevator itself had amplified every sound that had reached him.

The door directly opposite the elevator opened at that moment, and Adam emerged with a stack of papers in his hand. He took only one step before noticing Bryce.

He stopped dead.

"Is this really you?!" he exclaimed, moving forward as though he could not restrain himself. Before Bryce could properly react, Adam pulled him into a hug.

"I am so glad you came back. Not just because work is driving us crazy and we can’t figure things out, but because I simply missed you."

Bryce’s arms remained at his sides. The sudden embrace had caught him off guard, leaving him uncertain about how to respond.

Of everyone he had ever met, Adam was the only person Bryce genuinely liked and felt comfortable with- outside of Vincent and Dave. His regard for Adam had grown naturally through the time they had spent working together.

He had kept his promise, treated Bryce well, and continued believing in him when there had been little reason for him to do so.

Bryce had never really had a true friend before, but if friendship meant finding someone who offered that kind of loyalty and consideration, then he could imagine Adam becoming one.

But that did not make the embrace any less unexpected.

Adam’s hug was not the sort of greeting Bryce was accustomed to seeing between men. Usually, they exchanged a handshake, clasped each other’s shoulders, or pulled one another into a brief greeting in which their opposite shoulders touched before they separated.

There were other ways men expressed familiarity, but this was different. The embrace was more intimate than Bryce had anticipated, and the unexpectedness of it left him slightly uncomfortable.

He shifted, attempting to pull away, but before he could manage it, the door to Vincent’s office opened and Vincent stepped outside.

Adam seemed to sense his presence immediately. He released Bryce at once and turned toward him. Vincent’s gaze settled on the two men, the displeasure in his expression was as clear as a day.

Bryce watched as Adam’s posture stiffened.

Without saying anything, he lowered his head in a slight bow and began to move away. He had barely taken a step when Vincent’s voice stopped him.

"Mr. Wilson."

His voice was low, controlled, and unmistakably restrained.

Adam halted.

"I believe you already heard about the relationship between Mr. Jones and me. Therefore, I expect you to understand that such a degree of closeness from someone other than me is unwelcome. Isn’t shaking hands with him sufficient for you, Mr. Wilson?"

"It is, sir," Adam answered, his voice rigid.

"That’s what I thought. So don’t let me see something like that again."

"Yes, sir."

"You can leave and return to work," Vincent instructed, his tone remaining calm.

"Yes, sir. Excuse me."

Adam retreated immediately. He did not glance toward Bryce again, his steps quickening as he disappeared down the corridor, leaving Bryce standing outside Vincent’s office with an expression of utter disbelief.

He could hardly believe what he had just heard.

Vincent had actually spoken to Adam that way- Adam could repeat the conversation to anyone. The guards, employees, and everyone else who had already been whispering about Bryce and his relationships would have another subject to discuss now.

Vincent had practically handed them fresh material, and he had done so without appearing to care who witnessed it.

Bryce turned toward him, still trying to process the scene.

Vincent said nothing. He stepped forward, caught Bryce by the arm, and drew him into the office. Once they were inside, he shut and locked the door before pressing Bryce against the wall beside it.

The movement was swift and assertive, leaving Bryce with his back against the wall and Vincent standing close enough that the space between them disappeared.

"You’re seriously hugging another man right outside my office?" Vincent asked.

His voice remained low and even. There was no obvious rise in volume or change in pitch, but the restrained irritation beneath his words was impossible to miss.

Bryce looked at him, a spark of amusement rising through his surprise. Vincent had never been particularly subtle about his possessiveness, but seeing him display such open jealousy was different.

The reaction fascinated Bryce, and the temptation to provoke him further proved difficult to resist.

"Where would you rather I do it, since outside your office is clearly forbidden?" he teased.

Vincent moved closer, although he was already standing near enough to restrain him. His expression hardened.

"Don’t do it. I’m serious."

The warning carried no trace of playfulness. Vincent’s mood did not ease in response to the teasing; if anything, his displeasure deepened.

Bryce recognized the difference immediately. Vincent was not indulging him, nor was he willing to turn the exchange into a game.

Vincent drew breath, clearly intending to press his point further, but Bryce leaned forward and kissed him before he could get another word out.

The interruption was brief, but it silenced Vincent completely. Bryce pulled back, expecting perhaps another reprimand or some indication that the kiss had failed to change his mood.

Instead, Vincent remained quiet, his expression gradually relaxing until the tension that had hardened his features disappeared.

For a moment, he looked as though he had forgotten what he had intended to say.

Bryce studied him, amusement touching his voice again.

"What were you saying?"

Vincent did not answer immediately. He seemed to search for the thread of his earlier thought, as though Bryce’s kiss had interrupted it so thoroughly that he needed a moment to recover.

Finally, he spoke.

"Don’t hug anyone else."

Bryce’s eyebrows lifted.

"Only you?"

Vincent appeared to understand the implication at once. His expression shifted, and he stepped away without offering an answer.

He crossed the office and moved toward his seat beside the desk.

Bryce watched him for a moment before following, though he chose the couch rather than the chair. He sat down, his tone carrying no genuine irritation despite the words he was about to deliver.

"Don’t act angry right now when I should be the angry one here."

Bryce leaned back slightly, his gaze remaining fixed on Vincent. Beneath the lightness of his voice, he was approaching the reason he had come.

The jealousy, the hug, and Vincent’s reaction had offered him an opening.

"You left in the morning without saying anything," he continued. "Even if you didn’t want to wake me, why couldn’t you at least leave a message? Waking up like that, I didn’t feel particularly loved."

The words were partly true. Vincent’s unexplained departure had unsettled him, and waking to an empty space where he had expected to find him had left a discomfort Bryce could not entirely dismiss.

However, he was also choosing his words carefully, using the complaint as a way to draw Vincent into the conversation he had come to have.