Chapter twelve – The silent night

They were quiet the whole time they spend in the car. The woman’s eyes focused on the dark night city of L.A., enjoying the spectacular view. She always loved nights in this city because she felt free and she could help innocent women and young girls. She missed those days. Everything was changing rapidly. One day, she was a waitress in a bar and suddenly, with a blink of an eye, she was sitting next to the genius himself, Tony Stark.

She sighed. Tony heard it. He wanted to ask her if everything was okay but he rather remained silent. He screwed it one time and the best thing he could do was to keep his mouth shut for a while. He realized he probably hurt her a little – his behavior and actions said everything. Maybe he’ll explain to her everything when the time is right.

The ride was very long and the silence could be chopped into pieces. When they finally arrived at Tony’s mansion, it was almost after one o’clock in the morning. “So what do we do now?” she asked the man to her left when she stepped out from his expensive Audi. While fixing her dress, Tony came closer to her and leaned against the car. He was gazing at her, smiling a little bit and heavily breathing. “You have to… Tony?” she looked at him. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I… uh, I was just thinking about an issue I have to deal with – nothing important. Let’s go upstairs and we can talk there.”

“Wait,” she stopped him and set her big purse to him. “Can you hold this for me while I take off my high heels? My feet are killing me.”

Tony looked at her hand with the purse. “I don’t like being handed thing,” he replied.

“What the fuck?” her eyes with a perfect makeup on were wide open. She started to laugh a little. “You don’t like being handed things?” she was making fun of him. “Well, I don’t like your attitude, so here,” he forced him to hold the purse. “Hold it for a moment.”

“You are mean to me.”

“Because you deserve it,” she gave him a smirk. Adeline took off her shoes and held them in her left hand. Then she took the purse from the man. “And it didn’t even hurt. Hello, JARVIS,” she greeted with the AI.

~ Good morning, Miss Montana, ~ he replied.

“When did you become friends with my AI?” Tony asked the brunette with a surprised voice.
“Are you jealous, Mr. Stark?” Adeline said it without any emotions in her voice. “Can we now focus on more important things like what did Goth tell you back at the Gala? How did he find out about me? It is freaking me out, you know.”

~ Mr. Stark, I have to inform you that Mr. Rhodes is on his way here. ~

“That was fast,” Adeline commented. “He must have left right after us.” The brunette didn’t care what Tony was doing or if he was following her. She made it straight to the upper floor where was the living room.

“She even has a perfect ass,” Tony murmured under his nose when he was alone. “What do you think, Jarvis?”

~ I’m not here to evaluate Miss Montana’s proportions, Mr. Stark,~ the AI replied calmly.

“No fun with you, JARV,” the man laughed a little bit. While he was approaching the living room he took off the black bow from his neck and unbuttoned the white shirt. The arc reactor was now much visible. When he came to the living room, the lights were already turned on and some voiced were heard from the sofa. Tony saw there his best friends talking to Adeline, who was comfortably sitting on the couch. Her high-heels laid on the table and she had a big smile on her face. He felt broken. Maybe Rhodey was right that night – maybe he doesn’t have to be the Iron Man to get the girl.

“There you are, Tony,” James turned to the man with the goatee and gave him a smile. “What took you so long down there? Tell us everything that Goth told you.”

He stayed quiet for a while. He was alternately looking at them. “Tony?” Adeline said his name very softly. “Should we expect something bad?”

“He knows about you,” he replied quietly and gulped. “He knows about everything. I don’t know how, he just told me about your father, mother and even about your sister. He knows what you can do; he knows that you have the cure in your veins, Adeline.” He saw the change in her face. Her green eyes were wide open; she could barely breathe and even changed the way she was sitting. Her spine was straight; the hands were immediately holding the couch. “He’s coming for you.”

“How does he know?” James couldn’t believe his ears.

Adeline quickly stood up. Her mouth was open, ready to say something, however, nothing came out. She was speechless. Her eyes were focusing on Tony. There was a silent conversation between them. They were communicating through their eyes. “When?” she asked after a long pause.

“I don’t know. You might not notice but one of his hands was injured – probably from the fight, we had the day when your work was destroyed. He’ll probably attack when he’s fully recovered.” While he was talking, the woman started to walk from the couch to the window and back. She bit her lower lip; put her head down and think about the situation. She was so focused on it; she didn’t hear the men calling her name. “Ad!” strong hands grabbed her shoulders. Tony was suddenly in front of her, looking into her face. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”

“How? What are you going to do about it? Nothing, Tony. He wants me because I have the cure in my veins. We all know he’ll do anything just to get what he wants. It’s just a matter of time when he’ll come for me,” she sighed while looking into Tony’s eyes. “There are only two options. One, I will leave this city and maybe the country, or I’ll surrender.”

“No! No – no! There are other ways too!” Tony was frowning at her.

“Okay, so tell me, what we can do, because I don’t think there is much to do,” she shook his hands off her shoulders and turned to James. “Will you try to find him and stop him? We don’t even know where he is.”

“Adeline, we will figure something out, don’t worry,” said James calmly. “He’s the Iron Man, I’m War Machine and…”

“And you think that is the answer to everything?” She closed her eyes for a moment. This conversation was only heading to a fight between them. With a wave of a hand, Adeline started to walk away from them. She heard enough.

“Hey! Hey! Where do you think you are going?” Tony yelled at her.

“I’m going home, Tony. I’ve heard enough for today,” she replied silently, not stopping and turning back to the men. She wasn’t wearing her high heels and she didn’t care less.

“I can give you a lift,” Rhodey offered her.

“No!” Tony didn’t allow it. “She’s staying here tonight. I’m not letting you go, Adeline,” he was pointing at her when she turned to him. Her mouth was wide open and her eyebrows were up. “You can’t be alone. Tonight, you are staying here.”

“I am not!”

“Tony, you can’t force her to stay here with you,” Rhodey disagreed with his friend and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I can and I will. Look, this isn’t funny. Goth made his appearance at the Gala and he wants her. The only thing we can do at the moment is to look after her,” the Iron Man himself explained. “She needs to be with someone – me or you until we figure out what will be our next step, okay?”

There was a long pause between them. Rhodey was looking at Adeline; she was looking at Tony and cursing under her nose. When she rolled her eyes she forcibly nodded. “Fine,” she growled. “But I don’t have anything here with me – no clothes, no toothbrush, anything.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find here something for you,” Tony gave her a devilish smirk. “By the way, tomorrow, both of you are invited to a Gala after-party organized by me, which is going to be spectacular and situated right here,” he smiled like a happy child. Both of his friends gave him an annoyed look. “What? Oh, come on! I planned this for over a month.”

“And you never mentioned it before,” said Rhodey.

“Exactly! Hey man, you like my parties anyway. And you,” he pointed at Adeline, “will love them as well. I have the best parties and I’m not afraid to say it.”

“Well,” the woman took a few steps closer to them, “since I have two babysitters, I guess I don’t have a choice. At least Rhodey wouldn’t want to go and I would have to spend the time with him. Tonight I’m staying here with you Stark, right? Tomorrow, I’ll have to be with James.” Despite the fact she was mad at Tony for what he did, she wanted to be with him as much as possible. Sometimes she had a feeling he might like her back. Although, she knew Tony would never return the feelings because he enjoyed the one-night stands and being single. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.”

Both of the men were watching her leaving the living room. When they were finally alone, Tony stepped closer to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “Rhodey, you have to come tomorrow. I want you two here.”

“No, Tony. You want Adeline here. You don’t care about me.”

“That’s bullshit. You know I care about you. Anyway, what is going on between you two? Are you dating, flirting or something? Not that I would care, but…”

“Can you just stop?” Rhodes rolled his eyes. “Look at you, Tony. You are jealous. I can see it; I’m not blind and stupid. There is nothing going on between me and Adeline. We are just friends. We were in touch when you two had that big fight. And don’t try to fool me, Stark. I can see, you like her a lot.”

“That’s what you said,” he moved his shoulders. “I just asked and that’s all. Promise me, you two will come tomorrow, okay? We have to keep an eye on her.” Tony patted his back.

“Fine. I will come for her in the morning, okay? I have to go, man, I’m tired and I would like to go to bed and just enjoy the bed sheets. See you in the morning, and say hi to Adeline.” When he left, Tony was all alone in the living room for the next couple of minutes. He sat down on the sofa, made himself comfortable and just stared at the bar section right opposite to him. There he was, in his mansion alone with the unique woman he adored. Maybe he should explain to her everything – why exactly he was avoiding her, his actions and why he was so mean to her.

He heard steps coming to the living room. “Hey, Rhodes, maybe we should…” Adeline stopped talking when she saw only Tony sitting on the couch. “Where’s James?” she turned around.

“He left,” Tony answered. “It’s just you and me.”

“Oh,” a soft voice came out of her throat. “So, can you give me something to wear? I can’t sleep in this dress. It is way too uncomfortable,” she pointed at herself. “And I need a toothbrush,” she insisted. “You want me here, no? So take care of me,” she put hands on her sides. Something was different and she could feel it. Before the fight, she felt comfortable in his presence. They could talk, laugh and mock each other. Now, it was a little awkward and way uncomfortable than before.

He hummed while nodding his head. “Okay,” that was all he said. He stood up, gulped dryly and without any other word, he went on the upper floor to his bedroom. Adeline was looking at him with wider eyes. His behavior was strange. Did he and Rhodey have a fight while she was in the bathroom? Her eyes went from confused to sad. She took a seat on the edge of the sofa and turned to the giant window. The view from the mansion always fascinated her – it was beautiful, mysterious and sometimes magical.

Maybe Tony wasn’t the right man for her. He was known for his money and reputation of a womanizer. Why would he want a woman like her? Why she even let this happened? She scratched her nape and sighed. “Will this be good?” Tony’s voice came from behind her. She turned to him and saw a dark t-shirt with something written on it and a pair of black boxers. When he was closer to her, she recognized the shirt. It was his favorite one with Black Sabbath. He put it on the coffee table in front of her.

“Yes,” she said silently. “Thank you.”

“In the bathroom, on this floor, there is a spare toothbrush in a drawer under the washbasin. You’ll find there everything you need – well, not everything,” he gave her a little smirk. “Oh, you can take the blanket, draped over the chair,” she pointed at the chair in the corner of the room, near the sofa. “I won’t even try to invite you to my bed, where you are always welcomed,” he laughed a little, “but I know what your answer would be.”

“Clever boy,” she gave him a smile. “Thank you, Tony.”

He felt a little uneasy. He was shuffling from foot to foot; his face was strange, but he didn’t say anything more to her. He just gave her one last wave and head to his bedroom. Adeline watched him, leaving her all alone in the gracious living room. It was time to take off the dress and put something more comfortable on – the t-shirt and the boxers.

A few seconds later, she was standing there only in her black lingerie. Adeline swung the dress over the sofa. Afterward, she put on the clothes Tony gave her. It was much more comfortable than the dress and she secretly loved the t-shirt too. They had the same taste in music. Before she could lie down on the couch, she went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth with the toothbrush she found there.

Adeline was unaware of the time. When she got back to the room, the lights were already dimmed. She didn’t feel tired. She woke up at noon the day before. Also, it was because she never felt good when she wasn’t sleeping in her bed. The brunette sighed, took the blanket from the chair and threw it over her shoulders. It was very soft to the touch, which made her smile a little. In addition, she could feel Tony’s smell on it. Then she went to the gigantic window with the best view and just stood there in quiet. Now, Adeline could see the stars even better than before. The ocean view was amazing, but the stars in the sky were beautiful. There were millions of them, creating pictures and symbols. After a while, the brunette sat down on the cold floor, hugged her legs and just stared at the beauty in front of her.

Meanwhile, Tony was in his bed alone, looking directly at the ceiling and thinking about her. Was she already sleeping, or was she awake? What was this woman doing to him? He never felt this – not even in high school. For over half an hour he was thinking about her. “Jarvis?” he said quietly. He moved his hands in front of his face. “Show me, Adeline,” he asked for her. A small hologram appeared above him. There she was – sitting on the floor and looking out the window. Tony had to smile a little. “How long is she sitting like this?”

~For about forty-five minutes, sir,~ the AI replied calmly.

The man sighed a little bit. She was there, in his mansion the whole night and he didn’t do anything. He didn’t even properly talk to her. Maybe this was his last chance to talk to her, just like few weeks ago. They had a very good time together. Why not now?

Another minute passed and Tony finally made his decision. He stood up and without any hesitation he went downstairs to the living room. Just in case, he made up a short story about how he can’t sleep and the needing of a glass of water. The steps were pretty silent. Tony couldn’t saw her from the stairs. She was hidden behind the sofa. The man with the arc reactor in his chest came closer to the couch. “Adeline?” he said her name softly.

“Yeah?” a voice came from behind the couch. Tony stepped closer to her. The spine was leaning against the sofa and he was still hugging her legs.

“What are you doing here?”

She yawned. “I’m just looking at the stars because I’m not that tired. What are you doing here?”
“I,” he cleared his throat. “I can’t sleep and I wanted to grab something from the kitchen.” He took a breath. “You never told me you like stars so much,” he smiled.

Adeline finally looked at him. “That’s because you never asked,” she deeply inhaled. With the right hand, she patted the seat next to her. “If you want, you can join me.” Tony accepted the invitation immediately and sat down next to her. His left shoulder was touching hers. “I always loved stars,” she started talking. “Ever since I was a child, I found them magical. There were times when I would just sit in front of my window and look at this beauty,” she moved her hand towards the window. “When my little sister was about three or four, we used to sit together in our garden during summer and just watch the dark sky full of stars. I told her many stories and she loved them very much.” There was an unusual smile on her face and Tony noticed it. Even though there wasn’t enough light, he found her with that smile very beautiful.

“I am really sorry,” he said unexpectedly. The woman turned her head to him. Tony’s head was bowed down and he focused on his fingers. “I acted like a dick.”

“At least you admitted that,” she replied softly. “Just don’t do it, okay? We have a mission to do. We have to be prepared. Now, let’s forget about what happened and focus on the present and the future.” Sometimes it was better to let the past be. Tony nodded and the right corner of his lips created a smile. And then an unusual thing happened – Adeline leaned her head on his shoulder. Her green eyes were once again looking at the night sky full of stars. For once she stopped thinking and let everything be – her emotions, the past and the thought of what may happen very soon.

The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It was sweet and both of them enjoyed it. Tony had the urge to lean to her head and give a soft kiss on her hair. He didn’t do it. He only inhaled her typical scent. Adeline closed her eyes. She felt secure and serene. Never had she thought, she would have fall asleep leaning against Tony’s shoulder. He noticed that after a while when she wasn’t moving. The man quietly laughed at her. He found it very sweet. Very carefully, Tony picked up Adeline bridal style. She was light as a feather and sleeping deeply. He placed her on the couch and covered her with the blanket.

It was a nice change – seeing her sleeping and not arguing or mocking her. She looked peaceful, like a princess. When did he change? When did his mind and feelings start to act like this? He liked her so much, and yet he was mean to her. The new feelings scared him. That’s why he avoided her, but she didn’t know that. Before Tony left her, he gently stroked her cheek. There were only two things he could do – admit the feeling to her or push them back. He clenched one of his fists and stepped away from the woman. His mind was freaking out. Before he could do anything else, he ran up to his bedroom and went to bed…

Adeline woke up to the sound of a car’s engine. Her sight was blurry, the still brushed hair was a little messy and she felt something smooth under her. How did she end up on the sofa? When she looked around, there was no one. The windows were dark and the whole room looked like it was still a night time. Then she remembered – the short conversation with Tony. She fell asleep and he was the one who put her there. In a second, there was a bright smile on her face.

The brunette heard steps from the entrance door. She blinked a few times, so her sight was once again normal. “Good morning,” a male voice said. James was wearing casual clothing and he held car keys in his right hand. “Are you ready to go?”

The woman was confused. “I just woke up and I have no idea what time it is.”

“Is Tony still sleeping?”

“I have no idea. Okay,” she slowly stood up and stretched. “I’ll just take my dress and purse and shoes and we can go,” she yawned while talking to him. “I don’t care how I look. I just want to go home where I can enjoy my bed and my kingdom.”

Rhodes laughed at her. “Well, madam, the car is awaiting you. Don’t forget – tonight is the fancy Stark party.”

“Can’t you see how excited I am?” she rolled her eyes. “Let’s go before I’ll fall asleep.”

Notes