Chapter 41 Tensions Arising

• Adrian Kane walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoing softly in the quiet corridor. The entire office floor was almost completely deserted, except for the soft light that spilled from the window of Sienna Hart’s office. He paused for a moment, noticing that she was still working. She had come in even earlier than he had and yet was still there, focused and absorbed in her work. Once again, he wondered what it was that drove her so hard to succeed.
• He knew what drove him. His motivation had always been simple — survival and the desire to rise above the life he had been born into. Adrian had grown up dirt poor and constantly hungry. His mother had died when he was just a toddler, leaving him with a father who was more of a dreamer than a provider — a man who floated through life with stars in his eyes and pennies in his pockets.
• Growing up, Adrian had often been shaken awake in the middle of the night by his father’s urgent whispers. They would pack their things and sneak out of weekly rentals they were months behind on. There were nights spent in abandoned houses they had squatted in, always running from unpaid bills and broken promises. They had drifted from one small town to the next, from one fleeting relationship to another, as his father charmed and used women before moving on without a second thought.