Chapter 64

Lucien went straight to his bedroom, too pissed and frustrated to risk running into anyone. He shoved the door open, slammed it shut, and went straight toward his bathroom.

Pulling off his shirt as he went, he unbuckled his belt. He needed to take a damn cold shower.

His bathroom door shut behind him, and he unzipped his pants. Pausing, he tried to steady his breathing, furious that his mind was still filled with her scent, the feeling of her wet pussy and the sounds of her desperate desire.

Before he could get a hold of himself, he reached into his pants and pulled himself out. His breathing deepened as he stared down at his painfully erect member, pleasure flooding his body as he tightened his grip around its girth.

Since when?

Since when did Kendall have so much power over him?

A week went by, and Lucien practically lived in his office. From what he knew, Kendall hadn’t spent the night that day. She’d made up some excuse and left before dinner. Still, he tried to spend as little time at home as possible.

One night, he’d even slept in his penthouse. He was still paying for the room next to hers, but he didn’t dare set foot in it. It was like every time they were together, something went wrong.

They ended up crossing the line even if neither one of them intended to do so. The only way to prevent it was to stop seeing her altogether, so that was what Lucien would do.

He was far too grown to walk around lusting for a twenty-four-year-old girl. And it wasn’t because she wasn’t worthy of it, but she was just far too special.

He could let himself ruin her, even if she wanted him to. She didn’t know what it meant to have an affair with a man like him. Especially since she’d been his secretary, the rumours would follow her for the rest of her life. He knew what it was like to be considered a villain by people who didn’t even know him; he’d experienced it every day of his life since he’d married Sabrina’s mother.

Since her father had died, and she’d disappeared, leaving Lucien with a company and a baby girl to care for.

He still felt wronged, even all these years later, but nobody cared. Nobody cared about how victimized he was or how much he’d been hurt. All they wanted was to continue gossiping and experiencing the thrill that came from watching someone get metaphorically pelted with tomatoes. As long as it wasn’t them.

And that was exactly what would happen to Kendall if she continued her dangerous little games. She’d become the secretary who’d seduced her older boss for the money. Nobody would care that she attended Yale and had two degrees, nor would they care that she was brilliant and qualified for senior positions. She’d be reduced to nothing more than a whore.

Lucien couldn’t let that happen. He’d protect Kendall from herself.

He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. There were dark smudges under his eyes, evidence of his ruined sleep pattern.

He was playing with the tempting idea of another cup of coffee when a text lit up his phone. Lucien grabbed it and slid open the message.

It was Arlo.

He read the text and frowned, reading it again. The phone was tossed onto his table as he leaned back with a sigh of annoyance. He glared into space, getting more pissed the longer he thought about it.

Arlo had just found out that a hefty sum had recently been spent to acquire a copy of Kendall’s keycard.

His jaw clenched as he thought it over. Liam Ghates had spent money to get those corrupt hotel bastards to give him a copy of Kendall’s key. What the hell was the little creep planning to do with it? Sneak into her room at night?

He grabbed her phone, searching for her number. Almost instantly, Lucien stopped himself. He sighed, putting the device down again. He couldn’t call her. What the hell would he say? How could he call her and try to make conversation as if nothing happened? He’d been dreaming about her for the past week, for fuck’s sake.

Every damn morning, he woke up painfully erect, his body slick with sweat from restless nights of vivid dreams.

What was she? A goddamn succubus?

He pushed away from the table and walked around the room, pacing. Still, even if he couldn’t talk to her, somebody had to.

Someone had to let her know that she wasn’t safe in that room. Could he trust Sabrina to do so? Lucien scoffed, shaking his head as he stopped to stare out at the city.

Sabrina couldn’t be trusted with anything that didn’t serve her. It was sad, but he was honest enough to admit that his daughter was incredibly selfish. Speaking of Sabrina…

Lucien sighed, staring down at the traffic below. If she had to find out about what he and Kendall had going on…

What did they even have going on? It was so ambiguous, he could hardly define it himself. But, regardless, if she had to find out, she would feel unbelievably betrayed.

He needed to get it together.

His phone rang.

Walking over to his table, Lucien grabbed it and answered the call. “Yes, Justin.”

“Did you talk to Kendall?”

He instantly tensed. “What are you talking about?”

Justin paused. “Lucien, the D.C. situation with Hamza. I told you we need Kendall to go in order to keep this confidential. Did you talk to her?”

Lucien’s mouth opened in a silent ‘Ah’. “Right. Uhm… yeah, I spoke to her.”

“Really?” Justin couldn’t hide his surprise. “You did?!”

Lucien winced. He couldn’t tell him that he’d gotten Carmell to do it; Justin would flip a table. “Yeah, she agreed.”

“Excellent! See? I knew you could do it. I’ll meet with her for dinner to lay the plan down.”

“No, no!” Lucien rushed to say. “I’ll do it, you don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Justin, just focus on whatever work you’re doing there.”

Justin hummed uncertainly. “Okay. If you say so. Then I’ll send the security team that’s taking her—”

“I’ll take her myself. It’s the day after tomorrow, right? I’ll be available.”

“Oh, great. I’ve gotta go. Let me know how it goes.”

“Will do.”

Lucien hung up and released a heavy exhale. As long as Justin and Kendall didn’t communicate, neither one of them would know what Lucien was really doing. He couldn’t risk having Kendall get involved with that Hamza creature.

It wouldn’t take much for him to have her drugged and in his hotel room. Lucien needed someone with more experience to deal with him. Carmell was more than qualified.

Tomorrow, they’d fly to D.C together.