90

90
Lucien forgot to ask Kendall about the note.

So insignificant it seemed that he simply forgot. And when he remembered, he was already at work the next day.

Sitting there in his chair, his laptop open in front of him, his eyes dazedly stared at the screen. His mind was filled with images of last night. Images of Kendall, her hands on him, her lips on his skin.

He’d let her take the lead last night, and she’d only been too happy to act out her fantasies on him.
Safe to say, Lucien had nearly died watching her moan with effort as she tried to fit him in her mouth.

He swallowed hard, drowning in the blissful memory. It was strange that he was so obsessed with her. The feelings had come out of nowhere and now refused to leave.

But Justin had a point. How far would they take this? If they got public backlash, how would he protect Kendall?
Sighing, Lucien closed his eyes. Wait.

He looked at his phone. With a muttered curse, he picked it up and started searching for a contact.
He’d forgotten about Liam, that slimy creep.

In moments, Lucien was through to Howard Ghates, Liam’s father.

The conversation was brief and to the point. Lucien didn’t beat about the bush, and Howard didn’t play dumb. They came to a quick conclusion, with the other man offering an apology. Lucien rejected it.
When the call ended, he texted Kendall to watch her phone for a text. The boy was about to learn what happened when you lived to creep on innocent girls. That Lucien was the one to teach him was delightful to say the least.

Annoyed by the thought of Liam, he stood and picked up his empty coffee cup.

Not having a secretary was starting to get on his nerves. Getting his own coffee? He’d never had to stand and sit this many times since being in the hospital with Thomas Ashcroft when the late chairman had been terribly ill.
Even then, his daughter hadn’t cared.

Jaw clenched at the memory, he made his way out of his office. He’d get coffee and then throw himself back into work.
Passing Kendall’s table, Lucien paused. Something had caught his eye again.

He frowned. Another sticky note on her computer? Someone really didn’t know that she wasn’t at work.

Reaching over, he snatched up the note. The words scrawled on the paper nearly stopped his heart. In shock, he read it over and over again.

You’re Lucien’s whore. What happens when he finds out about your filthy past?

Slowly putting down his cup, he stared at the chilling message. Who on earth was leaving these notes? What did they mean?
The one he’d found about Bucky and Didi probably also meant something equally sinister. Threats. Someone was threatening Kendall, and she wasn’t even aware.

Lucien couldn’t let her find out. Besides…

Her filthy past? What on earth was that about? He needed to know.

Asking her was out of the question. He wouldn’t manage a conversation with Eliott without beating the man to a pulp. So, the only other way was for Lucien to wait for more notes.

Hopefully, they didn’t stop now. He needed every clue he could get to put things together.

So, making up his mind to shield Kendall from everything happening outside, he went to the office by day and went home to her at night. They ate together, debated over random topics, she showed him the equity research report she was compiling for a company Ashcroft was interested in, and they ended their nights in bed, making love until they passed out from exhaustion.

Lucien was the happiest he’d ever been.

He’d pretty much moved out of the house, which Sabrina still didn’t know. She’d refused to move out to prevent him from bringing women home, but he’d been the one to move in the end. Sabrina.

How would she react if she found out about Lucien and Kendall? She’d feel betrayed for sure. Lucien suspected she would even disown him as her father. Well deserved, he’d fallen for her best friend. A woman young enough to be his daughter.

But because Lucien was stressed enough over the anonymous notes, he tried not to think of anything else that would exhaust him. If he tried to figure it all out at the same time, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy his time with Kendall. And that was what he wanted to do.

No matter what happened, he had Kendall right now. And he wanted to enjoy their time together, regardless of how long or short it would be.

Judging by the notes, their time together seemed shorter every day.

Another one came in.

Around lunchtime, Lucien stood before Kendall’s table and snatched off another note. His chest was tight when he read it, and once the words sank in, his eyes widened in shock.

Bitter dread filled his gut, clouding his mind with thoughts. What exactly was going on? He hadn’t known what to expect, but… this?

Do you miss the Club Riviere?

Swallowing hard, he slowly sat on the table, staring at the note. Club Riviere.

That was a hostess club. Lucien didn’t know how he knew that, but he must’ve heard it somewhere. Why would Kendall be getting such a note? It wouldn’t be possible for her to have been in such a place. She was only sixteen when they’d met. At what age could she possibly have been at Club Riviere?

But, more than that… who on earth was leaving these notes?!

Cursing, Lucien looked around at the empty office, clenching his jaw in frustration. How come he never heard them come in? These notes just materialized out of thin air like some curse and couldn’t be traced.
Was it somebody at the company? Someone who knew Kendall’s history.

He tensed. And someone who knew that there could be something between him and Kendall.

You’re Lucien’s whore.

The words from the previous note echoed through his mind, heating his blood with rage. Rage at the invisible blackmailer. Rage at himself.

And at Kendall.

She had lied to him. He’d tried to ignore it for as long as he could, telling himself he’d deal with it later. But now… he couldn’t.
A few days ago, he might have been able to forgive her. He’d thought Eliott could have hurt her in the past, that maybe she’d been too afraid to tell him.
But now… the idea that she might have been deliberately hiding things gnawed at him. If she’d really been at Club Riviere, there was far more to uncover than he’d anticipated.

With a start, Lucien suddenly remembered.
He remembered where he’d heard about Club Riviere.

He rushed to get his phone out, heart pounding as he searched his contacts and dialled a number. The call was quickly answered.

“Lucien. I’ve been meaning to call you.”

“Carmell, I have a question,” Lucien interrupted. “Can you fly down today? We need to talk.”

There was a pause. “About?”

He only hesitated for a moment. “When you were working… it was at Club Riviere, wasn’t it?”