Chapter 2 The Bravata boss searching
Across the city…
Lucy pressed her back against her apartment door the second she shut it.
Her heart was still pounding. Her hands still shaking from the fight—no, not from the fight.
She’d been in fights before.
From Lucas DeLuca.
From the way he looked at her.
Like he saw straight through all her masks.
“Stupid,” she muttered, tossing her hood aside.
“You should’ve left faster.”
She walked to the bathroom sink and splashed water on her face, avoiding her reflection.
Her double life was becoming dangerous in ways she hadn’t planned for.
Saving strangers was one thing.
Saving the mafia boss’s sister? That was a complication she really didn’t need.
She exhaled, gripping the edges of the sink.
“Lucas DeLuca can’t find you,” she whispered to herself.
“No names. No traces. No connections.”
She needed sleep if she was to function at work tomorrow.
Work where she was just a normal office worker, hidden in the shadows of those around her.
That’s how she like things fading into the background.
Next day Lucy went about her normal routine, grabbing her latte on her way to the office.
Her phone buzzed.
She froze.
Unknown number.
Her stomach twisted.
Lucy stared at the phone for three seconds before answering, should she answer it, only her informant had her number. She hit the answer button.
“…Hello?”
A deep, familiar voice slid through the speaker.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
Her heart stopped.
Lucas
She cut the line and hurried on her way. How did he get her number, what did he want, did he thinks she was involved in some way.
She needed to avoid him and hopefully he would stop searching for her.
Seconds later her phone rang again.
She didnt answer it
Straight away it rang again
she didnt answer
so it rang again.
She was going to have to answer it at the next ring and deny it was her who was there last night.
As expected it rang again.
Lucy answered it this time.
"Hello"
"Don't hang up on me Lucy"
Lucy’s pulse jumped so hard her knees weakened.
He knew her name.
There was no use denying it was her now.
“How did you—?”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not here to scare you.”
His tone was calm. But controlled. Too controlled.
“I just want to talk.”
“Nothing to say” she said and cut the line.
She didn’t want anything more to do with him, he saw her, he knew who she was and she didn’t need any complications with her mission to bring the traffickers down.
The day went by in a blur meetings, conference calls etc.
Lucy went through the motions all the time she couldn’t get the piercing blue eyes out of her mind.
At 4pm she received a call from Janice, Janice was pa to the chief executive.
“Hello Lucy Hall, Mr Edmonds has requested you come to the board room 1 immediately” Janice said
“Why?” Lucy couldn’t help but blurt out.
“Mr Edmonds request” was all she said and put the phone down.
Lucy went for the elevator, it felt like it took forever to reach the top floor, all the while she is wondering why she is being summond, she had check the spreadsheet she submitted many times and knew there were no errors.
Stepping out of the elevator Lucy could feel the tension rolling off her shoulders, ‘well might as well get this over with she thought’
Approaching the reception desk Jenny the receptionist recongised her, looked up and said “Mr Edmonds said for you to go straight through”
Lucy straightenend her back and approached the boardroom, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.
She knocked once and opened the door.
The air left her lungs, how she walked forward she has no idea.
There sat around the meeting table was Mr Edmonds but it wasn’t him that took her breath steady away.
Sat next to him like they were old friends was Lucas.
Radiating power and authority.
“Ah Lucy thank you for coming, allow me to introduce you to Mr DeLuca,
Mr DeLuca this is Lucy Hale who is our best corporate analyst and I am sure will be able to help you with your query.
Lucas still staring at her totally expression less and nodded at her.
“Thank you Mr Edmonds I can take it from here”
“Oh right ok well thank you Mr DeLuca I will leave you in Lucy’s very capable hands”
Mr Edmonds left the boardroom and Lucy felt he took all the air in the room with him.
She stood there motionless as he stared at her.
Ok she needed to pull herself together.
“So Mr DeLuca what can I help you with?”
He said nothing, just still stared at her.
She could feel her heart pounding and thought any minute her legs were going to give way.
“Mr Edmonds tells me you are his best analyst?, It appears you are good at a number of things”
She ignored his last comment, trying to keep her voice steady she said
“What exactly do you need help with?”
He stared at her
“Now there is an interesting question”
“Why don’t we start with talking about last night”