Chapter 54 54
Lucas arrived at the office already irritated with the world.
The kind of irritation that sat in his jaw, in the tight line of his shoulders.
He dropped into his chair, loosened his tie, and pressed the intercom.
“Coffee.”
Minutes later, the door opened.
Blair.
She stepped in quietly, tray in hand, eyes lowered the way she always did when she entered his space.
Lucas didn’t look at her at first.
“Leave it there.”
“Yes, sir.”
She moved closer, setting the cup down. Her fingers trembled—just slightly.
She didn’t notice the sleeve of her uniform brushing the edge of the cup.
The coffee tipped.
Hot liquid splashed over Lucas’s knuckles.
He hissed sharply.
“Damn it—”
Blair gasped.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry—sir, I—”
She dropped the tray without thinking, grabbing his hand instinctively. Her panic took over her body before her mind could catch up.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
She bent down, breath shallow, and before Lucas could stop her—
Her lips touched his skin softly.
She kissed the burn, then—without realizing—her tongue brushed lightly over his knuckles, intimate in a way that made his entire body lock.
Lucas froze.
The room tilted.
That touch—
That exact place—
That exact feeling—
His breath punched out of his chest.
“Blair—” he started hoarsely.
The door opened.
“Lucas, sweetheart—”
Olivia’s voice cut through the moment like glass.
Blair jerked back as if electrocuted.
Her eyes widened in horror when she realized what she was doing—what it looked like.
Olivia stood frozen in the doorway.
Her gaze dropped from Blair’s lips… to Lucas’s hand still clenched in Blair’s fingers… to the faint red mark on his knuckles.
The silence screamed.
Blair released him immediately, stumbling back.
“I—I didn’t mean— I was just— the coffee—”
Lucas stood up abruptly, chair scraping harshly against the floor.
“Enough,” he said, his voice low but strained.
Olivia’s lips slowly curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“…Interesting,” she said softly.
Blair’s face drained of color.
Lucas clenched his burned hand into a fist, pain blooming—but it wasn’t from the coffee.
It was from the memory clawing its way back into him.
That touch.
That instinct.
His mind whispered cruelly:
You remember this.
Blair didn’t wait.
The moment Olivia’s eyes shifted back to her, Blair turned and fled.
The door shut behind her with a soft click, but the sound echoed far too loudly in Olivia’s head.
Her fingers curled slowly into fists.
Nails dug into her palms.
She was smiling—still smiling—but something dark flashed behind her eyes.
An accident?
She didn’t believe in accidents.
Inside the office, Lucas exhaled sharply and rubbed his face, already regretting the tension in the air.
“It was an accident, Liv,” he said firmly. “The coffee spilled. That’s all.”
Olivia turned to him slowly.
“An accident,” she repeated, her voice light and amused.
Her gaze slid to his knuckles.
Still red.
Still damp.
Her jaw tightened.
“I’ve never seen a coffee accident that involved… that,” she said softly.
Lucas stiffened.
“That’s enough.”
She laughed quietly, stepping closer, slipping her arm around his waist.
“You don’t have to get defensive,” she murmured. “I trust you.”
But her eyes betrayed her.
They followed the door Blair had disappeared through.
As if memorizing the path.
Lucas gently removed Olivia’s arm.
“I need to get back to work.”
“Of course,” she said sweetly. “I’ll leave you to it.”
She kissed his cheek and walked out—heels clicking calmly down the hallway.
The moment she was alone, her smile vanished.
Her fists clenched again.
Blair, she thought.
Olivia walked fast—
The moment she reached her car, the mask shattered.
She slammed the door shut, fingers shaking as she pulled out her phone.
The call connected.
Her voice was low and Sharp.
“She takes everything from me,” Olivia hissed. “First it was Ethan… and now—”
She sucked in a breath, chest heaving. “Now it’s him.”
She threw the phone onto the passenger seat, gripping the steering wheel like she might snap it in half.
“No,” she muttered. “Not again. Not this time.”
The engine roared to life.
She drove without caring where the road led, tires screeching as she took corners too fast.
The city blurred past until glass buildings turned into rusted metal and broken windows.
The car slowed.
Stopped.
A deserted factory loomed ahead—abandoned and silent, swallowed by shadows and old machinery.
Olivia stepped out, heels snapping against cracked concrete.
She walked inside, rage simmering beneath her calm exterior, eyes already adjusting to the darkness.
“Come out,” she said coldly.
Footsteps answered her.
From the shadows, a figure emerged.
Olivia’s lips curved into a dangerous smile.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Olivia reached into her bag.
Her movements were slow. Deliberate.
She pulled out a photograph and held it between two fingers before extending it toward the man.
The man stepped closer. One side of his face was carved by a long, brutal scar that pulled his mouth downward when he smiled.
He took the photo.
His eyes lingered on Blair’s face longer than necessary.
“You want her scared,” he said, voice rough. “Or gone?”
Olivia’s jaw tightened.
Her grip clenched around her purse as images flooded her mind—.
Blair leaning over Lucas.
Blair’s lips on his skin.
Blair’s hands holding him like she belonged there.
Her jaw trembled.
“I want her scared,” Olivia said, each word heavier than the last. “I want her to remember her place.”
Her breathing grew uneven.
“She stood there,” Olivia continued, eyes unfocused now, replaying the scene again and again, “like she had every right to touch him. Like she wasn’t stealing.”
The man said nothing. Just listened.
Olivia’s nails dug into her palm.
“Every time I close my eyes,” she whispered, anger rising, “I see her mouth on him. Over and over.”
Her voice cracked—
“I won’t lose again,” she snapped, eyes blazing as she met th
e man’s gaze. “Not to her. Never to her.”
She stepped back, composing herself, slipping the mask back into place.
“Call me when you’re done,” Olivia said coldly. “And remember—”
“—I don’t want mistakes.”
The man folded the picture slowly.