Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Lucien
Rain hammered the windshield so hard it sounded like the sky was trying to punch its way into the damn car.
I wasn't expecting rain tonight. I wasn't expecting a lot of things like Valentina glued to the passenger window, refusing to look at me, her silence sharp enough to slice through my patience.
God, she irritated the hell out of me.
The way she disrespected me. The way she told me she was "still working," as if she could tell me to wait. As if she had any idea what it did to me when she pushed back like that.
And worst of all...the way I almost kissed her.
If I didn't have the last grain of sense in my body, I would've done the reckless thing dragged her right against the desk and tasted the lips she kept pretending I didn't notice staring at mine.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Even now with her sitting just beside me the image of what I'd do to her if she ever let me...it wouldn't get out of my damn head.
The rain thickened, blurring the road completely. Even with the wipers cutting across the glass, I couldn't see shit. My vision was practically washed away.
I cursed under my breath and eased the car to the side of the road.
She didn't say a word. She didn't even move. Just stared straight ahead like I wasn't even here.
Of course she was doing this because of earlier. Because I didn't show up for the meeting.
She thinks I left her to deal with it alone. But she has no idea. No idea that I only missed the meeting because I had to deal with a bastard from the Rossi Syndicate idiots who thought they could trespass into my father's trading grounds like they owned the streets.
The bastard is lucky he only lost a finger. That's what you get for being stupid enough to think you can challenge the Benedict name and walk away whole.
I leaned back in the seat, jaw clenched. Valentina still didn't look my way. And somehow... that annoyed me more than anything.
"Are you going to keep pretending I'm not here?"
The words slipped out before I even realized I'd opened my damn mouth.
Valentina's head moved, barely. Not toward me just a tiny shift, like she was debating whether my existence was worth acknowledging. Her fingers tightened on her lap, the only sign that she'd heard me at all.
I exhaled sharply, my pulse ticking in my jaw.
"I said stop ignoring me."
Nothing. Just the soft rise and fall of her breathing.
The rain drummed harder against the roof, loud enough to drown out the growl in my chest.
I shouldn't care that she was angry. She was the one who pushed me.
Disrespected me. Defied me.
And yet here I was, feeling something ugly and sharp twist inside because she wouldn't even look my way.
I dragged a hand through my hair.
"Valentina."
Her name came out lower than I meant rough, edged with something I didn't want to examine.
"What, Lucien?"
The rain muffled everything around us, turning the car into a small, suffocating world with only her breath and mine inside it.
I didn't plan my next words. Didn't even think them.
"You're pissed because I didn't show up."
I saw her jaw tighten before she finally turned her head fully toward me. Her eyes were bright with a frustration she'd clearly been holding in.
"You think this is just about you not showing up?" she snapped. "You've been stepping on me since the day I walked into that house. Acting like you can't wait for me to make a mistake so you can laugh and tell your father he was wrong... that I'm useless. That I'm just some dumb girl he married for convenience."
I said nothing. My grip on the steering wheel tightened.
She let out a bitter laugh. "Maybe that's what you want, right? For me to fail. For me to stand in front of those men and embarrass myself so you can sit back and enjoy it."
Her words kept coming, one after another, like a dam had been cracked.
"I shouldn't have even put my hopes up," she muttered. "I don't know what I was thinking, expecting anything from you. You can't stand me. You've made that very clear."
"You hate my guts, remember? You've said it enough times. That should've been all I needed to know."
She had no idea what she was really saying. No idea what it did to me to hear those words in her mouth.
I forced my voice to stay steady. "You don't owe me an explanation, Valentina," I said flatly. "As you said I hate your guts. That should be enough reason."
Silence dropped between us. Her eyes lingered on my face, like she was searching for something there. Whatever she saw made something twist inside my chest.
For a moment, there it was hurt.
Quick, faint... but real. Then she laughed again, and nodded like she'd just accepted a truth that was always waiting.
"Okay," she said, turning her face back to the window. "You're right. That should be enough reason."
I looked away, anger bubbling but this time, it wasn't at her.
Why the hell did I say that? Why do I always throw that line at her? I hate you. I hate your guts. When deep down, the truth was the exact opposite.
She messed with my control. That's what she did. She made me say things I didn't mean, do things I'd sworn I would never do. And I hated that. I hated how strong her effect was on me.
"Can we go home now?" she asked after a beat, voice calmer. "The rain has stopped."
I glanced at the windshield.
As if the universe had been waiting for that line, the heavy rain had softened to nothing. The glass was clear again, the world outside washed and still.
"Yeah," I muttered.
I started the engine and pulled back onto the road.
⸻
The car rolled to a smooth stop in front of the house. Before the engine had fully settled, she was already unbuckling her seatbelt. She opened the door and stepped out without a backward glance, and walked quickly toward the entrance.
For some reason, that pissed me off more than her yelling had.
I should've been glad. Keeping her at arm's length was a good thing. It kept my head clear, my life intact, my father unsuspecting. She was my father's wife. I had no business wanting her the way I did.
But as she disappeared through the door without looking back, a tight, ugly feeling settled in my chest.
It bothered me. A lot more than it should have.
I gripped the steering wheel once more before finally letting it go and stepping out of the car.
Distance, I reminded myself as I shut the door. Keep her at a distance.
So why did it feel like the more I pushed her away, the closer I want to get her under my skin?
The hot shower did little to clear my head, but at least it washed away the cold bite of the rain. I stepped out, wrapping a towel around my waist, another in my hand. I dragged it through my hair, the damp strands falling over my eyes as I sat on the edge of the bed.
The room was quiet. The kind of quiet that made Valentina’s voice echo in my skull.
You hate my guts.
That should be enough reason.
I scrubbed the towel harder against my hair, as if I could wipe the memory of her expression off with it.
My phone buzzed. I grabbed it and answered without checking the ID. “Yeah?”
Kade’s voice came through. “The deal with the Russians is on hold. They’re requesting compensation for Luca’s finger you chopped off.”
I sighed and leaned back, letting the towel drop to my shoulder. “They’re lucky it ended with a finger. They cross our border again, they’ll lose more.”
“So what’s the call? You want me to set up a meeting?”
“No. Let them sweat. They’ll come crawling back when they realize we’re their only safe route.”
“Alright,” Kade said. “And the shipment?”
“It’ll arrive tomorrow night. I’ll handle it.”
“Copy that.”
I hung up, tossed the phone beside me, and stood. I dressed quickly in a black cotton shirt and loose dark pants, nothing heavy. I wasn’t planning on sleeping anyway.
Leaving my room, I walked down the long hallway lit with dim sconces. My father’s study was at the far end, past the old portraits and thick silence that wrapped the house at night.
I reached for the doorknob. Just as my fingers touched the cold metal, the door swung open from the inside.
And she walked out. Valentina. She was dressed in a soft, modest sleeping outfit loose pants and a top that covered everything. Nothing revealing. Nothing intentionally tempting.
Yet my mind betrayed me instantly.
Thoughts scattered. Heat crept up my spine. Because nothing about her needed to be exposed for my body to react like it recognized her before I even had time to blink.
She froze for a half-second when she saw me, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. Calm.
Then she simply stepped past me. I swallowed something sharp and opened the study door, closing it behind me.