Chapter 106 106. Unit 4D
Lucien's POV
I grabbed her hand the moment she wanted to charge at Nadia who had turned away again. My grip on her wrist was firm but careful. Her pulse beat hard against my fingers.
"She's walking away like she did nothing!" Camila snapped, her chest rising and falling fast. "She helped ruin my life and can't even say sorry?"
I stepped closer, using my body to block her line of sight to Nadia's retreating figure. "Look at me, Fiera."
Her eyes dragged up to mine, bright with anger and hurt.
"An apology from someone like her is nothing. We'll deal with her, I promise you."
"But I don't want to deal with her! I don't want a messy battle. I just... I just want a goddamned apology. I want her to go on her knees and beg for my forgiveness for fuck's sake!" Her lower lip trembled after those last words and I pulled her to my chest.
I said nothing and held her tight while she breathed hard, until they evened and she wrapped her small hands around my waist.
"Come on," I murmured. "Let's get you home. We have work to do."
In the car, she fiddled with the USB. I knew we shared the same thoughts at that moment. Something so tiny, yet so powerful.
Streetlights rolled over her face, picking out a few lines carved there. She'd never looked more breakable and more unbreakable at the same time.
"How do we even start?" she asked finally. "We can't spread this over my coffee table."
"My penthouse would've been perfect if not for your judge, but at least I own your building," I reminded her as we turned onto her street. Her building rose ahead. "If you need to be involved in every step, we keep the battlefield close. Unit 4D is three doors down yours, and it's empty."
Her gaze followed the line of windows. "You're turning my hallway into a war room."
"I'm turning your hallway into the place we end this," I answered. "And tonight, we build the command center."
By eleven, Unit 4D was no longer just beige walls and an echo. Camila changed into comfier clothes first and then our items ordered for express delivery started arriving. Folding tables, multiple laptops, extra monitors, printer, scanner, shredder, locking cabinets. Cables snaked across the floor. The air smelled like dust and new electronics.
Rafael arrived with a backpack full of hardware and that spark in his eyes he always got when logistics and danger kissed. He set up a secure network, everything local and encrypted.
Maya wandered in at some point with a mug in hand and curiosity all over her face.
"What secret cult did you two start and why is it based in 4D?"
"Legal work," I responded. "The fewer people involved, the better."
Camila shot me a look. "Maya is in. She's going to help sometimes. She's already been protecting me."
"I won't talk," Maya promised, her eyes softening. "I know how to keep my mouth shut when it matters."
I was cool with Maya, but for such sensitive work, how could I forget the time she audaciously requested to see me and revealed her best friend's secret all because they weren't on good terms?
Still, I nodded... for Camila's sake.
"Then when you're in this room, you're part of the team. No chats or even jokes about it on the outside."
She lifted her mug in a mock toast. "Yes, sir."
By midnight, the weight of what we had to do pressed down on all of us.
Camila leaned against the wall, rubbing her temple.
"We have to check every file, cross‑check it, cut out anywhere my name appears, turn it into something my lawyer and your lawyers can actually use. I haven't even started and I'm weak."
She looked small and stubborn and tired, and I wanted to lift all of it off her shoulders and carry it myself.
"We'll need help," I admitted. "My guy in Morocco is the best with data I've seen. He could cut this down from months to weeks."
Her eyebrow arched. "Is this the same guy who helped you tank companies so you could buy them for cheap?"
I winced. "In my defense, they were very annoying companies."
She swatted my arm. "You're a jerk."
"You still love me," I countered.
She turned away like she was done with me, which I didn't accept. I caught her around the waist from behind and hauled her back against my chest, arms locking across her middle.
"Let go," she protested, breathless laughter sneaking into the words.
"Never," I murmured into her hair, and tickled her sides just to hear the sound of her laugh again.
She bucked and twisted, and we went down together, landing in a heap on the bare floor. She ended up sprawled half on top of me, cheeks flushed, her chest rising and falling fast, but for a good reason this time.
God, she was beautiful.
So beautiful and alive in a way that made something in my ribcage loosen. We lay there, catching our breath in the blue glow of monitor lights.
"By the way," I said, eyes on the ceiling, "I'm planning something for your birthday."
Her head lifted. "You know when my birthday is?"
"Early December," I replied. "You think I'd let the day the world gave me you slide by?"
A flush crept over her throat. "You're ridiculous."
"You like me ridiculous." I turned my head to look at her. "We're going to Vienna. Remember that masquerade ball we missed? The organizers are hosting another one there."
Her mouth parted on a soft breath. "Vienna," she repeated.
"You deserve everything beautiful and sweet in this life, my love. You deserve glitter and music and a night where the only thing you have to think about is which dessert to try first."
Her fingers curled into my shirt. She didn't say thank you. She didn't have to. It was in her eyes.
The glow dimmed when she spoke again.
"About your hacker... If Nadia can flip on Ronan after five years, what's stopping this guy from collecting dirt on you too? People like to have insurance."
She wasn't wrong. The thought had been scratching at the back of my mind for months.
"If he has been keeping insurance like Nadia and turns on me with everything he knows, it would be... messy. I trust him. But I have also trusted the wrong people before."
"Then we keep it small," she decided. "You. Me. Rafael. Maya when we need her. That's it. No one else touches this."
"It'll take longer," I warned.
She glanced at the stacks of files. "So we take longer. I'd rather be tired than blindsided."
We finally shut everything down sometime after two. The apartment felt different now, no longer empty, but waiting. I locked 4D's new door, liking how solid it felt.
"Ugh! I left my charger," Camila groaned. "Give me a second."
"I'll get it for-"
"Let me. Just wait here for me." She began running back to the unit before I could protest further.
I leaned against the hallway wall, rolling the tension out of my shoulders. My phone buzzed in my pocket.
"Unknown number at this hour?" That rarely meant anything good.
I answered. "Lucien Hayes."
A woman's nervous voice came through.
"Mr. Hayes? I'm so sorry to bother you this late. My name is Lila. I'm Jessica Bloom's creative assistant."
My spine went ice‑cold.
"We... haven't been able to reach Jessica for over a week," she went on. "She just went radio silent and has missed fittings, meetings, everything. The team is getting worried. I was wondering if you knew where she is."
Soft footsteps came up behind me. Camila emerged from 4D, clutching her charger, eyes immediately finding my face.
"Who are you talking to?"