Chapter 72 72. Naughty Boy
It was past 6 PM when I pulled up at her apartment.
She was at the entrance, like she'd been waiting for me. The second she spotted me, she ran, and I barely had the door shut before she was in my arms. I held her tight, buried my face in her hair, breathing in that floral scent that always pulled me back together.
"I missed you," I murmured against her temple.
"I missed you too." She said, small and muffled against my chest.
We just stood there, holding each other, breathing each other in. After the ugliness of the whole day, this felt like oxygen after drowning.
Finally, I lifted her face in my palms. "We're going for a drive."
Her eyes brightened. "Now?"
"Right now."
\--Camila's POV--
I practically flew back inside. I grabbed the first nice thing I could find; an orange corseted top I'd bought months ago but never worn, a pair of comfortable skyblue jeans, and black strapped heels.
The legs were wide enough to hide the monitor and make me feel more like a woman going somewhere with the man she loved.
When I returned, Lucien's expression made the effort worth it. His gaze dragged from my heels up to my face, lingering on the corset in a way that sent thrills straight to my center.
"You are stunning," he said, taking my hand.
He led me to his car, and it was only now that I noticed it wasn't his usual SUV. Still sleek, still glossy black and expensive, but a low convertible that formed a tight knot of anticipation in my belly. Speed.
He opened the door and helped me in. Once we were both inside, he reached into the center console and pulled out a velvet case.
"I was going to give you this at the masquerade ball, when you wore your black dress. But since we never made it..." He opened the case.
I gasped.
A diamond necklace. One word formed in the delicate design: Fiera.
"Hey-"
"Let me." He took it from the case and leaned over, fastening it around my neck. His fingers brushed the nape of my neck, sending shivers down my spine.
But he didn't pull back. Instead, his lips found the spot where the necklace rested against my chest, kissing the diamonds, kissing my skin just above the corseted top. I sucked in a breath.
"My Fiera," he mumbled against my skin, his mouth moving higher. "So fierce... so beautiful... so fucking perfect."
His lips traced a path up my chest, my collarbone, my throat. Each kiss lit something alive in my veins. My breathing changed, my nipples tightened against the fabric.
"Lucien-" It came out as a moan this time.
"I love the sweet sounds you make when I kiss you," he nibbled at my neck now.
"You're such a naughty boy..." my fingers tangled in his silky hair at the back of his head.
He chuckled against my skin. "You have no idea how naughty."
Then his mouth claimed mine, slowly, but hungry. When he pulled, he didn't take his eyes off me as he fixed my seatbelt, before settling back into his seat.
I touched the necklace. "Thank you, baby."
His head snapped toward me. "What did you just call me?"
"Baby?" I said innocently.
"Say it again. Exactly like that."
"Baby..." I repeated, letting the word come out breathy and gentle.
His eyes darkened. "I love that. Say it more often."
He started the car, immediately resting a possessive hand on my thigh.
"What did you do today?" I asked.
"Boring stuff mostly," his thumb stroked circles on my thigh as he spoke. "Handled some contracts, fired someone who deserved it, had a meeting that went spectacularly wrong-" His tone shifted slightly. "And that SUV behind us has been following me since I left the penthouse."
"What?" I twisted in my seat.
Sure enough, there was a black SUV two cars back, keeping pace with us.
"Oh my god, what if it's like the last time..."
But he was smiling.
"Why are you smiling?!"
"Because our drive just got a lot more fun." He removed his hand from my lap and opened the center console again, pulling out a pair of dark sunglasses. "Put these on."
"What-"
"This car has a V8 engine that can go from zero to sixty in 3.2 seconds," his words oozed his pride and anticipation. "Whoever's following us is in for a ride they're going to lose."
He pressed a button and the roof retracted, exposing the evening sky above us.
"Let me show you my racing skills, princess." And then he stepped on the gas.
The car shot forward like a bullet. Wind whipped through my hair as we accelerated, the city becoming a blur of lights and sound. I screamed, but from the sheer adrenaline.
"Faster!" I yelled, throwing my hands up into the air.
Lucien laughed and shifted gears. The engine growled like a beast.
He maneuvered between cars with precision that was nothing short of exhilarating, shoulders shifting with each turn. He glanced at me, wind in his hair, eyes wild.
God, he was gorgeous.
One sharp turn made me grab the handle. I was laughing like a maniac. The SUV was gone.
"Fuck you ALL!" I screamed into the wind. "Fuck you, Ronan!"
Nothing mattered except the speed, the wind, and Lucien's hand squeezing my thigh whenever he wasn't steering.
He kept driving, I kept screaming until finally, he pulled into a parking lot and brought the car to a stop.
For the second time that night, we were breathless. I pulled off the sunglasses and looked at him. We stared at each other for a moment, then started smiling. The smiles turned into small laughs, then bigger ones as our foreheads came together, eyes closed.
"Did you enjoy that?" His warm hand came to rest on my bare arm, fingers trailing up and down.
"Enjoy is an understatement."
"Did I drive fast enough for you?"
"No one drives faster than my baby."
"Did I do a good job losing our stalkers?"
"The best job."
His palm moved to cup my face, thumb stroking my cheek in a way that increased my heart's stutter.
"Do you want to wait in the car for a while before we go in?"
I laughed. "I'm fine. No throwing up this time."
We walked hand-in-hand toward the building. I was still taking in the modern steel architecture when he asked, "What did you do today?"
"I added more scenes to my draft and made corrections based on your suggestions." I hesitated, then decided to just say it. "Miranda called this afternoon. The prosecution offered a plea deal. Plead guilty to manslaughter, eight years with possibility of parole in five-"
"No." The word was immediate. "It's stupid. That's why Miranda didn't dare tell me directly." He kept walking, but I could see the tension radiating through his shoulders.
He took one more step before realizing I wasn't walking anymore. He turned to look at our joined hands, then at me, and his golden eyes were burning.
"I think it's a fair deal, actually."
The expression that crossed his face was something between rage and horror.
"You can't be serious."
"Eight years versus possibly twenty if we lose at trial-"
"You didn't do this, so you're not pleading guilty to something you didn't do."
"Maybe it's the universe's way of punishing me," I said quietly. "For what I did to Victor. For picking the easy way out."
"That's bullshit, Camila. This shouldn't even be an argument."