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“I’m fucking sorry, alright?” she said in her usual snarky tone, then tried to wrench away from me, but I wouldn’t let her.
I yanked her back around until she was facing me, and I couldn’t work out what she was thinking as I met her eyes, still trying to squirm her way from my grip.
“You must be insane,” I hissed. “Climbing in bed with me. Absolutely fucking insane.”
“Yeah, well, I probably am,” she said, and gave up the fight.
She slumped down and let out a sigh, and I found myself staring at her in a whole new way. Brave little bitch. That sassy little cow had climbed into bed with me. Next to me. Because she wanted to, not because she was dragged there. She really did have some fire in her.
My cell vibrating on the bedside table pulled me back to my senses. Crap. Eleven missed calls from various people at Morelli Holdings . . . and one of them was my father. Holy fucking shit, one of them was my father.
I jumped from the bed and rushed for a shirt from the wardrobe, not even time for a shower.
“We’ll talk about this when I get back,” I growled at her. “Don’t you dare think this is some kind of normal.”
“Like I’d ever think this is normal,” she said. “Why don’t you drop me in the city on your way back through? Then at least we stand some chance of going back to some kind of damn normal.”
I scoffed at her. “Like I’m ever going to drop you back in the fucking city, Elaine. Nothing’s changed because we had a bit of a chat in the kitchen last night.”
“And ate some pasta,” she added, and there it fucking was again, that cheeky smile. “Don’t forget the wonders of slicing salami just right, Lucian. We’re almost besties now, I’m sure.”
“Fuck you,” I said and pulled my pants on.
Still, I didn’t hurt her. I left her cross-legged on my bed, in my damn shirt, with her messy blonde curls, looking like a night before conquest, even though I’d never had one. Hunter Sparro would do his damn best-mate mockery if he had any idea. That and call me the craziest prick on the whole damn planet.
I didn’t say goodbye and neither did she. I raced out of there and slammed the door without so much as a coffee or a look behind me. I was smoothing my hair down in the rearview as I pulled away from that bullshit place. Traffic was a fuck-up as I made my way into the city, and I tried to play it cool as I returned the calls on my cell. All except my father’s. I didn’t return the call from my father.
I never lied. Ever. It was my main rule of life. Right from the beginning, as a tiny little boy, I didn’t lie. I’d seen an idiot kid at kindergarten lying every day, and I despised him for it, hating everything about him and his bullshit. Hell knows why it offended me so much, but it did. It offended me enough to call him out and give him a black eye. Lucian Morelli never lied. It was my rule. My rule that would never be broken.
I imagine that’s why my guts were so twisted up as I neared Morelli Holdings. I had no idea what the hell I was going to say to my father when he started asking questions.
As it turned out, I didn’t have all that long to think about it.
He was already waiting for me when I arrived.27ElaineI stayed in Lucian’s bed for a long while after I heard him disappear. His bed was much more comfortable than the one along the landing – no surprise there – but it was about more than that. It smelled like him. The covers smelled like the beautiful monster. I was engulfed by the scent of the beautiful monster. I could’ve stayed there for days like a schoolgirl with a stupid damn crush.
I finally dragged myself downstairs when the morning was truly underway, dropping myself onto the sofa and switching on the TV like I was a lazy teenager as well as one with a crush. The news channels were still blaring about my disappearance. There were randoms commenting and speculating on what had happened to me, and a police helpline to call with any information. My family were plastered all over the channels, giving gushing tearful requests for people to find me, as fake as they usually were. Well, apart from Harriet. Harriet was anything but fake as she talked about how important I was to her and how desperate she was for me to come home. It ate me up inside to think she was probably crying for me through every minute of the day.
