AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m done listening.”
“Calm down, sweetheart. As pretty as I think your lips would look wrapped around my dick, I’ve actually got bigger priorities. If you’re down to fuck me so that I float your lease application to the top of the pile, I’ll gladly take it, but since I sense you’re a bit too much of a priss for that, I’ve got another offer for you.”
“Let go of me,” I ground out.
“Not till I convey to you that I’ll fucking ruin you if you don’t talk to your boyfriend and change his mind about some business between us. Don’t worry your pretty little head about what that business is – he’ll know what I’m talking about.”
“I know what you’re talking about, idiot, he told me all about the contract you signed without reading thoroughly,” I said, taking pleasure in the red that flushed Cam’s cheeks. His eyes were unblinking, on fire as he fought to regain his composure.
“Feisty girl. No wonder he’s been fucking you so long,” he sneered, wetting his lips. “If that pussy’s as tight as that tongue is sharp then – ”
“Fuck off,” I hissed, yanking my wrist from his grip. I felt my hand pulse with numbness as I paced past a group of tourists and into the street, hailing a cab.
“You’re brand new, Lia Pope,” Cam called from the sidewalk. “I might not be able to shut your boyfriend down, but you? I don’t even have to be in real estate to crush you, sweetheart,” he said jovially, his every word spiking the beat of my heart. I glanced hastily over my shoulder to find him still standing on the sidewalk, grinning wide, arms stretched out as if shouting a declaration of love. “Come on, beautiful! I’m rich! I have connections and you’re fuckin’ nobody. I know you know that, Lia!”
He was still shouting after me as I got into the cab.
“Change his mind, sweetheart. With those tits and that mouth, I know you can!” he shouted, laughing hard as my car peeled off.
30
LIA
The sound of a spoon stirring in a glass bowl never failed to calm me down. Under normal circumstances, a panoramic penthouse view of Downtown Manhattan as I stirred that bowl would be enough to coax me into a meditative state, I’m sure, but there were extenuating circumstances tonight.
Aiden Cameron, also known as Cam – the same Cam who had terrorized Lukas and his business for months, who had taken advantage of poor Tess since she was a teenager – had just tracked me down six hours ago, stopped me on the street and threatened me. And while it was in my nature to tell myself things were not as big a deal as I’d perceived it, there was no way I was letting my apologetic nature convince me of that this time. What happened today was in fact crazy and concerning, and the light bruise on my wrist was just another reminder.
Surprisingly though, I was mentally fine.
I was calm. It helped that after the situation happened, I had to throw myself into gathering the paperwork for my lease application. I had the distraction of Sara running around like a chicken without a head, alternating between anxious and elated about the possibility of my new store. With her help, I managed to get my application in within hours of seeing the retail space. We even had time for a round of celebratory drinks.
But at the bar, I didn’t tell her what happened.
She’d freak out and insist we go to the police and I didn’t have the brainpower to deal with that. I needed to keep my inexplicable calm. My brain had struck a perfect but fragile balance of juggling work craziness and relationship craziness, and I couldn’t afford a new drama to tip that scale. Between waiting on the word for the lease, booking time at the commercial kitchen and hiring hands to help me fill my first large order for distribution, I was suddenly at the edge of my sanity.
But at that edge, I was standing on steady feet.
I was fine and I could easily stay that way. I just needed everyone to stay calm.
“What are we making?”
I heard Lukas’s voice ring out from behind me, in the hallway. I turned to see him walking toward me, knotting a white towel under his hips. I smiled. “Nothing fancy. Just making some vinaigrette for the salad right now.”
He grinned, drawing his eyes up my black maxi dress before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. After opening it and taking a swig, he circled his arms around me from behind. “I could get used to this,” he murmured, kissing my neck. I giggled but upon looking back down into my bowl, my smile faded.
I couldn’t enjoy Lukas fully till I told him what happened with Cam this afternoon.
I had convinced myself briefly that it was okay not to tell him, especially considering my need to focus and be calm for the coming week of work. But the new side of me – the bolder, louder side that had no time for bullshit – knew it wasn’t safe to keep this kind of secret. Telling Lukas was hard, yes, but I had confidence in myself that I could reel him in – that I could stop him from flying off the handles.
So as I prepared dinner, watching Lukas walk all around the huge, beautiful house in just a towel, I tried to figure out how to say everything without sounding too casual or too alarmist. I decided my best bet was to have a normal conversation first, then ease into my bombshell. And it was easy at first, considering the events of my day even before meeting Cam. It wasn’t hard to sound genuinely excited while telling the story of the retail space in the boutique hotel because I really was.
“That’s fucking awesome, baby,” Lukas said, pulling my chair over to his at the end of the dining table. Like he had at the diner, he pulled my legs onto his lap. “I know you’re going to do amazing things. You’ve got as much brains as you’ve got beauty – which is a pretty fucking astronomical amount,” he laughed, kissing my lips, “so I’m excited to see what you do. I have no doubt you’ll make this brand into something big within the year.”
“Me too,” I said quietly, with a small smile.
“You don’t seem as excited as I’d expect.”
“Well, I don’t know if I got the lease yet,” I said. But I quickly winced at myself because while it was a valid point, it was still an excuse. I knew the reason I was in a tense mood and I had to just say it already. “Lukas, I need to tell you something.”
