جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 70

I somehow manage to wriggle my way into dinner too. By the time Celia excuses herself to meet a friend, I’m seated at Maya’s dining table like I belong there, even though the tightness in her shoulders says otherwise. I glance down at my completely cleared plate and gesture toward it before lifting my gaze to her. “This was amazing,” I admit, and Adrianna beams instantly, leaning toward me like we’re sharing a secret.“It’s mommy’s secret recipe,” she whispers. “She said her mommy taught her.”I risk a look at Maya, but she’s already watching me with a glare sharp enough to slice straight through my temporary comfort. I sink back a fraction in my chair, raising my brows in mild surrender. “Impressive,” I say lightly. “A generational secret. I’m honored.”She doesn’t soften. “It’s time for bed, baby,” she says instead, her tone turning warm the second she looks at Adrianna.Adrianna twists in her seat to face me, her eyes hopeful. “Will you read me a bedtime story, Lucien?”Before

Maya Use me. “I—”I don’t know what to say. I’ve never had anyone tell me to use them…or offer to walk away from everything they’ve ever known for my sake. A part of me wants to cling to it, to jump on the offer of having someone like Lucien Moretti be at my beck and call. My own Superman. But I know better. I didn’t go through the past five years to jump at anything that remotely looks or feels good. I gently withdraw my hand from his loose grip. “Go,” I whisper, unable to trust my voice. Any higher and he’ll hear the longing in them. The desperation for something I never knew I wanted. “Go home, Lucien,” I say softly. “It’s late. I’m sure you have meetings and other things in the morning.”I know how stubborn and demanding he can be, so it doesn’t surprise me when he doesn’t move an inch. “I’ll go,” he says. “After you tell me why you’re turning me down.”“My father, yes,” he continues before I can open my mouth. “My fiancée too. I’m aware of all the variables. I also know

“Go?” I echo, shaking my head, because nothing about what he’s doing makes any sense. “What happened? Where are you going?”When he rushes out again, I toss the sheet aside and jump off my bed, heading after him. I catch him as he sprints through the living room, buttoning up his shirt mid-run. “Lucien!” I yell without thinking. He stops abruptly and turns back around.“God—” he groans, dragging both hands down his face like he’s trying to physically reset himself. He almost stumbles in his haste as he strides toward me, shaking his head.I barely have time to react. I flinch when he reaches out, expecting another vague gesture, but instead his hand cups my jaw, firm and warm. His other arm slides around my waist, pulling me flush against him before I can gather my thoughts.And then he kisses me.His mouth crashes onto mine, urgent and unrestrained, all the restraint from earlier snapping at once. The kiss is wet, heavy, demanding—his tongue sweeping past my parted lips before I ca

I walk out of my father’s house ten minutes later—without telling him what I’d planned to say in the first place My phone buzzes as I get into my car, and a tiny smile tugs on my face when I see who’s calling. “I wasn’t sure if you’d forgotten I exist,” Jamie says. “I was going to call you,” I tell him. “Where are you?”He chuckles. “I can be anywhere you want me to be. Your apartment? I’m an hour away.”My thoughts go back to a different place—smaller, cozier, with a room that looks like a closet threw up in it. A place that has everything I could ever ask for. “Sure,” I reply. “I’ll meet you there.”Jamie’s outside the apartment building when I pull up, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He gives me a cheeky smile when I notice him, pushing off the wall with a shrug.”Turns out I was closer. Your dad’s?” He asks before I can say anything, then points to my face. “The scowl between your brows. It’s a signature look whenever you’re around any of your family members.”

Antonio freezes.“What?”“Dad approved it,” Lucien continues. “Your approval wasn’t needed for the plan to move forward.”Ouch. Antonio’s nostrils flare. “You expect me to believe that?”Lucien leans back, his expression still deathly calm. I’m unraveling on the inside, though. Because I’m not sure what he intends to accomplish by telling the truth. “Believe whatever you want,” he says coolly. “It does not change the fact that she answers only to me.”Antonio falls silent. His nostrils are flaring, and I can see the slight tremble in his shoulder blades, like he’s barely holding himself back. But he doesn’t say anything. I have a thousand questions, but I’m not sure where to begin. “I see,” Antonio finally speaks up, his voice quiet. “I have to go.”He stands up slowly, his gaze panning from me to Lucien and back. His eyes are red-rimmed, and a vein juts out on his forehead, red and angry. “He’s not going to do anything,” Lucien calls out after him as he walks away. He stops ab