Novels by nugbleemily

Zolandria’s POVKatherine’s apartment smells like rosemary and something roasting when we arrive. It feels to homey as compared to the version of her I’ve built in my head. She opens the door before Lucien knocks. “You’re early,” she says calmly.“You said seven,” Lucien says. “I said seven,” she steps to let us in. “I didn’t expect you to actually be on time.”Something like a small smile moves across Lucien’s face, the ease between them not going unnoticed. The table is set for three, and the apartment is lit with lamps, everything feels softer than how yesterday’s meeting felt. Katherine moves through the space with so much ease for her age, and I’m surprised there are no helps or anything. She gestures as to the dinning table, we sit and she serves us. She doesn’t sit immediately, she just stands at the head of the table for a moment, looking at both of us, a vague expression plastered on her face. "I need to tell you something," she says. "Both of you. And I need you to let

Zolandria's POVI wake up touching my jaw, where his were last night. I lie there for a moment in the dark and feel it, and then I get up because lying there reminiscing about that touch is foolish. It’s five forty-three am.I make coffee and sip it standing by the window, looking down on a street where a cat is moving idly. Then I think about how rough Lucien’s voice had sounded when he said goodnight, with the look of want in his eyes.But my mind drifts to the surveillance footage and pictures that were spread out in front of me, and how Lucien had been at it for more than ten years, building something to destroy my family. I press my forehead against the cold glass of the window, letting both thoughts settle within my core.I should only focus on his cruelty towards my family, but somehow, I can’t. And that’s a problem.I order room service for breakfast and eat while looking at the city coming to life. Then, at eight fifteen, there’s a knock on my door. I open it, and Lucien stan

Zolandria's POVI don't sleep well because I wake up countless times during the night, my thoughts spiraling. I finally get up at six, shower, and make coffee from the in-room machine. I stand at the window in my robe and look at the city of Vienna in all its beauty; the cobblestones catching the early light, a woman riding a bicycle, a café across the street putting chairs out for the day.I get dressed, and step out, bracing myself for the day.He's already in the lobby when I get there, dark suit, hair perfectly styled. He's on his phone when I come out of the elevator, speaking low, and he finishes the call when he sees me coming.Looks at me for a moment."There's a café two streets over," he says. "Before the meeting."Not would you like to get breakfast. Or are you hungry. Just a command, he's already decided."Okay," I say.***The café’s ambience is welcoming with dark wood, marble countertops, newspapers on wooden holders, and the smell of coffee and something baking. The w

The bag on my bed is small, because I didn’t pack much. Two days, Lucien said. Pack for cold weather, he said, and it’s Vienna in November so I packed accordingly; two suits, one dress for whatever the dinner situation turns out to be, just the essential things. I've been standing at the foot of the bed looking at the packed bag for ten minutes, and I know I have to pick it up and go downstairs, but going to a foreign country alone with Lucien makes me nervous. There will be no barrier between us, no desk, no Kane at his post, and no Ida’s kitchen to come back to as a soft landing, just the two of us and whatever might fill the spaces in between. I pick up the bag and go downstairs.Kane is in the lobby in his usual clothes, and a folder in hand that he hands to Lucien when we reach the ground floor. "Webb's been pulled back," he says, without sparing me a glance. "Completely this time, not suspended. Someone shut the contract down."Lucien opens the folder and reads. "Who?""Stil

The floor is quiet by eight.Lucien left an hour ago, Kane said he had an external meeting and that he would be back at the house by ten. I'm still at my desk, working through a supplier reconciliation that should have taken forty minutes but has taken two hours because my mind keeps sliding.Webb. Damien’s family. Lucien’s revenge.I open the document, close it, and reopen it, then give up entirely. I shut everything down and leave for the house.…I enter the kitchen to make tea because I’ve had a lot of coffee for the day, and see Kane in the kitchen already, jacket off, sitting at the small table near the window with a bowl of something Ida might have made. He looks up when I enter and offers me a small smile that’s barely there.I fill the kettle, without saying anything, not wanting to ruin his peace."Ida left food," he says. "There's more in the pot.""I'm not hungry.""Eat anyway."I almost turn to argue, but I don’t have the energy for that right now, so I get a bowl, dish

I'm at my desk by five forty.Sleep has always been a great hassle, so I take what I get.She arrives at eight, and I hear her before I see her; the echo of her heels against the marble floors. I'm at my desk, files open, when she enters with my coffee, placing it on my desk without sparing me a glance, then goes back to her desk without saying anything. At around nine, Kane comes in with the intelligence report, finally."Castello," I say."Two things," he confirms, then puts the report on the desk and sits. "He's been in contact with someone in your investor network. Preliminary, we're still running the trace, but it looks like he's been building a relationship with one of the secondary Whitmore Group contacts for the last three weeks."I look at him. "He's embedding himself in the business network.""Looks that way. Not aggressively, he’s doing it carefully so that he doesn’t get noticed." Kane holds my gaze. "He's not trying to come at you directly anymore. He's building adjace