CHAPTER 8

♥♥♥♥

“Watch where you’re going, girl.”

Lucian’s voice cut through the noise, low and sharp. The woman stumbled, her small frame barely balanced in his grasp before he let her go.

“I—I’m sorry,” she whispered, bowing quickly, her tone breathless yet soft.

Lucian turned to leave, but something about her made him pause. The tilt of her chin. The faint scent clinging to her….. warm, familiar, maddening. His gaze sharpened.

“The mask girl?” he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

She shook her head immediately. “You’ve got the wrong person.”

“You’re wearing a mask again,” Lucian murmured, his tone dipping somewhere between curiosity and challenge. “Who are you hiding from this time?”

But she turned away before he could take another step. Her movements were hurried, almost desperate.

Lucian’s jaw flexed as he watched her retreat. Suspicion burned quietly behind his eyes. He was about to follow when a familiar voice broke his focus.

“Hey, buddy!”

Lucian sighed. “Steve.”

Steve Hilfiger… his friend, Forty-one years, the vice president of Hilfiger Corporation, and the only man brave enough to tease him. His energy was the opposite of Lucian’s calm restraint…. loud, charming, a natural talker. But those who knew Steve well also knew to fear the quiet moments. His temper, when provoked, could rival Lucian’s.

“Hi,” Lucian greeted simply.

Steve twisted his mouth dramatically. “Hi,” he mimicked in a dull tone.

Lucian smirked. “I don’t talk like that.”

“Sure you don’t,” Steve said with a laugh as they walked into their private lounge.

They sank into the familiar space... rich leather, dim lights, the scent of aged whiskey in the air. Steve leaned back on the couch opposite Lucian, studying him with a smirk that said he was about to pry.

“What is it?” Lucian asked dryly.

“You should know I didn’t come here just to drink.”

“So what are you here for, then?” Lucian asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Steve leaned forward. “You went to the Carters’ place today, didn’t you?”

Lucian gave a slow nod. “Yes. Why?”

“Come on, man. Gossip. I need details!” Steve’s tone was playful, exaggeratedly eager.

Lucian chuckled. “It was just a dinner.”

“Just a dinner?” Steve made a show of clutching his chest. “Don’t kill me with suspense!”

Lucian shook his head, still amused. “It’s not my business to talk about their family drama.”

“So you’re saying the eldest daughter wasn’t pretty?” Steve teased, eyes glinting.

Lucian’s lips curved into something unreadable. “I’m not looking for pretty. I want a marriage. An heir. Not romance.”

Steve’s grin faded slightly. “You’re impossible.”

Lucian shrugged. “And you talk too much.”

Steve sighed dramatically, earning a rare laugh from Lucian. But then his expression shifted, his eyes narrowing. “You’re searching for someone, aren’t you? Who is she?”

Lucian shot him a look. “Michael told you, didn’t he? Is he your spy now?”

Steve smirked. “He’s your assistant, but I pay better.”

Lucian picked up a wine bottle as if to throw it, and Steve immediately raised his hands. “Peace, man. I bruise easily.”

Lucian chuckled, setting the bottle back down.

Moments later, both their phones chimed at the same time. They reached for them….. and in an instant, the air changed. The easy laughter evaporated. Their postures straightened.

Whatever message they’d received carried weight.

Lucian’s expression hardened, his aura turning sharp and commanding. He exchanged a single glance with Steve.

“She’s back,” they said together.

Without another word, both men rose and left the lounge.

***************

The boardroom of Meyer Corporation was tense enough to choke on.

The emergency meeting had dragged every executive out of bed. Their voices filled the room with anxious chatter…. until the doors opened.

Lucian Meyer stepped in.

Silence fell.

He was dressed in a dark tailored suit that framed his broad shoulders perfectly, his tie crisp, his every step deliberate. The faint light caught on the emerald green of his eyes…. cold, cutting, unblinking.

When he sat at the head of the table, the others followed suit like obedient shadows.

He gave a small nod to Michael, his secretary, who immediately dimmed the lights and switched on the projector.

A new report flashed on the screen…. one that made every director’s stomach twist.

“You all might lose your shares overnight if this isn’t contained,” Lucian said, his voice even, deadly calm. “Do you still want to sleep?”

A few of them flinched. No one spoke.

His tone was low, but it carried enough steel to slice through the air.

“Get to work,” he ordered, standing. “Before night falls, I want this handled.”

No one dared to move until he left the room.

Lucian adjusted his cufflinks as he strode toward his office, the rhythm of his footsteps echoing down the marble hall. Michael followed silently, already rolling up his sleeves, ready for whatever came next.

Throughout the night, the building pulsed with restless energy. Executives in clubwear and pajamas crowded the halls, faces pale under the weight of Lucian’s expectations.

No one dared to complain.

And across the city, in Hilfiger Corporation, the same chaos brewed. Steve was leading the charge — loud, commanding, yet efficient. His father, the company’s elusive president, was nowhere in sight, as usual.

But the message had reached everyone in their world…..

She’s back.

And that meant the game was about to change.

The city finally exhaled.

By dawn, the skyscrapers that had burned with light all night were dim again, their glass faces washed in gold from the rising sun. The streets were nearly empty…. shops shuttered, air crisp, a few joggers and vendors moving through the stillness. The storm had passed, at least for now.

Inside Meyer Corporation, the exhausted employees looked ghost-pale under the morning light. After hours of tension, the crisis had been contained; the emergency meetings dissolved into tired applause.

Lucian dismissed his staff with a simple nod.

“Go home. You’ve earned your sleep.”

Even his usually unflappable assistant, Michael, looked ready to collapse.

“Get some rest,” Lucian said quietly, loosening his tie as he stepped into the elevator.

Outside, the sun caught on his cufflinks…a fleeting glint before the shadows swallowed him again.

**********

His car purred through the quiet streets toward his mansion on the hill. The world felt lighter, yet his thoughts were heavy, drifting back to that masked woman….. her voice, her scent, the way her fingers had trembled when he touched her.

The memory refused to fade.

A vibration from his phone pulled him back.

Steve.

Lucian answered with a low, tired hum.

“ Huh, ” he muttered.

“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re already back at work, ” Steve teased, his voice bright against Lucian’s fatigue.

“You say that as if you didn’t pull an all-nighter yourself,” Lucian replied dryly, eyes fixed on the road.

“I give advice, not follow it,” Steve laughed. “Anyway, I’m coming over later.”

“You’re not welcome.”

“I already told your chef to make my favorite.”

The line went dead.

Lucian sighed, setting the phone aside with a faint smirk tugging at his lips. The man was impossible.

**********

The gates to his home swung open as his car rolled in. The marble floors of his foyer gleamed beneath the soft morning light. He shrugged out of his suit jacket, each movement deliberate, shedding the weight of command piece by piece.

In his bedroom, he paused before the mirror, staring at his reflection….. green eyes shadowed, hair slightly mussed, the outline of fatigue softening the edges of his usual precision.

He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, the fabric whispering against his skin. For a moment, he thought of her again…. the girl behind the mask…. and his jaw tightened.

The shower steamed around him, hot water tracing down muscle and memory alike. By the time he emerged, wrapped in a towel, he felt human again.

Dressed in something casual….. a white shirt, sleeves rolled, collar open…… he reached for the bed. But before he could fall into it, his phone buzzed again.

Unknown number.

Lucian exhaled through his nose, half-amused, half-irritated, and picked it up.

“Who is this?” His tone was flat, controlled.

A fragile voice came through the line.

“ Hello, Mr. Lucian. ”

He frowned. “Who is this?”

“This is … Layla.”

The name didn’t register at first. He sank back slightly against the headboard, brows knitting.

“Layla?”

“Yes,” she said, quieter now. “We met yesterday.”

There was a beat of silence….. and then something clicked.

His eyes widened slightly. “The mask girl?”

The air between them crackled, even through the phone line.

“ Ye… ye… yes— NO!”

Her voice stumbled, flustered, the sound of it pulling a faint, dangerous smile to his lips.

Lucian leaned back in his chair, his tone dipping low.

“So … you do remember me.”

The silence that followed was thick enough to taste.

Outside, the city was waking. Inside, a new game had just begun.