Break In

The rest of the week proved to be rather uneventful. Lucien would pop up here and there but he never stayed around for long. Things were kind of awkward, I’m sure it was all me but I felt awful about bringing up his past. The most I had gotten from him since that conversation was a few casual hi and byes.

As soon as I made it to work I pulled my computer up and started checking everyone’s time so I could print the checks out for the day. As I loaded the checks in the printer I began to feel a little nervous. Lucien had told me that it was impossible to mess up but if there was a way I would be the one to do it.

As I hit print I watched the printer come to life holding my breath until I saw the first one come out. I would have to talk to Lucien about direct deposit. Pulling out the envelopes I looked out the window wondering where Jax had run off too. I hadn’t seen him all morning and he would be perfect at stuffing envelopes.

I was just about done stuffing and writing names on the envelopes when I saw Damien pull up. I frowned, maybe he was just here to pick up his check. The door chimed as he walked in with his carefree attitude and sat down in front of my desk.

When I looked up at him he smiled, “having fun yet.”

Nodding I looked down, “not really. I was thinking about how ya’ll need to get with the times and direct deposit but then I would be out of a job.”

Damien tilted his head smiling, “I highly doubt that.”

Looking up at him it was easy to see why a girl would fall for him. He was handsome and he did have somewhat of a sense of humor. His downfall however was that it was near impossible not to think about what he did to Lucien. That was a betrayal on a whole new level.

“So Samantha, how do you like it down here so far?”

I shrugged, “I like it. It’s quiet.”

“It is for the most part. The biggest downfall here is the nosey ass people.”

I laughed, “yeah tell me about it. I’m like the new girl in school right now. Everywhere I go people stare at me.”

We were both laughing when Lucien walked through the front door. He paused looking at me not saying a word but as he continued down the hall to his office it was clear he was either upset or disappointed in me. Damien reached out flipping through my envelopes until he found his name. “You better go handle him.” I opened my mouth to speak when he stood up, “just so you know, I did what I did for his own good. He just doesn’t see it that way.”

I stared after him for a long moment before I stood up gathering the checks and taking them to the mailbox outside where the crew would pick them up. I had left both my and Lucien’s check at my desk. Tucking mine in my purse I grabbed his deciding that maybe I could try and break the ice if I took his to him.

Lucien’s office door was cracked so I decided to be brave and just push it open. I had expected to find him at the desk but he was standing up looking out of his window with his arms crossed in front of him. The fact that he didn’t move a muscle as I walked in served as a warning that he wasn’t too pleased with me at the moment.

Placing his check on his desk I stood watching him for a moment before I went to stand beside him. There was nothing of interest outside of his window, nothing but trees. Looking up at him I sighed, “I put your check on your desk.”

He looked down at me and nodded but then went back to watching the woods. He had been giving me the cold shoulder for a while now but this was different. If he was upset I knew exactly why. He had confided in me the reason behind his hatred of his brother only to come in and find us laughing together.

Could he be jealous? I watched him as he watched not sure if he was watching the woods. I had a feeling he was studying me. I let out a slow breath watching the muscles in his back through his shirt rise and fall with his breaths.

“Lucien,” I said barely above a whisper. When he looked over at me I let out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He sighed, “you haven’t upset me. I just don’t like to run into Damien. I shouldn’t have stopped in.”

I crossed my arms, “this isn’t about him. You haven’t said five words to me since the other night.”

He turned to face me a small smile appearing on his face, “It’s been a long week Sam. I’m sorry if you think I’ve been avoiding you.”

“I didn’t say you were avoiding me exactly.”

Lucien nodded crossing his arms, “I think you did?”

Feeling relieved that his mood had lightened up I crossed my arms looking up at him, “so are we going to argue about it?”

“I’ll just send your ass home,” Lucien said arching his brow.

“Cheater,” I said rolling my eyes.

He shook his head, “sometimes I get distracted Sam. I am pulled in so many different directions that once in a while I tend to check out. I gave you my number for a reason you know.”

I looked up at him, “to call off work right.”

He laughed biting his lower lip, “I can’t tell if you think you are funny or if you are a smart ass.”

Looking up at him I wanted to tell him that I was too afraid to text him. What was I supposed to say? I’d never been the one to make a first move and what if he wasn’t interested in me. I mean I thought he was hot but I really knew nothing about him.

Lucien walked to his desk turning his back to me, “so I see you had a nice chat with my brother.”

I glanced at him. Definitely jealous. “He asked me how I liked it down here and I just told him how I felt.”

Sitting at his desk Lucien looked up, “and how do you feel?”

Looking straight into his eyes I shrugged, “I like it here, I like the quiet.”

Lucien sighed leaning back, “do you have plans tonight?”

Shaking my head I looked up at him, “I wouldn’t even know what to do if I made plans around here.”

“I’m sure you could manage to find a lot to get yourself into Sam.” Leaning up he placed his elbows on his desk, “if I won’t interrupt you from you binge watching TV shows I’ll stop by later.

I faked shock, “I told you that in secret. How dare you use it against me.”

He shook his head, “keep on and I’ll ignore you for another week.”

“So you admit it now?”

Lucien looked up and me shaking his head, “why don’t you take the rest of the day off.”

I shook my head, “and why would I do that.”

He smirked looking down, “the sooner you go home and quit distracting me from my work the sooner I can come to see you.”

“Well then let me be on my way,” I said turning around only to stop at the door and look over my shoulder at him.

“To have only met Violet once, you remind me so much of her.”

“So now you’re comparing me to an old lady,” I said.

Lucien threw a pen at me, “get your ass out of my office. You knew what I meant.

Winking at him I disappeared out of his office pleased with the progress that I had made. Whatever funk he had been in seemed to have passed. Walking to my desk I made sure to shut everything down before leaving.

Stopping at the bank I went through the drive through and deposited by check. My thoughts were still on what had happened in the office. I could have totally misread our interactions but I could swear that Lucien had been flirting. In our earlier interactions I had just thought he was being nice but this afternoon I felt a little more of a connection with him.

Only I would move in the middle of nowhere and think the hot guy that I’ve only known for a few weeks would be flirting with me. I smiled as I remembered how he had thrown his pen at me, I liked the playful Lucien. The serious one could be a buzzkill.

Once home I laid on the couch reading a book finding myself nodding in and out. I hadn’t slept really well the night before and it was starting to catch up with me. I awoke sometime later feeling that something was off. My phone had fallen to the floor so I picked it up seeing it was almost five o’clock.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off but I tried to push it to the back of my mind as I walked to the kitchen to grab a drink. The minute I walked into the kitchen I froze. My back door was wide open and I knew for a fact that it should be closed and locked. I never used it yet I checked it every night to make sure it was locked.

Had someone come in while I was at work? No, I knew the door had been shut when I arrived home. Someone had come in while I was asleep. I began to shake wondering if they were still here. Without a second thought, I dialed Lucien’s number ready to cry when his voicemail picked up. I started to hang up but I thought better of it. At the beep I rushed my words out, “hey if you can I need to talk to you, I think, no I know. Shit, Lucien just call me.”

Half of me wanted to go hide in a closet with a knife in hand but the other half wanted me to go check room for room and make sure that no one was in the house. I swallowed taking a step forward looking around the counter when I jumped at the sound of my phone ringing. Seeing it was Lucien I quickly answered it.

“What’s wrong Sam? Are you ok?”

I frowned, “I don’t know. I’m really freaked out. I came home and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. When I woke up my kitchen door was wide open.”

I could hear a door shut and heard a truck crank up, “I’m on my way over. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about but wait for me outside ok?”

“Ok,” I said as I took off out the open back door and began to walk around the house. I refused to look up at the windows afraid to find someone watching me. I cussed myself for not grabbing my car keys. This was how people were killed in horror movies.

Lucien talked to me the entire time not hanging up until he was parked in my driveway. As he got out I rushed up to him. He looked down at me, “get in my truck and stay there. I will be back.”

As he went to walk past me I reached out to stop him but he walked past me and into the house. Getting in his truck I locked the doors feeling a little childish. I watched as Lucien stopped in the doorway tilting his head. He stood there for a minute before disappearing beyond my line of sight. I felt scared, I felt stupid, I felt like he was taking way too much time.

I let out a breath of relief as I saw him walking around the house. Unlocking the door I jumped out meeting him halfway. He nodded, “everything is ok but I do think we need to make a trip to the office and grab some new locks for your doors. Violet made a habit of taking in strays and feeding them.”

I frowned automatically thinking of stray animals but the realization hit that he must be talking about people. “So there was somebody in my house?”

Lucien nodded, “they are long gone, looks like they ate and left.”

We walked into the house together and I opened the fridge seeing that there were indeed things missing. “I don’t understand the door was locked. Did they break in?

Shaking his head Lucien looked over at me, “they used her spare key. It had to be somebody she knew. Someone she had fed before.”

I crossed my arms to my chest, “well then wouldn’t they know she isn’t here anymore?”

Lucien sighed, “perhaps, perhaps not. Depends on where they were traveling from.” Lucien nodded at his truck, “do you want to go to town with me?” I nodded beating him to his own truck.

We returned not long after with new doorknobs in hand. While Lucien changed the locks I cooked him dinner for putting him to work. After my earlier scare, I wanted to keep him around for a while so I took my time cooking fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and rolls. He finished long before me and sat at the counter watching me cook.

Even with the new locks, I was still shaken. I realized that I didn’t know aunt Violet at all, she could have been the crazy person my parents had always claimed she was. Taking a deep breath I turned to face Lucien. “Tell me more about her.”

He looked up at me for a minute before nodding. “She was a mother to all of us around the area. If you were hungry she would feed you, if you were hurt she would heal you. Violet was quite hardheaded but she was also the most caring person I’d ever met.”

Lucien paused looking up at me, “she had a lot of tragedy in her life. Her parents had always thought her different. When she was younger she had fallen in love with a man that for lack of better words could never be with her. She had conceived his child but lost it before she was full term.” I let out a breath feeling the pain that even Lucien felt as he talked about her.

“I always thought of her as a lost soul.” On the outside, she appeared happy but inside you could see how sad she really was. The only thing that ever made her happy was helping others. She had a...well she had a way with herbs.”

I turned around to flip the chicken, “so like, she was a healer? I swear this place is backwoods voodoo hoodoo shit.”

I turned around to see Lucien arch his brow amused at my words, “she only helped certain people, the ones who couldn’t go into the clinic.”

I nodded understanding, “I still say ya’ll are backwoods.”

Lucien looked down at the counter smiling, “yeah but I’m beginning to think you like backwoods.”

I turned around smiling shaking my head, “I mean, you do have your perks but next time I call you I expect for you to answer.”

He laughed, “yes mam.”

As we ate we talked a little more and when we were done he helped me clean the kitchen. When the last dish was put away Lucien walked up beside me, “so do you feel any better now that the locks are changed?”

I nodded yes looking up at him. He was so close and a huge part of me wanted to lean up and kiss him. He sighed taking a step back and I instantly frowned wondering if he was some kind of mind reader. “I have to go to a meeting tonight but if you need me call ok.” As I nodded he smiled, “I’ll stop by and check on you tomorrow.”

Following him outside I watched him walk down the steps. He turned halfway down, “try to stay out of trouble for me.”

I shrugged, “no promises trouble seems to find me.”

Turning back around Lucien walked up to me, “you’ve been spending too much time with Jax.”

Looking up at him our eyes met. My hands rested on his chest as he leaned down kissing me. The minute his lips touched mine I felt a rush of electricity flow through my body. It was like a million butterflies had suddenly all started flapping their wings. It had been unexpected but something I had been wanting. Lucien stood up straight looking down at me unsure. “Tomorrow?”

I nodded afraid to speak and ruin whatever we had just shared. As he turned I grabbed his hand, he turned around squeezing it. “You better get inside before those wolves you’re so worried about decide to come get you.”

I made a face at him but laughed releasing his hand and watching as he walked to his truck. Turning to walk back into the house I leaned against the door as I shut it. Raising my hand to my lips I smiled still feeling the tiny bolt of energy his kiss had brought with it.