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The next day, Sunday, Lucas walked into his family’s home around noon. His mother had called him that morning, claiming there was an urgent issue she and his father needed to discuss with him.
He was convinced it had to do with the company. He could not remember the last time both his parents summoned him. If they were planning to gang up on him about taking responsibilities in the conglomerate, they were about to be disappointed.
When he walked through the front door, the housekeeper appeared to take his coat. “They’re waiting in Mr. Erikson's study,” she informed him.
The study? Definitely business-related.
A minute later, he walked into the room. His mother was pacing in front of a bookshelf, while his father sat behind his desk.
Lucas closed the door and approached the desk. “I’m here. What is it?”
S
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Two weeks later, Lucas was on a flight to New York with Amanda. It was mid December, and they were headed to the fall/winter fashion show. He had received an invitation to attend the fashion week several weeks before, and he had decided to take her along.As far as everyone was concerned, they were travelling for work-related purposes as the CEO and creative art director of Lemaiyan Fits.But Lucas had other intentions. He had been dying to get Amanda away from their daily routine, spend time somewhere they didn’t have to worry about someone discovering the true extent of their personal relationship.And, for the last two weeks, he had been grappling with the truth he now knew about her family. Should he tell her? His mother had appeared at his boat two nights after the meeting with his parents, warning him against sharing what he knew with anyone. Especially Amanda. She claimed that Charles had a pla
The CEO's Love 33
“Daniel would be so disappointed in you, Tyra. Your father was a man who knew how to get things done. The only problem was that he was too loyal to the wrong people. Maybe you inherited his weakness!”“I’m not sparing her, mother! It’s just… she has nothing right now!” Tyra exclaimed. “Rebecca has been calling all the shots at the company for the better part of this year.”“That wouldn’t be a problem if you worked on Lucas Erikson like we agreed, would it?” her mother snapped.“But I told you what happened, Mum!”“Right, you did. She got to him before you. Can you ever do anything right for once?”Tyra balled her hands into fists and glared out of the window. It was her father’s death anniversary, and her mother was more agitated than ever about her failure to make
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“I cannot believe this year is almost over. It’s been hell,” Amanda muttered as she walked into Lucas’s boat.It was the day before Christmas Eve, the first of a five-day break at the company.Lucas stepped in after her and closed the door. He said nothing as he placed the groceries he had picked on the way on the sink. He proceeded to unpack them into the refrigerator.“So, are you really going to spend Christmas alone?” she asked, taking a seat and placing her bag beside her.“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”“How can I not? It’s kind of depressing. This is your first Christmas at home in five years and you’re not spending it with your family. What exactly did you fight about?”When he had told her he would spend the next couple of days cruising on his boat, she had thou
The CEO's Love 35
When Amanda showed up to her father’s office the next morning with news of the blackmail, she didn’t for a second think that he would refuse to give her ten million dollars to ensure her reputation wasn’t stained forever. She was prepared for a long lecture. Scolding. She had imagined he would be truly livid that she was in the middle of another scandal, with another CEO of her company. She was ready to take whatever judgement and anger he passed. But she never thought he would think ten million dollars were too much a price to pay to protect his daughter’s image. Even when she pointed out that the amount was only a tenth of her mother’s inheritance, which she had entrusted to him, he didn’t budge. He insisted ten million dollars was too much, that the business would suffer if he suddenly forked out that much money. When he commented
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On the evening of the day after Christmas, Amanda’s doorbell rang. When she went over to check the monitor, she was surprised to find Keith standing outside the building, awaiting her clearance. Sighing, she pressed the intercom button. “What do you want?” “Let me up, Amanda. I have something important for you.” She rubbed her fingers on her temple. “Look, Keith. This is a bad time.” No time would have been a good time for him to show up at her apartment, but she had no energy to get into that. The day was drawing to a close, and she had just negotiated with the blackmailer to accept just half of what they were asking, then give her another day to put it together. Their parting shot had been—‘If I don’t get the money by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll release the video.’ “Trust me, there couldn’t be a better time,” Keith said. Then he lifted his hand. He
The CEO's Love 37
When Lucas got to Tyra’s apartment building, he recognized Amanda’s car in the basement parking lot right away.As he got closer with his car, he saw that she was in the driver’s seat. Parking his car next to hers, he alighted and walked over to hers.Through the window, he could see that she was crying, sniffling into a tissue. He gunned straight for the passenger side and tried to open the door. It gave way and he slid into the seat, eyes on her distressed face.“Amanda, what’s wrong?” he asked, cradling one side of her face with his hand and turning her to face him. His other hand lifted to wipe away wetness beneath her left eye.She dropped her eyes and shook her head, crumpling the tissue in her hand and dumping it in a mini trash bin placed in the cup holder.“You said you got the video, right?” he asked.
The CEO's Love 38
“What’s wrong?” Amanda asked, noticing how agitated Lucas seemed. She had just told him about her grandmother’s offer, and how she had met Bolton Group’s lawyer that morning. He had given her some documents to review, and informed her that Helena wanted everything done by New Year’s. After New Year’s Day, she was supposed to have her inaugural meeting with the company’s board of directors. She had thought Lucas would be happy to hear the news. Instead, he looked worried. He stood up from the couch and paced, shoving a hand through his dark hair. Finally, he looked at her, his gaze earnest. “Don’t accept the company.” Amanda frowned. “What?” “It’ll put your life in danger.” Amanda’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?” Lucas sat back down and took her hand in his. “If something happened to you right now, who would get what you have?”
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When Lucas showed up at Amanda’s building the next morning, she didn’t buzz him up. He was already worried because his calls hadn’t gone through when he called her after he woke up. Apprehensive, he punched in her code, which he was familiar with, but he quickly realised she had changed it. It was after a couple more unsuccessful calls that he thought to check her car in the parking basement. After a couple minutes of checking and double checking, he realised it wasn’t there. Which meant she wasn’t at the apartment. Where could she have gone? The office? To see her father? A quick call to the office revealed she hadn’t showed up there. He drove straight to the headquarters, meaning to go check whether she was at her father’s office. But when he got there, Charles’s secretary informed him that Charles was in a meeting, and no, Amanda hadn’t showed up there either. He called up people he never thought he
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