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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
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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
The CEO's Love 36
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?”
The CEO's Love 39
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
The CEO's Love 40
“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t disclose the personal details of our guests.” Lucas cursed softly and turned away, grabbing his hair in one hand. He should have known this would happen. But he wasn’t going to let his trip down here go to waste. “Are there any available cabins? I’d like to book one.” If she wasn’t going to tell him whether Amanda was at the resort, he would get in and look for her himself. The receptionist adopted an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, sir. All cabins are fully booked at the moment.” Why was his luck suddenly so rotten? “But, if you’d like, you can get a day ticket. If not, I can check when a cabin will be avail—” “The day ticket,” he interrupted her. “I’ll take a day ticket, please.” “Got it,” she said, turning to her computer monitor. “Would you like to rent any gear?” “No, I’m good.” Thank heaven
The CEO's Love 41
When Amanda had opened the door to her cabin and found Lucas on the other side, her first instinct had been to throw herself into his arms. Ever since he told her the truth about her father, she had constantly craved one thing. His comfort. She felt… No, she knew that if he held her, everything would seem better. Just like back then when they first met. He had been there for her every time things went awry since that time, and never had he given her a reason to doubt his intentions towards her. But it was so hard, so hard to let go and give in to her need for him. Not when her mind kept reminding her of every time she trusted someone only to get betrayed at the end. First, it was Keith. Then Samuel. Tyra. And now, the last person she would have ever expected to betray her. Not to mention that her birth parents gave her away for money. It was as if every person she allowed to got close to would eventually hurt her. As if nobody ever cared enough to want to keep her around.Why should
The CEO's Love 42
Amanda was planning to make the drive to her parent’s place alone. She could no longer use Tom. He was on the company’s payroll, and she was no longer a part of that. After he had dropped her at the headquarters, she had instructed him to park the car in the parking basement so she could have an easier time leaving when she was done. If any reporters had already made it outside, the most they would get was sight of her speeding away. When she left Charles’s office, she took the elevator down to the parking basement. When she got there, instead of Tom waiting beside her car to hand over the keys, it was Lucas. Why was he there? She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. She needed to go looking for her parents before settling things with him. “We can’t talk right now,” she told him when she got closer. Looking around, she asked, “Have you seen Tom around?”Lucas flashed a car key. “I’ll drive you.”Amanda shook her head instantly. “I’m going alone.”He shook his head. “You just drove four
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