IChapter 25: A Tangled Love Triangle

Lucas had been in a foul mood ever since Claire's cold reply.

He'd turned down two social invitations hoping to take her to dinner instead, only to be shut down without a second thought.

A man with his pride wasn't about to chase her down and beg. So instead, he called up a few friends for drinks.

Just as he was about to text Julian to join them, a thought stopped him cold.

She turned me down without even thinking about it. Could that kid have something to do with it?

The idea alone was enough to ignite something ugly in his chest.

If those two are actually together...

Julian probably won't even pick up.

He dialed to test the theory.

No answer.

Lucas's grip tightened around his phone, and by the time the call rang out, he was already certain of exactly where she was.

He got in the car and started checking addresses Julian's known places, one after another.

The third stop, the residence near the gym, turned up something.

Inside, the atmosphere was anything but quiet.

Claire was pinned beneath Julian on the sofa, the two of them thoroughly wrapped up in each other, her face flushed with heat.

She gripped his chest, breathless, murmuring, "Julian, that's enough for now."

He pressed a slow kiss along her collarbone, voice rough. "Not even close."

Claire laughed softly, tracing a hand along his jaw. "Your phone's ringing."

"Don't care." His voice was low, lazy, utterly unbothered. "Nothing on that screen matters more than you right now."

When he showed no sign of stopping, Claire huffed, pushing lightly at his chest with mock exasperation, though the smile in her eyes gave her away completely.

"You're impossible. I'm exhausted."

"As long as your husband's not tired, we're fine." Julian grinned, wicked and pleased with himself, leaning in to murmur something low against her ear.

That's when the door slammed open.

Both of them looked up sharply.

Claire's eyes locked onto the figure in the doorway, and her whole body went rigid.

Julian's brow furrowed in surprise he'd given Lucas fingerprint access to every property he owned, old habit from years of unannounced visits between friends. He'd never expected it to backfire quite this spectacularly.

Lucas stood frozen in the doorway, his face a mask of barely contained fury, his eyes locked on the two of them with an intensity that made the whole room feel colder.

Claire stared back at him, mortified.

Of all the ways for this to happen.

Panic flooded through her, and she scrambled upright, yanking at her clothes, her face burning with humiliation.

"Julian." Her voice came out sharp now, urgent. "Get up. Now."

He barely reacted, glancing toward the door with the mild irritation of a man interrupted mid-thought rather than caught in any real crisis.

Lucas started toward them, jaw tight, murmuring something under his breath that neither of them quite caught.

Claire pushed at Julian's shoulder, desperate to get some distance between them before Lucas closed the gap entirely.

Julian, for his part, barely spared Lucas a glance, entirely unbothered by his sudden appearance as if the man storming across his own living room barely registered as a problem worth addressing.

If anything, his indifference read as its own kind of provocation.

Lucas reached the sofa, stopping just short of them, his gaze flicking between Claire and Julian with an expression somewhere between disbelief and open fury.

For a long moment, nobody said anything at all.