CHAPTER FIVE

—LENA:

When I woke up the next morning, I kept replaying the night before in my head. Every look and touch from him was still ghosting over my body. Sebastien usually allowed me to come in by noon after nights like that, but I was kind of afraid he’d fire me after what happened.

I stalked into the kitchen, half dressed, and found my roommate Daisy staring at the TV screen, a look of quiet horror on her face. I had a piece of toast in my mouth, so the words came out muffled. “Wha' wrog?”

“They found another body,” She said, “Under the bridge. Same place as the last one. They said the body had all its blood drained out.”

“Just like the last ones.” I shivered.

She turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Apparently there are no obvious wounds. Do you still think they’re animal attacks?”

“Of course.” I rolled my eyes. “What else would they be? Vampires?”

“You think I’m crazy, but that’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

I scoffed. “You sound like a conspiracy theorist. Vampires don’t exist, and you’ve got to stop reading all those fantasy books.”

Before she could say anything else, I grabbed another slice of toast and breezed out of the apartment. My condolences to the victims, but vampire attacks were just so stupidly unrealistic. Like creatures of the night actually existed. Right, sure.

“Mr. Vale’s not in right now.” Celine said at the reception, looking me up and down.

“What?” I froze. “Mr. Vale doesn’t go out during the day.”

“Well he practically lives in this office, and he isn’t here right now. So yeah, he’s out.” She glanced down at her system, frowning. “Welp, he just sent a message saying to dismiss you if you came in today.”

“Dismiss?” I blinked, taken aback. “Like, I’m fired?”

“What? No.” She cocked a brow. “Are you slow? He’s giving you the day off. He did send a list of errands, though–like picking up his outfit for the office party tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Relief washed over me. I still had my job. “Okay.”

“He also says to tell you that you have to be at the office party tomorrow. It’s an order or whatever.”

I already knew that. He’d mentioned a couple of times that if he was forced to socialize with everyone on his payroll, then I had to as well. Saturday night came in the blink of an eye. I was putting on my shoes by the front door when Daisy stopped me to hand me a small bottle.

I looked at it, then looked back at her. “What is this? I know the city’s not so safe right now, but I don’t think pepper spray is going to stop a serial killer.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “It’s garlic powder.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you’re still on this vampire bullshit?” I pushed the bottle back into her hands but she stepped back.

“Just hold it with you. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

I shook my head, but stuffed the bottle in my bra. My Uber was waiting outside, and by the time I pulled up to the event hall, the party was in full swing.

I was dressed in a blood red evening gown that draped down to my ankles with a plunging V neck that showed off my cleavage. The fabric clung to my curves, and I felt sexy as hell. I paired it with silver heels, matching my accessories and hairpin. As I stepped in, I prayed that I wasn’t overdressed.

There were looks as soon as I stepped in. I wasn’t overdressed thank God, but as Sebastian’s longest running personal assistant, I was subject to a lot of gossip. No personal assistant had lasted more than a week with him, so it was no surprise they all thought I was sleeping with him.

I mean, yes, I wanted him to fuck me but that had nothing to do with my job. No matter what he said that night. Even remembering it had me fuming with anger. Fuck him for ruining what could have been the hottest night of my life by being a complete dickhead.

“Lena.” A voice called from behind me when I reached the bar.

It was Jeremy from IT. A tall blonde man just a couple years older than me. He was a little bit weird, but he was nice enough.

“Hi Jeremy.” I called back, “Nice tux.”

“Thanks.” he grinned, looking me from head to toe. He whistled. “Wow, you look absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you.” I blushed despite myself. It felt good to be noticed, even if it wasn't by the man I actually wanted, but he was nowhere to be found.

He saddled up next to me and ordered martinis on the rocks for us both.

“So,” he said when the bartender left, “How’s it been working for the almighty Sebastian Vale? Has he requested your firstborn son yet?”

“HA.” I barked, “Close enough.” I thought of that night, and my mood soured. “He’s kind of a bitch though.” Even though if he walked through that door and asked me to suck his cock, I’d drop to my knees in a heartbeat.

Jeremy looked like he was about to say something, but suddenly the room went quiet as the front doors opened and Sebastien walked in. He was devastatingly handsome, and he knew it. He was in a deep royal blue tuxedo with silver accents. It clung to his body in all the right places, accentuating his tall lean figure. His hair, dark as ink, was slicked to the back.

I had a very visceral memory of running my hand through it as he fondled my tits hard enough to bruise. I swallowed down my arousal at the same time he glanced around the room and immediately locked eyes with me.

My breath caught in my chest, for a moment I considered forgiving him for being an asshole and finding him as soon as I could, but then the crowd parted, and I saw the woman draped on his arm.

Tall, slender, hair like night, doll skin, she was drop-dead gorgeous, with curves for days, and a really nice rack filling out the ridiculous corset she had on.

“Oh wow.” Jeremy’s voice was awestruck beside me. “Who’s she?”