جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

CORINNE“Are you sure you’re okay?” Benny paused halfway through my makeup, asking for what had to be the fifth time.I rolled my eyes. “I’m perfectly fine.”And I was telling the truth. Mostly.Still, Thursday had rattled me. Yesterday too. The necklace sat heavy in my thoughts, its sender still a mystery, its timing still wrong. Even after calling around to confirm Nathan’s movements, doubt clung stubbornly. I couldn’t say with certainty that he wasn’t involved, and that uncertainty gnawed at me.Staying cooped up in my apartment, pacing and overthinking, hadn’t helped. I needed the noise. The movement. The burn. I needed to sweat the anxiety out and nothing did that better than the pole.When we stepped onto the stage, my gaze went to the spot he had been seated at last weekend but he obviously wasn’t there.A burly man with a protruding belly occupied the spot instead, drink in hand, already too comfortable. The disappointment hit before I could stop it, managing to take me off gua

LUCIAN“Lucian.”My mother’s voice cut through my thoughts, loud enough to pull me back to the table.“Yeah,” I muttered, lifting my head.She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you even listening to me right now?”“Not really,” I said, a faint smile tugging at my mouth before I could stop it.She let out an exaggerated sigh, clearly unimpressed. Before she could launch into another lecture, my dad spoke up from the head of the table.“Give the boy a break, sweetheart,” he said calmly. “You’ve been grilling him nonstop since he walked in.”I shot him a grateful look.“But he keeps zoning out on me,” my mom complained, turning back to him with a small pout.I wish I can defend myself and say it’s all for good reasons, but it’s not. It’s everything I shouldn’t be thinking about during lunch with the kids and my parents.I can’t believe I spent nearly three hundred thousand just to get her alone. Three hundred thousand for a few minutes in a dark room, for the chance to see her without the sta

THREE YEARS AGOChicago, Illinois LUCIANI needed a break and some fucking quiet or something close to it. I knew I wouldn’t find that in this bar but I walked in anyway.The house had been suffocating. Everything about it. The silence and the memories. My mother was worst. I’d fired every member of my household staff earlier that day, I couldn’t stand the pitying looks and the not so subtle whispers that followed me from room to room anymoreWhen my parents came over, that’s how they found me.Sitting lifelessly in the dark like I’d been unplugged from myself while the twins clung to each other and wailed themselves hoarse.The twins were two. Barely old enough to understand words or loss. I don’t blame them. Anyone would pour their heart out if they were suddenly motherless, trapped in a world they couldn’t make sense of and unable to form a coherent sentence to ask why she wasn’t coming back.I just didn’t have anything left to give them.No tears. No comfort. No strength to prete

CORINNEIt was barely the start of a new week, and somehow Lucian fucking Delacroix had already managed to get under my skin again. I hated that I was even thinking about it, but there was no ignoring the way he kept looking at me.He’d looked at me this morning with something close to dark delight, if that was even a thing. Like he knew something I didn’t and was enjoying every second of it. Now his gaze felt different. It looks like he was trying to peel me apart with his eyes.Which made zero sense.I know for a fact that man does not know me. If he did, he wouldn’t be standing there silently brooding. He would’ve already pounced on the opportunity to be petty, confrontational, or downright annoying.So why exactly was he staring at me like I’d walked off with a controlling share of his precious empire?He’d ditched the tie today. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone, the fabric pulling just enough to show skin. Skin my hands had been on—there had been fabric between us—bu

CORINNE“Well, you have my attention, Ms. Sterling. Why did you ask to see me?”I scolded myself for letting my thoughts wander and stepped farther into the office, stopping a foot or two from his desk. Close enough that leaving suddenly felt impossible. I squared my shoulders and met his gaze. “It’s about the fundraising event.”He leaned back in his chair and released a slow, tired sigh. “If that’s what this is about, you’ll have to excuse me.” His eyes flicked back to his screen. “I already told you I’m not going to make it.”“But—”“But if it’s that important,” he cut in, “I can send George to represent me.”We both knew George would be competent and completely unremarkable but I’m also very sure the so-called sponsors weren’t coming for him.“I’m sorry, but it has to be you,” the words slipped out before I could stop them.His brows lifted, just slightly.Heat rushed to my face. “That came out wrong,” I added quickly. “I mean, your presence matters.”He didn’t respond.I pressed o