Lucas
Forty-Second Floor of the Bank of Tidewater
Downtown Norfolk, Virginia
He’d been gazing out at the harbor below, lashing against the docks, the murky water restless from the storm, the boats usually anchored in the marina out in the open water where they couldn’t be damaged.
He’d given up concentrating on work about six days ago because all he could think about was the dark man he’d played knight in shining armor to last week.
He was stupid to only give Thorn his business card. Now he had to wait and hope he’d hear from him.
Lucas downed the last of his fine liquor.
I’m rebounding. I’m thinking about Thorn Blackwell so much because I don’t fuckin’ have anyone else to think about.
That realization brought him to his next dilemma.
Did he go home to a big empty house and a cold bed, or did he just sleep in his office another night?
Staying again would do nothing to quash the rumors and gossip spreading like wildfire about him and his recent divorce.
Apparently, Lucas was spiraling, he was depressed, he was a functioning alcoholic, and more recently, he’d overheard that he was desperately seeking companionship online and hooking up in back alleys.
Maybe he should go on a vacation, out of the city, hell, out of the country. He hadn’t had a week off in years, and the time away from the office might do him some good.
Yeah, I need to get the fuck outta here.
When he returned, he’d sell his five-bedroom house and move into a condo downtown or something. Besides, it was Adam who’d wanted that monstrosity of a house, not him.
Lucas got up, put his crystal glass in the sink of his wet bar, and went to his desk to power down his computers.
He figured he’d go home and crash in his den for a few hours before he came right back to his office. Burying himself in his business had been the only way to keep his heart and his mind off losing his husband.
Lucas released a long, defeated sigh as he took his suit jacket off the back of his chair and turned off the lights. He was almost out of the door when the downstairs security desk buzzed his phone.
Who in the hell would be at his building this time of night?
It better not be Adam.
Lucas frowned as he crossed the room and pressed the intercom button. “Yes,” he answered.
“I have a man here in the lobby asking to see you, a Mr. Thorn Blackwell. He says it’s urgent,” the overnight officer answered.
“Send him up,” Lucas said quickly, his heart thudding even at the mention of Thorn’s name.
What is he doing here, and what’s so urgent?
Dare he believe the man had been thinking of him just as much as Lucas had daydreamed of him?
He hurried to his office bathroom and checked his appearance in the mirror.
He quickly ran his comb through his hair and gargled some mouthwash to get rid of the alcohol smell.
He decided to leave the first couple of buttons of his shirt undone before he shut off the light and closed the door behind him.
Lucas stood in the doorway of his office, watching the numbers on the elevator illuminate one floor at a time. The steel doors opened, and Thorn stepped out of the elevator in a pristine black suit and black dress shirt.
His jet-black hair was damp from the rain and pulled into a tight bun at the nape of his neck. His well-groomed beard had just enough trendy stubble to make him appear less pretty and slightly more rugged.
Their eyes met, and Lucas knew now why he was so enraptured with Thorn Blackwell.
It’s because he was all man, the complete opposite of his ex-husband.
Thorn didn’t need a millionaire to take care of him and be his sugar daddy. The look he was giving Lucas had nothing to do with his bank account.
Lucas held the door open and motioned Thorn inside, his pulse kicking up at the sight he’d been craving for nights.
When Thorn brushed past, Lucas nearly groaned.
A damp whoosh of stormy air with a hint of saltwater came in with him, the kind of late-night scent that made his cock take interest.
Thorn crossed the office as if he owned it, not stopping until he was in front of the wall of glass where streaks of lightning crackled across the dark sky.
Lucas kept the overhead lights off. Thorn belonged in this hour of the night, his silhouette outlined with shadows.
After weeks of aching for Thorn, burning to see him again, Lucas should’ve felt relief having him there at last. Yet the casual way Thorn stood there, back turned, as if Lucas’s obsession was nothing, as if Thorn left every man he encountered with the same feeling… It low-key pissed Lucas off.
Neither of them said anything, and Lucas was amazed that the silence wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. Maybe Thorn was a thoughtful man, an intellect who pondered his words carefully before he spoke them.
“I’m sorry to come by so late, Lucas, but I had a feeling you’d be here,” Thorn said, his voice deep and low like he liked. He also liked the way his name sounded coming out of Thorn’s mouth.
Lucas cocked his head to the side, curious. “Why would you have a feeling I’d be at work at three in the morning?”
Thorn dropped his chin to his chest with a soft sigh. “Because your friend Oliver told me you spend your days and nights here…ever since you and your ex split a year ago.”
Lucas blinked as he processed what he’d just heard, and then he was moving across his office until he was only inches from Thorn.
Lucas considered himself a smart man and was usually the sharpest in the room, but he was genuinely baffled by Thorn’s statement.
Oliver had asked him out for drinks, and Lucas remembered something about him saying it would be the opportunity of his life, but if Oliver hired Thorn to entertain him, he was going to kick Thorn out right before he went to Oliver’s house and whipped his ass in the middle of the night.
Yes, Lucas was horny and aching for some mature company, but he wasn’t so goddamn desperate that he’d take it from some high-priced escort.
Lucas stood in Thorn’s space and growled in irritation, “Explain.”
Thorn stared him in his eyes, and the fury that’d been building in Lucas’s chest began to fade.
God, why is he so gorgeous?
“Oliver Ackehurst was a heart who resided at my haven, Belladonna, after his divorce.”
Lucas thought back a couple of years.
His friend Oliver had been a mess after his partner left him, but Lucas had been so in love at the time that he hadn’t noticed when his business partner became distant and was no longer the life and soul of the office.
Oliver had stopped socializing and buried himself in work, kinda like Lucas was doing now.
“A ‘heart?’” Lucas prodded. He was thinking the worst, but he hoped none of the negativity flowing through his mind was true. “Are you some kind of relationship therapist?”
The side of Thorn’s mouth tilted as he shook his head slowly. “Not quite.”
“Thorn,” Lucas gritted, inching closer.
He wanted honest, forthright answers. He didn’t play games—hell, his least favorite word in the dictionary was coy .
Lucas was the CEO of one of the largest investment firms in the country, and he fired anyone who didn’t give him direct, confident answers to his questions.
“If you don’t give it to me straight, I’m gonna throw you out of my office, and you won’t be taking the elevator.”
Thorn huffed a breath of amusement as if he thought Lucas was joking, but the smile fell from his pretty lips and desire flashed in those dark eyes before he started talking, this time with more conviction.
“Oliver came to me because he’s your friend, and he thought you could use the services of my home.” Thorn’s gaze roamed over his face.
“Which is what exactly?”
“Healing.” Thorn’s voice was husky when he continued, his sexy glare dropping and holding on Lucas’s throat. “My gentlemen heal and mend broken hearts, Lucas. Like yours.”
Lucas let out a sharp laugh, though he wasn’t amused.
“Healing? What, so, you run some kind of brothel for the broken, is that it?”
Thorn stared at him with a deadpan expression.
“You think cooing and rubbing someone’s back can make them forget betrayal and living through years of a fucked-up relationship?”
He cut his hand through the air and stalked a few paces away, pacing like a man both pissed and curious.
“Don’t feed me any bullshit ‘you’re a heart savior,’ Thorn. That’s no one’s ‘ job’ and it can’t be what you do all day that allows you to afford a five-thousand-dollar suit and drive an eighty-thousand-dollar car.”
“I have no reason to lie to you, Lucas.”
He spun back toward Thorn, his body coiled tight, but still, that treacherous part of his heart—the part that had been burning for Thorn—ached to hear more of his pitch.
Thorn was completely impassive, staring through him as if he already knew what he’d lost. And worse, like he knew just how to fix it, if only he’d just shut up and listen.
“I built my empire with concrete stats, numbers, contracts, and real negotiations. I don’t do or believe in fairy tales.”
Fuck, listen to me. I sound like a drunk jilted divorcee.
Thorn didn’t recoil from Lucas’s sharp words, standing there, stock-still, like marble carved into a man, his dark eyes calm in a way that only made Lucas want to shake him. He was simply looking at him as if he’d heard this tirade many times before.
Thorn tilted his head, his calmness infuriating. “You wouldn’t be so angry if part of you didn’t already believe me.”
Lucas’s mouth opened to argue, but no words came…because Thorn was right. “Fine…tell me more.”