Chapter 22 Lucian
LUCIAN
The conference room door slammed behind me with enough force to rattle the glass walls, but it wasn't nearly loud enough to drown out Daniel's voice echoing in my head.
Twenty years of friendship, two decades of building this company together, and he'd sat across from me with cold eyes and delivered Viktoria's poison to me like it was medicinal.
"The board is concerned about your judgment, Lucian. These rumors aren't going away, and shareholders are getting nervous. Maybe it's time to consider a temporary leave of absence while we sort this out."
Temporary. Right. Nothing was ever temporary when vultures circled.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone, fury coursing through my veins.
Daniel Mercer, the man who'd stood beside me through every acquisition, every hostile takeover, every late night when we'd built Cross Capital from nothing—he was caving to pressure from my ex-wife.
Viktoria had him by the balls, and he was choosing self-preservation over loyalty. She couldn’t get to me by her sickening intimidation and threats, so she was threatening him too, and with the added pressure, she knew I'd cave.
I scrolled to Tessa's number without thinking, my thumb hovering over her contact. We usually met at the Marriott downtown, neutral territory that felt safer than my penthouse.
But tonight, I couldn't stomach the idea of another sterile hotel room, another hour stolen on the margins of my real life.
I wanted her in my bed and in my arms all night where she belonged.
The call connected on the second ring.
"Hey." Her voice was soft, cautious. She could read my moods better than anyone. I didn't call her unless it was absolutely necessary, favoring texts as an easier form of communication, but I was livid.
"I need you at my place. Twenty minutes." The words came out more like a growl, but I was past caring about being careful.
A pause. "Lucian, what happened?"
"Just—please. I can't go to a hotel tonight. I need…" I ran my hand through my hair, staring out at the Chicago skyline that had become my kingdom and my prison. "I need to see you. Really see you."
"I'll be there in fifteen."
The line went dead, and I closed my eyes, letting the first real breath I'd taken all day fill my lungs.
I saw the light at the end of this tunnel where my rage would melt into desire and relief would come.
The elevator ride to the parking garage felt eternal. My reflection in the polished steel doors showed a man I barely recognized—jaw tight, eyes dark with rage and fatigue.
Daniel's betrayal cut worse than Viktoria's calculated attacks. She was my enemy.
I'd expected her venom. But him?
We'd shared bourbon and war stories, celebrated victories and mourned losses together. Now he was willing to sacrifice me to save his own position.
Traffic moved at a crawl through downtown, every red light an exercise in restraint.
My knuckles went white gripping my phone as the driver navigated traffic while I replayed the meeting.
The way Daniel avoided eye contact when he delivered his ultimatum. How the other board members shifted uncomfortably, waiting to see which way the wind would blow.
Twenty years of building an empire, and it could all crumble because of gossip blog speculation and my ex-wife's thirst for revenge.
By the time I reached my penthouse, my entire body felt the tension.
I poured three fingers of bourbon and knocked it back, welcoming the burn.
Then I heard the elevator, and my heart rate spiked for entirely different reasons.
Tessa stepped into my foyer like a breath of fresh air and my anger drained out of me, leaving only my fatigue and overwhelm. One look at my face and her expression shifted to concern as she started toward me.
"What did Daniel do?" she asked, undoing her hair and letting it fall down.
"He's listening to her." The words tasted bitter. "Viktoria has him convinced that I'm a liability. That the board needs to consider my 'temporary removal' while they investigate these rumors."
Her eyes widened. "He said that?"
"Twenty years, Tessa. Twenty fucking years of friendship, and he's ready to throw me under the bus the moment Viktoria whispers in his ear about shareholder confidence.
" I set the glass down a little too hard as anger started to collect again.
"He's scared. She's threatening him somehow, and he'd rather sacrifice me than stand up to her. "
She moved closer, her hand reaching for my arm. "Maybe he's trying to protect the company—"
"He's trying to protect himself." The rage I'd been holding back all afternoon erupted. "Daniel's always been a coward when it came to real conflict. But I thought our friendship meant more than his political calculations."
"Lucian—"
"She knows exactly what she's doing. Feed Daniel just enough fear about his own position, make him believe he has to choose between loyalty and survival, and watch him crumble.
" I scoffed and drove my hand through my hair.
"It's brilliant, really. Turn my closest ally against me before moving in for the kill. "
Tessa stepped closer, her hands framing my face. "Look at me."
I met her eyes, seeing my own pain reflected in their depths. She understood betrayal in ways most people never would—how it felt to watch colleagues turn against you, to question every relationship when trust became a luxury you couldn't afford.
"We'll figure this out," she said quietly. "Whatever she's planning, whatever Daniel thinks he's protecting, we'll find a way through it."
Her faith in me, in us, when everything else felt uncertain—it undid me. I pulled her against my body, my mouth finding hers with desperate hunger.
She tasted sweet and familiar, and when she kissed me back with equal passion, the fury that had been consuming me transformed into something else entirely.
Need. Want. The overwhelming desire to lose myself in the one person who still believed in me when everyone else saw liability.
Her back hit the wall with a soft thud as I pressed her there, my body caging hers in.
The taste of bourbon still burned my tongue, but it was nothing compared to the fire spreading through me as her lips opened under mine.
I kissed her hard, taking what I’d been denied all day, my hands sliding down her sides until I gripped her thighs and hauled her up.
She wrapped around me instantly, her skirt riding high, her breath breaking against my mouth.
“Lucian,” she gasped when I ground her against the thick line of my cock. The sound of my name in her voice—wanting, trembling—snapped the last thread of control I had left.
I carried her down the hall, not bothering with lights. I knew every inch of this place, and I didn’t need sight when all I wanted was the feel of her legs squeezing my waist, the heat of her body clinging to me.
My bedroom door banged open against the wall, and I dropped her onto the bed, following her down before she could even catch her breath.
Her fingers were already pulling at my tie, jerking it loose, pushing at the buttons of my shirt. I ripped it open instead, buttons scattering to the floor.
Her dress slid up over her hips as I forced her thighs wide, my mouth crushing hers again before dragging lower—her jaw, her throat, the curve of her breast.
I shoved the dress down off her shoulders and dragged it past her hips, baring her completely. She arched under me when my teeth caught her nipple through thin lace.
My hand yanked her bra down and freed her, my tongue lashing over the hard peak until her hands fisted in my hair.
“Please,” she whispered, though she didn’t even know what she was asking for yet.
I shoved her panties aside and slid two fingers through her wetness. My cock pulsed painfully, but I wanted her shaking for me first.
I drove my fingers deep, curling them until her hips bucked off the bed. Her mouth opened on a soundless cry, her chest heaving as I took her with my hand, faster, harder, until wet heat coated my fingers.
“I’ve wanted you all day,” I growled against her throat. “Been thinking about how good it’s going to feel when your body wraps tight around my cock.”
She tried to answer, but words broke into a moan when I added a third finger, stretching her until she was writhing beneath me.
Her thighs clamped around my arm, her nails dug into my shoulders, and then she shattered—body convulsing, pussy clenching hard around my hand as she came with a cry that filled the room.
I didn’t let up. I thrust through it, grinding my thumb over her clit until her second climax tore through on the heels of the first, wetter, louder, her entire body shaking.
“Christ,” I bit out, pulling my fingers free and smearing her slickness across the inside of her thigh. I shoved my pants down and kicked them aside, tugged her panties off completely, then shoved her knees higher, positioning myself between them. “I’m not waiting another damn second.”
I dragged my cock through her soaked folds and pushed into her in one rough thrust.
Her tight walls clenched around me so tight I almost lost it right there, but I held still, grinding in deep, making her feel every inch. Her head fell back, lips parted on a broken moan.
“God, you’re mine,” I snarled, pulling out and slamming back in. The bedframe groaned under the force of it, her breasts bouncing with each hard thrust as I drove into her again and again.
Then I hooked one of her legs over my shoulder, lifting her open to me. The new angle let me drive deeper, pressing into her until she cried out, all while I stayed over her, holding her down.
She gasped, “Lucian—” but it broke into another cry when I pounded harder, the slap of our bodies echoing in the dark.
I leaned down, mouth catching hers, swallowing her moans as I drove into her relentlessly.
Her walls squeezed me, milking me with every thrust. She was close again, I could feel it.