Lucius
DALLAS INTERNATIONAL Airport buzzed with its usual mix of locals, business travelers, and tourists, but outside the glass doors of the newly opened Vermillion Lounge, billionaire Young stood perfectly still, his dark gaze narrowed on what was taking place inside.
Around him, women were constantly slowing down as soon as they caught a glimpse of his face. The billionaire's aquiline features were reminiscent of the harsh good looks of a Roman general. ' enemies often scathingly referred to his looks as more villainous than princely, none of them realizing how this only made the billionaire even more appealing to women.
A tyrant they did see, and all of them had an easy time imagining that was the type of man who would love (and make love) with the same fierce ruthlessness in which a conqueror would annihilate his foes.
The length in which the women around him attempted to capture his attention was comical, but not once did the billionaire look their way. None of them seemed to realize that the harder they tried to catch his eye, the less appealing he would find them.
Only two things these days were able to capture ' interest. Something new and completely challenging...or something new and utterly contemptuous, such as the spoiled-looking mother inside the lounge.
' lips tightened as he watched the well-dressed lady unwrap a chocolate bar before handing it to her son, whose features unfortunately bore the marks of an equally spoiled upbringing. When her turn came up, the woman seemingly lost her hold on the wrapper as she walked up the counter, and his dislike deepened into distaste as he watched the wrapper fall from her manicured hand without her seeming aware of it.
The gentleman in line behind her saw the same thing, of course, but he simply walked straight to the counter and acted as if the colorful scrap of packaging on the floor was invisible.
Un-fucking-believable.
People like this was the reason he had been considering pulling out funding on a couple of research facilities of late. Why bother trying to save the damn planet when majority of mankind seemed hell-bent on destroying it?
Weariness that bordered on ennui suddenly weighed down on him, but just as he was about to turn away, the third person in line - a woman with short dark hair that fell in messy bangs - gave pause...since he couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone do what she was doing.
Pick up someone's trash like it was something nothing out of the ordinary, and if that wasn't enough, the woman also made no attempt to reclaim her spot. And the moment she went straight to the end of the queue to line up again, that was it for him.
Finally.
For two years now, had lived like a monk, but his celibacy was not by choice at all. It was as if he had suddenly woken up one day, and the women he used to find attractive had become repulsive.
Everything about them had seemed too fake and contrived. Everything they cared about had seemed shallow to while everything they didn't care about made them undesirably callous in his eyes.
For two years now, no matter where he went and what he did, all the women he met did nothing to him.
They were all as appealing as dry, hard logs.
Until her .
His gaze narrowed when he noticed her lips moving...in rhythm with the tapping of her feet.
Ah.
She was listening to something, her ears plugged with wireless buds. He studied the silent movement of her lips, and the words were surprisingly easy to read.
We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters.
An interesting choice...which made it all the harder for to fight off the urge to take a photo of her with his phone.
Because that was all it would take.
He only needed to send her photo to his security team, wait an hour or so, and he would have in his possession a report that covered all the basics about her.
Name. Age. Address. Job. Email. Criminal history.
But if he was willing to wait an entire day, he would know more than that.
Depending on how much he was willing to pay—-
He could know everything about her.
Everything.
And his whole life, that was how he had always been with the women he fucked.
He needed to be in control, and he never risked leaving anything to chance.
Until now.
Because there was just something about this woman...
Something that made him want to ignore all his usual protocols...
And just go after her, the old-fucking-fashioned way.