Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
LUCA
"I’m afraid our agreement will be changing, Mr. Lombardi." The bastard slouching on the chair across from me flashed a victorious smirk. He was deluded into thinking that he had gained an upper hand over the situation.
After all, he did wait until the last minute before he brought it up.
"Mr. Lombardi won't be—" Geralt, my assistant, tried to interfere, but I flashed him a death stare that made him shut up instantly. I could handle myself. I didn't need anyone doing that for me.
"Why would it be changing?" My voice, cold yet calm, resounded through the conference room. "I thought this was a done deal."
"I did too," he mumbled, "but Gold Inc. has more to offer than your company. They are willing to pay twice what you are paying for the property. So I think I'll cast my stones elsewhere."
A muscle ticked in my jaw. Of course, Ronaldo fucking Rossi would be willing to do that.
The bastard was up to some dirty tricks because we both knew that he was incapable of splurging that amount of money on a property he lacked vision for.
My guess was, he was doing this to spite me, and he probably had another plan in motion to screw Marco over.
But that wasn't going to happen. Not if I screwed him over first for thinking he could get away with dictating to me.
"Was this new change before or after we finalized the deal?" I arched a brow at him.
"Let's file that under the not important category." He shrugged, reaching for the rest of his water and knocking it back all at once. "Are you willing to pay, or should I take my business elsewhere?"
I smiled. My lips cracked into a cold, sadistic yet impressive smile. His gaze faltered, displaying a hint of confusion.
"Is that a threat, or are you trying to tell me what to do?"
He faked a smile. "I'm just trying to make sure I get the best deal for myself."
What fuckers like Marco didn't understand was that I hadn't been this long in business or thriving at it because I let people walk all over me. I was only able to pull this empire together with blood, sweat, and the ability to do what needed to be done without letting emotions call the shots.
I was a master planner who believed that you could never have too many backup plans.
He was stupid enough not to take my reputation as a feared, unpredictable businessman into consideration.
I knew men like him. Greedy, pompous men who could never be trusted.
Hence, I had made provisions for a situation like this.
"You see, that's the problem with greedy, shallow fuckers like you." I leaned lazily into my seat, catching a flash of anger in his eyes.
"Don't talk to me like that!" he snapped.
I beckoned one of my men, who approached him with a file and dropped it before him.
"What is this?" He glanced back and forth between me and the file.
My lips twitched. "Open it."
He glared at me, rustling to pry the file open. It was so liberating to watch the life drain off his face. He gasped, swinging his gaze toward me.
"H-how do you have this?" he stammered.
"How did I find out that you are a lying, cheating bastard who has been having an affair with your secretary?" I squinted my eyes at him. "Do you have any idea what this would look like to your wife or the press? I'm sure they'll be waiting to gobble this all up."
"You are a monster!" he yelled.
"No." I shook my head. "I tried to be rational, but clearly, you respond to a show of force."
His eyes tinged with fear, fear of what would happen if it got out. He had so much to lose. But also anger. He was angry that I was blackmailing him.
"Fine. I'll take it."
I chuckled. "Here's where it gets tricky. I have a new deal filed because I knew you would pull this stunt. You are going to walk out of this room and take half of the deal I offered with a smile on your goddamn face."
His eyes widened. "That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair, Marco. But most of all, what's not fair is you trying to get greedy and have it all."
"I-I won't sign it."
They slid another file to him, tossing a pen atop it.
"Yes, you will." I was never the type to shy away from getting my hands dirty. I'd roll in the mud and pull a trigger to get what I wanted if the situation called for it.
That was why, as a businessman in the ruthless corporate world, understanding that emotions would never get you anywhere should be ingrained in your mind. People are pawns. Use them to get what you want.
He practically had fumes coming out from his ears and nostrils, but he knew he was outmatched. I was more than willing to play this game, but he got too cocky.
He picked up his pen and angrily scribbled his signature onto the paper.
"You'll regret this!" He rose to his feet, marching toward the door.
I don't have regrets. I never will.
"Marco?" He turned to look at me over his shoulder.
"Threaten me again and I'll make sure they never find your body."
He swallowed thickly, then walked out.
I spun around in my seat, taking in the picturesque view of the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Do you need anything else, boss?" Roman, my bodyguard, inquired.
"Yes," I answered without glancing at him. "Fetch her and bring her to the club." By her, he knew who I meant.
Sienna Vitalio, my new plaything.
Sienna Vitalio was an obsession that crept up on me without notice, and by notice, I meant that this was the first time it was happening.
Nothing ever caught me off guard, but she did.
I had only ever meant to switch up my sexual life when I set up a profile on the dating site.
I grew bored of fucking women who were too eager, too pleasing, and sought to hunt for something different.
Something drew me to her when I decided she was going to be my prey, the innocence in her doe brown eyes spoke volumes of how she had managed to fool the world into believing that she was the perfect little dove with unruffled feathers, yet a predator like me could see right through her and knew that she was waiting for the right dose of darkness to consume her.
Like she was waiting on me to barge into her life and dominate her.
I wasn’t prepared for how taken I was by her, how intensely she consumed me.
Her wild scent, like delicate jasmine, caught amid thorns.
The way her pulse quickened every time she sensed that I was about to do something deliciously painful to her, the way her porcelain skin was easily bruisable, her plump, juicy lips that parted without warning and her fucking body that looked like it was molded by Aphrodite herself, perky tits, sweet little cunt that made cock so fucking greedy, and her round ass that looked like it was made just for me.
I never fucked a woman twice. It wasn’t my thing to do.
But even after having Sienna in different positions that night, I couldn’t get enough of her.
I was so fucking high on her, so much so that I trailed her after night, got on a plane I knew she would be on even though it heightened my chances of being discovered, and I stalked her ever since then.
I didn’t know what fascinated me that much.
I shouldn’t have kept up with her movements or immersed myself in her life to the point that I knew where she was right now.
She had to pay for catching the attention of the devil. I hated her for consuming me. I wasn’t willing to let her have so much power over me. The last thing I needed was letting my emotions cloud my judgment, so if I had to fuck her out of my system a million times to let her go, I would.
I texted my chauffeur to bring the car out front, and then I headed out of the building and drove down to the club.
Club X was a downtown sex club, quaint and luxurious, and not well known.
Whenever I wanted to unwind, I’d come here to drown in the pleasure it had to offer.
After I left the main space, I went down to my suite.
Every exclusive member owned a suite here, and as far as I knew, there weren't many to go around.
The minimalistic yet exquisite, dimly lit room materialized before me as I let myself in. I poured myself a glass of whiskey, undoing my cuffs and rolling my sleeves to my elbow. A soft knock sounded at my door, and I stiffened softly as her magnetic presence whisked itself into the room.
The liquid thickened around my throat, increasing its scorching burn when I laid eyes on her. Her brown eyes sucked me in like some sick form of hypnotism, my cock twitching in my pants when I saw her visibly swallow.
My gaze unraveled around her slim-thick frame that did justice to the uniform she was clad in.
A navy-blue dress that stopped at her knees yet hugged every sinful inch of her body.
Her black stilettos added more inches to her height, but even from where I was standing, devouring her with my eyes, I knew I’d be towering over her frame if she came any closer.
I knocked back the rest of my drink.
"I do not appreciate being summoned after I just got off a sixteen-hour shift," she quipped sassily at me, eliciting a frown from me.
"Come here," I commanded.
Her confident look faltered, giving away that desire I knew all too well. She approached me, her wild scent teasing me when she was in proximity. I growled, wrapping my arm around her waist, tugging her into me.
"What did I say about our rules?" My voice was low yet menacing.
Her bold red lips twitched. "I will serve you, relinquish control to you, and let you use me however you see fit."
I grabbed her throat. "So why are you trying to disobey me?"
A moan slipped from her, revealing how much she was a slut for this degrading, wicked treatment.
"Strip," I ordered. "Leave your heels on while you are at it."