Page 54 of Lethal Infatuation

"Not answering your text messages. I've been swamped with work, not to mention Asher's event. It's stressful. He's got a lot of influence in New York."

I'd completely forgotten about that. When I heard that Asher hired her I was shocked, but according to all of the feedback received from her clients, Gabriella had a knack for event coordinationand always goes above and beyond when she's doing her job.

How do I know this?Research. Always research.

"Asher's not that bad. He only seems intimidating because he's being professional with you, but he's really laid back," I said, "when he's not jumping down our throats every second of the day."

"It's that bad?"

"Notbad. I suppose that's his work ethic, given the kind of tasks agents deal with on a daily basis. I can assure you, you have nothing to worry about and the event will be a success."

"You're so encouraging when you're not whispering dirty words into my ear."

I laughed and squeezed her thigh, making her gasp. "Just because I'm encouraging doesn't mean I won't pull you across my lap and spank that ass until it's marked with my hand prints."

Gabriella shivered slightly and I took this as an opportunity to move a little closer. The moment didn't last long because the door opened, which made her snap her head towards the direction of whoever entered.

Luckily, my back was turned so I could remove my hand from her thigh without them seeing the action. She looked at me like a deer caught in headlights and I turned around with a dashing smile.

"Oh, good afternoon, sir," her assistant said, and I smiled politely. Well, perhaps it was a half-smile, but the gesture was polite and that's all that mattered—even though the last thing I wanted to do was display any kindness towards women who weren't Gabriella.

This was her assistant, after all, and from the intel I gathered, she held the woman to a high regard. "Afternoon, Melissa." I stood up, nodding my head.

She was definitely flabbergasted that I knew her name. Gabriella followed my lead and stood up as well, standing directly next to me. "Melissa, this is Nicolas, a good friend of mine." She tugged on herskirt, pulling it down to cover her knees.

A friend?Out of all the terminologies she could've used, she chose the wordfriend. I gave her the side eye, but remained stoic. "Nice to meet you, Nicolas." Michelle smiled.

"Likewise." Melissa eyed us as if she knew something happened. I clicked the button on the side of my phone, the screen lighting up. "I should probably get going."

"Gabriella." I nodded, and she only smiled at me, staring at me with those gorgeous eyes. "Melissa." The woman blushed and bid her goodbyes. Images of Gabriella on her knees just moments ago flashed before my eyes and I already craved more.

It didn't help that I was constantly on edge and that my craving for her could never be satisfied.Never.

TWENTY TWO

Amala and I walked down the sidewalk, feeling a little buzzed due to the alcohol in our systems. Kehlani was out of town for the weekend on a business trip, so the trio was incomplete.

I chuckled for no apparent reason, holding onto Amala's arm, which resulted in her laughing and swaying her hair from side to side. "We're not drinking anymore because both of us being drunk right now seems like a recipe for disaster," I said.

Amala frowned, her sad facial expression almost making me laugh again. "Kehlani was right about you. You are the logical one."

"If not me, then who?" The other club was approximately five to ten minutes away, depending on how fast we walked. Our heels clicked against the concrete sidewalk, the street buzzing with people walking to and fro.

Everybody seemed to be in a world oftheir own, laughter and chatter filling the air. The sound of a motorbike in the distance was loud and it gave me chills. I didn't have time to ride lately due to the amount of work I had.

The sound of the motorcycle became louder and louder until it came to a complete stop next to us. Amala and I looked in the direction of the vehicle, and immediately, she was on high alert.

In the midst of her pulling me away from whoever the person was and me admiring the bike, which happened to be a Yamaha YZF R1M, the person removed their helmet and the chills I felt only intensified.

"Ladies," Nicolas said, keeping an eye on me. Amala's grip loosened around my wrist and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"For the love of Christ, Nicolas," she scolded. I didn't hear what their conversation was about because I got lost in the moment. The last thing I ever expected was for him to be a biker, too.

Not that I was complaining. He looked sexy as fuck, seated on the pitch black motorcycle with black gloves to match his black attire. I'm beginning to think that was his favourite colour, if he even had one.

"May I join you?" The question snapped me back to reality, and I was about to protest because it was meant to be a girls’ night, but unfortunately he beat me to it. "I shouldn't even have asked, I'll just join you in any case."

He pushed his foot against the kickstand and climbed off. Everything this man did always looked so effortless, so smooth. He looked good in everything.

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