Page 5 of Devilish

I nodded and chewed on my lower lip, waiting for the hammer to fall. This guy was being too considerate, too nice to someone like me.

“That man you came here with tonight, Rupert. Is he your boyfriend?”

I scrunched up my nose.

“Okay, okay, no. How about partner?”

I shook my head.

“Daddy?”

I shook it again. “Keeper.”

Lucien’s eyes narrowed and hardened, and it felt as though the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. I immediately lowered my eyes to my lap.

Why did I say that?

“What do you mean by ‘keeper’?”

When I didn’t respond, Lucien shifted in his seat and leaned forward, gently touching my knee. I raised my eyes to his.

“What do you mean?”

“I… I just meant he gives me somewhere to sleep and eat.”Shut up,I silently berated myself, knowing that if Rupert was waiting for me I’d be in even deeper trouble if he knew what I’d just said.

“So you live together.”

I nodded, keeping my mouth shut this time.

“Do you feel safe there?”

Not about to lie, I said nothing.

“Hey,” Lucien said. “You can talk to me. I’m not going to tell him.”

He might not tell Rupert anything, but the fact he’d gotten rid of him already meant my living situation had been jeopardized.

Lucien sighed. “Do you have anywhere else you can go? Perhaps with a friend or?—”

“No, no, no.” I shook my head and covered my face as pinpricks stung my eyes.Oh God.What was I going to do? I’d end up on the streets, a place I’d told myself I’d never go back to.

I rocked back and forth, my mind racing as I tried to come up with a plan. It wasn’t like this guy could stop me from going home. Sure, Rupert would be so pissed he may not even answer the door, but he wouldn’t keep me out forever…right? This wasn’t my fault.

“Kai. Look at me.”

I couldn’t do that. He’d see right through me.

“Kai, I know you’re scared, but I know men like Rupert. Power-hungry pieces of shit, that’s all they are.”

My head shot up.

“Yeah.” Lucien nodded, brushing the back of his finger across my cheek. It came away wet, but I didn’t have the energy to be mortified, not when there were so many other emotions coursing through me. “I don’t know your story, don’t know your relationship with him, but I can see you, and that’s no way to live. If you don’t have anywhere to go, you can stay here. I’ve got a room you can have?—”

He didn’t even get the rest of his sentence out before I shot to my feet, shaking my head. No way was I staying here. I wasn’t going to work in some sex club. I’d rather sleep on the steps of Rupert’s brownstone.

Before I could reach for the door handle, Lucien blocked my exit. “You don’t like that idea?”

“I’m not going to work in a sex club.”

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