Page 77 of Sexting Mr. CEO

He shoots a smile at me. “I wish I could say it was all due to me, but ladies and gentlemen, there’s no one who deserves more credit than Sera, my woman.”

Several people in the room gasp.

“As in the woman in the video of your altercation with your recently terminated employee, Andy Quinn?” somebody asks.

“Yes,” Luke says, proudly, no shame, showing the universe how much I mean to him.

Pride blossoms inside of me. Love fills my every single pore. He holds my hand. “Sera is my partner in life… and she’s my partner in business. She has been working on a concept called ‘empathetic AI’ and, well…” He squeezes my hand. “I think it’s better if my angel explains this herself.”

I clear my throat, looking at the cameras, the expectant reporters.

It’s when I look out the window for a small reprieve from the press that I see him. So much for using Graham and Ellie to set a trap… He’s turned up all by himself. My heart skips a beat, fear twisting through me.

“Luh-Luke,” I say, hating the stutter. “Look.”

“What’s wron…” He stops when he sees him too, Damien standing outside the window, his black hair falling across his face, smiling at us in the most deranged manner imaginable. “Motherfucker.”

“Luke!”

But it’s too late. The cameras swivel as Luke runs for the door, and then it’s mayhem as everybody clambers to follow him. Itry to catch up, but I get stuck between two reporters. I spin, thinking I can use the other door and leave by the back exit and then loop around.

I end up at the window, staring as Damien turns to look, reaching into his pocket… He didn’t have a gun in the restaurant. I’ve got no clue why – maybe he didn’t think he’d need one. I pray he doesn’t have one now.

“This is where it ends,” Damien bellows. “This, Luke,hereandnow, this is where it ends!”

Luke approaches Damien, glaring at him. “You need to turn yourself in, Damien. You’re not well. You’ve gone too goddamn far. You threatened my woman, my soulmate, the only person I care about. You need to?—”

I scream when Damien reaches into his pocket, taking out a knife that glints in the light. The reporters who remain in the room gasp.

“This ends here,”Damien roars, running at Luke, waving the knife like a madman… a madman who could keep it together for some time, fueled by his malformed vision, a madman who could sustain his mission. But now he’s sleep-deprived, and clearly, he’s out of ideas.

Luke dodges Damien wildly, slashes but loses his footing. A spurt of red flies into the air, seeming to freeze there like a comic book. It can’t end like this. Not after we’ve confessed our love for each other. Not when the future is so bright and promising.

Luke rights himself, lets out what can only be described as a battle cry, and rushes toward Damien, head butting him. Luke wastes no time grabbing Damien's forearm and twisting it, just like he did to Andy. Damien yelps and drops the knife. Lukekicks it, then swings Damien around like he weighs nothing. Damien hits the ground with a thud. Luke pulls his foot back like he’s going to kick him in the face.

He stops at the last second, stumbling away, looking around as blood drips from the gash across his hand. The security guards are jogging toward him. Luke gestures at Damien, and they jump on him, holding him down.

I feel like I’ve been frozen in place this whole time. Now, I run outside, pushing past the reporters.

“Luke.” I sob, tearing off my jacket and taking his hand, applying pressure. “Are you okay? Oh, God.”

“I had to kick the knife away,” Luke growls. “Sera, I would’ve used it on him. I would’ve endedhim. I… I almost did.” He looks around as if for somebody else to fight. “I’m sorry, my love, my angel.”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, wrapping the jacket around his hand. “Squeeze down. You need to put pressure on the cut.”

“This is where it ends,”Damien yells as the security guards pin him down.

I glare at him, but he looks so pathetic pinned beneath the two men, a patch of hair missing from his head. I can’t even hate him.

“Mr. Cross, who was that?” a reporter yells.

“Mr. Cross, was he involved in the sabotage?”

“I wanted to kill him for what he did to you,” Luke snarls.

“Get out of the way,” I yell, waving a hand at the reporters. “Luke isn’t in any state to answer questions.”

“It’s okay, Sera,” Luke says, clenching his hand into a fist, keeping his other hand on my arm. “Yes, that man had something to do with the sabotage. But he’s done far worse than that. He blackmailed people, threatened a woman with a terminal illness. Worst of all, he threatened and intimidated, and tried to kidnap the love of my life: the only woman I’ve ever cared about.”

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