Page 42 of The Owner's Temptation

The second was an author.

Famous, apparently.

He was surprisingly charming—eccentric in a genius sort of way—and far more interested in me than I expected.

The third was… odd.

Too charming. Too polished.

Like a veneer over something rotting underneath.

A senior Companion named Bianca stepped in halfway through the conversation with a gentle hand on my arm and a subtle redirect. I don’t know what she saw, but I was grateful all the same.

It’s been just over an hour. My cheeks hurt from smiling. My heart is still racing.

But I’m doing it.

I’m remembering what Eve told us:Eye contact, good posture, curious but not overeager. You’re not selling yourself. You’re showing them what they could never afford anywhere else.

So, I stand a little taller. Keep my chin up. My shoulders back. I sip slowly and move deliberately—like I’ve been doing this forever.

But the truth is?

I’m still just the girl who’s still paying off credit card debt.

Still looking for another job.

Still deciding who she is.

And right now?

She’s a woman in bone-white, walking among wolves—and holding her own.

At least, that’s what I tell myself as I reach for another flute of champagne from a passing tray, hoping the bubbles will do something to loosen the tight coil in my chest.

And then the air shifts.

Like a breeze cutting through velvet, so subtle and sharp it makes the hairs on my arms rise.

A hush spreads—not obvious, but present. A subtle recalibration in the room, like every man just straightened his posture. Like every Companion turned her head in unspoken recognition.

I don’t have to look to know he’s here.

Lucian Vale.

My fingers tighten around the delicate stem of my glass. My breath stalls.

He steps into the space like it belongs to him—and it does. Black suit. Crisp white shirt. No tie. The top buttons undone just enough to hint at something dangerous beneath the surface. Everything about him is clean, restrained, and devastating.

Controlled.

Untouchable.

He moves like a man who doesn’t chase power because power follows him.

For a beat, I forget the conversations around me, the sponsors milling about, the other girls smiling and laughing on cue. My focus narrows to one man.

Lucian.

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