Page 89 of The Owner's Temptation

Because the other girls are acting like we’re on some delusional speed-dating episode ofThe Billionaire Jerk-face Bachelor.

Gia leans forward too far when she talks, hoping he’ll glance down her blouse. Nika plays with her straw like she’s trying to jack it off. Every question that gets tossed his way sounds like a pickup line, thinly veiled with curiosity of how big his dick is.

“What’s your favorite city to travel to?”

“Do you ever go to the beach?”

“Are youseeinganyone?”

Jesus Christ.

They have a chance to ask the most powerful man in this entire company anything—andthisis what they do with it?

I sip my coffee and roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle they don’t get stuck there.

I prefer this office when it’s just us. When I can smell his cologne drifting in the air, mix it with the dark, bitter scent of espresso.

When he says my name low and quiet, in that voice that scrapes against my spine like a secret he wants to keep.

But right now? I’m over it.

Another girl—Tasha, maybe—leans toward me, all glossy lips and perfectly curled hair, and whispers behind her manicured hand, “These questions are so lame. I feel like we’re in a group date from Hell.”

I smirk, keeping my gaze forward, but my voice carries just enough Lucian hears it.

“Yeah, all we’re missing is a rose ceremony and matching bikinis.”

A few girls stifle awkward laughter. One lets out a choked snort. Tasha covers her mouth likeshedidn’t just start it.

Lucian turns his head slowly. That calm, collected mask he wears so well? Slipping.

Just a little.

Enough.

“Dismissed,” he says, low and clipped.

Chairs scrape and tea cups clink against saucers as the girls scramble out, tripping over themselves to avoid the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

I stand, smug. Victorious.

And then his voice slices through the room again.

“Not you.”

I freeze.

A thrill of heat runs down my spine. I’m not afraid.

But I probably should be.

The door closes behind the last girl with a softclick. The silence that follows is deafening—dangerous. I don’t move. Don’t breathe.

Lucian doesn’t yell.

He doesn’t snap.

He simply straightens his cuffs.

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