Page 14 of Captured Fantasy

“Can I be upfront with you, Mrs. Russo?”

“Call me Enza. And yes.”

He pressed his mouth together, frowning slightly. “Alright, Enza. The men in there will eat you alive. You’re the kind of woman they all want because they can’t have you. Made men aren’t supposed to play with their women unless it’s serious, but that won’t stop any of them from trying to fuck you in secret.”

A ripple of surprise moved through me at his honesty, but I kept my face impassive. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Just be careful.”

I nodded and he got out of the car and circled it, opening my door. He stood on the curb and lit a cigarette. I felt his eyes on me as my heels clacked up the hot sidewalk. When I got up on the porch, the front door was open and the screen was unlatched. The dog from yesterday lay across the rug and when he saw me, he waddled over. I petted his head and he grunted once, falling onto his side.

Crisp footfalls sounded from the other side of the screen door and I looked up to see Lucien heading towards me. He was one of those men who came across as both incredibly handsome and bone-chillingly terrifying.

He had a slender build that was somehow broad at the same time and he stood over six feet, which meant he towered over me even in heels. His hair was dark, slicked back over his head, and his face was hard and soft all at once. Hard lines, hard angles, but a soft, almost sensual tilt to his mouth. It was the total lack of expression on his face and in his ice cold eyes that made a chill go down my spine.

Today he wore a pair of gray dress pants and a white shirt open at the collar. My pulse quickened and I took a step back as he opened the door.

“Lorenza Russo,” he said, his glacial eyes resting on me. “Can I help you?”

“I came to see Federico again,” I said. “I had a few things I forgot to go over with him. I was hoping he could meet with me.”

Lucien looked down at his expensive watch. “He won’t be back for another thirty minutes.”

“May I wait for him? I can’t very well come back later because Amadeo drove me,” I said.

I kept my spine straight and my shoulders back as Lucien’s eyes narrowed. They roved over my body almost disinterestedly. Into my mind came Amadeo’s words and I found myself wondering if Lucien wanted me like that.

I’d heard that he refused to have vaginal sex with anyone after what had happened with Romano’s daughter. After he’d been falsely accused of impregnating her and tortured because he wouldn’t marry her without a paternity test.

I wondered how he managed to stomach working under Romano after that. I didn’t know him well at all, but he had a reputation for being cruel and torturing Lucien was just one of the tyrannical things he’d done as boss. Perhaps the power he offered Lucien as his right hand made forgiveness possible.

“You may,” Lucien sighed.

I followed him down the hall and he ushered me into an office on the first floor. There was a couch in the far corner by the window and he indicated I should take a seat.

“Is there anything you need?” he said stiffly.

“May I have a coffee?”

He looked down at me for a long moment before lifting his phone and speaking quickly in Italian. After a moment, the door opened and a woman appeared with a tray of coffee and lemon cookies. She sent me a nervous smile as she set them down and I thanked her.

She stepped out and I was alone with Lucien once more.

“I had hoped the outfit might reconsider taking my debit card and my keys,” I said softly.

I’d learned a long time ago that men didn’t respond to harsh arguments. They responded to soft voices, the faint scent of flowery perfume, the rustle of a sundress against a bare thigh, the click of heels on the floor. Surely Lucien was no different.

He sat on the other end of the couch and crossed an ankle over his knee. He was a big man who moved with the grace of a panther. I let my gaze travel down his body without shame, taking in his broad shoulders and the flat front of his dress pants. I’d heard he was tattooed, although he was always well dressed so I’d never seen it for myself.

“You’re not my concern right now,” Lucien said.

“You’re the boss’s right hand,” I said quickly. “Maybe you could help me persuade him?”

“I don’t fuck with other men’s affairs.”

I took a sip of the coffee and cradled the saucer in my palms, looking down at the swirling liquid.

“I just lost my husband, I need help,” I said, my voice shaking. Perhaps on purpose.

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