Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
I had no calm left to give. I had nothing.
Instead, I sat there, clamping my jaw tighter than ever before, and stared.
The man smiled back—because he didn’t know I was mentally slapping the shit out of him in my head over and over.
Lucian cleared his throat, pulling the man’s attention back to him, and finished the interview. He walked him to the door and shut it with a heavy sigh. “That’s the last one for the day.”
“Thank god.” I sat rigid at the edge of the thick leather chair. The one I purchased because of its welcoming comfort begging you to sink deep. It could beg all it wanted. My muscles clenched, physically incapable of relaxing and bending back into the curve.
I needed to run or walk or scream into the abyss—anything to exert enough energy to release the band squeezing around my chest. Tension kept me on more than the edge of this chair—it pushed me to the edge of a cliff, leaving me with the manic feeling that I could just fucking jump.
“You did better than I thought you would, princess.”
Princess.
The word snapped me back to reality—it lassoed around my throat and yanked me away from the abyss, calling all my anxious attention to him.
Lucian Daire.
Mr. D&D.
Mr. Douche and Dud.
Mr. Arrogant and Condescending.
Mr. I’m trying to steal your company from you.
He stood there with his hands in his pockets, wearing that stupid fucking smirk, looking like the perfect target.
I stood and dropped my jaw with faux shock, closing the space between us. “Did you just compliment me?”
“I’m just pointing out an observation.”
“That you were wrong, and I wasn’t some dumb little boss’s daughter?” I clarified with wide, innocent eyes.
“Maybe,” he admitted through a clenched jaw.
We almost stood toe to toe, and I tipped my head to hold his gaze. Dropping the innocence, I made room for the building anger to bleed into my glare. “How does it feel to choke on your fucking words?”
For a moment—an utterly satisfying moment—his face lost everything but surprise and pulled back like my words physically hit him.
It was beautiful.
It was brief.
As fast as it came, it left.
His eyes dropped to a heavy-lidded gaze and scanned my face. His tongue slicked across his lips, and he smirked.
Then it became my turn to pull back, but it was too late. He took the final step, inches from brushing my chest with his own.
“I don’t choke on anything,” he said softly. “I take my time to enjoy the taste. I choose my bites carefully and savor every. Single. One. I let the flavor take over my mouth while I consume it.”
The deep vibration of his voice washed over me, taking my plans to attack with it. I tried to cling to my anger, but heat surged low in my belly, knowing damn well he wasn’t talking about tasting his words. Unbidden by me, my eyes dropped to his lips, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but knowing he did when his smile grew.
Shit.
The bitterness of defeat pissed me off, but I’d never gone against someone I hated so much, yet still begrudgingly found attractive. I hated the obvious weakness and needed to shore up my defenses to prepare against an enemy I wasn’t used to—one my pointed anger didn’t easily squash like everyone else.
I needed space.
I needed space to remember that Lucian Daire was nothing but an inconvenience.
I twisted on the ball of my foot and turned away, feeling better with each step. “I hope you have the same mentality when you have to choke on the reality of me gaining majority of my company,” I said calmly.
He laughed softly, and I hesitated.
I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, exhaled, and slowly turned back to face him. “I plan on doing everything in my power to get this company.” I infused each word with determination. “I won’t only own the majority, I’ll find a way to get back every single share, shutting you out completely from what belongs to me. Leaving you with nothing.”
His smile dropped and victory surged through my veins, quickly followed by ice when his face turned hard, banishing the light—his glare casting the room in shadows. He pulled his shoulders back, the taunting and arrogant attitude gone, leaving behind the dangerous shark I assumed was known around the business world to always get his way.
“Will you?” he asked softly, stepping closer. “Or will you try with all your little girl might to cling to something you never really had? Will you assume since you’re the bitchy, spoiled princess sitting in the castle with your name on the building that you still have a chance?”
“Stop calling me that,” I ground out.
“Here’s the thing, princess. Just when you think it’s your time to shine, I’ll have been biding my time to take it all. It won’t matter what your name is because, at the first opportunity, I’ll change the name of this company, erasing you completely.” He towered over me, his mouth shifting to a smile that looked more like a snarling animal. “I think Daire Music Group has quite the ring to it.”