“Yeah?” Lincoln said, his attention shifting to the widescreen computer in front of him.
“You need to come out here, NOW!” Barnaby Wodehouse hissed in a conspiratorial voice worthy of an Academy Award.
Lincoln frowned as he scrolled down the document he’d been reading before his sister called. “Why?”
He’d grown accustomed to Barnaby’s dramatics since the young man started working for him three years ago. Although Lincoln had had his reservations when he’d first interviewed the flamboyant Cambridge graduate with the orange leather shoes and pink streaked blond hair, he’d been pleasantly surprised to discover that Barnaby more than lived up to his impressive resume. The fact that the guy could literally charm the skin off a snake had even helped many of Lincoln’s business endeavors.
“The owner of Le Secret is here to see you,” Barnaby whispered, his British accent surfacing as it always did when he was excited about something.
It took a second for Lincoln to place the name Le Secret. His frown deepened. The whole reason he was in Tokyo right now was because he was focusing on expanding the Hudson Group into Asia and the Pacific. When the chance came up for him to buy a piece of prime land in the most exclusive district in Tokyo a few months ago, Lincoln knew it was the golden opportunity he’d been waiting for to build his flagship hotel in the city that never slept. The latest showpiece, as it were, in the chain of luxury hotels and resorts that took the world by storm a decade ago.
At the time he’d started the Hudson Group, Lincoln had three hundred grand to his name from bonds his mother had invested for him since he was a child. He quadrupled that figure in his first six months of business and continued to do so every year after that. That he was now worth over eight hundred times more than his father’s net assets wasn’t something Lincoln took particular delight in. He’d made sure Harry Hudson stayed off his radar after he walked out of the family home twelve years ago and had religiously disassociated himself from any business dealings where the other party wanted to exploit the benefit of a second-hand relationship with a serving U.S. senator.
It wasn’t until Lincoln arrived in Tokyo ten days ago that he came to know the plot of land he’d bought in Ginza had a right to lease on it. He’d asked his legal team to investigate the matter and send the leaseholder’s lawyers a formal notice to tell them their rights were being revoked. All Lincoln knew of Le Secret was that it was some kind of agency providing paid escorts to the highest bidder. The fact that its owner had managed to lease such a prime piece of real estate in Tokyo was nothing short of a miracle, which made Lincoln all the more doubtful about the exact nature of the services being provided by the woman who owned it. The phone call his secretary had received from Le Secret’s legal team yesterday had only reaffirmed Lincoln’s suspicions. If Le Secret’s owner thought for one minute that he would buy the cock and bull story her lawyers had concocted about having been duped into buying what she’d assumed was the freehold to the land, then the woman had another thing coming.
Lincoln swiped a finger across his track pad and brought up his schedule for the day.
“Does she have an appointment?” he said coolly as he perused his digital calendar. “Because I can’t see one.”
“She doesn’t,” Barnaby replied. “She just turned up.”
Lincoln narrowed his eyes. “Well, tell her she can make one then.”
“Lincoln, just get the fuck out here!” Barnaby growled.
The buzzer went dead. Lincoln sighed.
He knew Barnaby would make his life difficult for the rest of the day if he didn’t deal with the secretary’s supposed emergency. He closed down his computer screen, rose reluctantly from his desk, and crossed his office. Lincoln opened the door and stepped out into his private lobby. Which, right now, didn’t appear to be so private judging by the number of employees lurking at the periphery of the bright space and looking in from the adjoining corridors.
Lincoln’s gaze landed on the elderly figure sitting on the couch directly opposite him and next to Barnaby’s desk. He blinked. The woman was dressed in a pale tweed outfit and low pumps. Her hair was up in some kind of fifties do and she clutched a granny purse in her veiny hands. Thick-rimmed glasses covered her rheumy, distracted eyes and her rose-colored lipstick was slightly smudged.
Lincoln studied her with rising awe.
Wow. She must have been a firecracker in her heyday to be running an escort service. Lincoln’s heart sank in the next instant. He masked a grimace. Shit, this is gonna be unpleasant.
Dexter, one of the Hudson Group’s accountants, appeared in Lincoln’s line of sight. He walked past Barnaby’s desk and leaned down to offer a glass of water to the woman on the couch.
“Here you are, Aunt May. Hmm, wanna come to my office?” Dexter mumbled.
“In a minute,” the old lady whispered loudly. She slipped a butterscotch out of her handbag and popped it into her mouth, her gaze focused unblinkingly on something to her right as she started sucking on the candy.
Lincoln gave Barnaby a puzzled frown.
The secretary jerked his head subtly toward the opposite side of the airy floor, his hazel eyes sparkling with shocked delight and a hint of devilry.
It was then that Lincoln realized that everyone, including Dexter and Dexter’s aunt by the exchange he’d just heard, was staring goggle-eyed at the same spot just around a blind corner of the lobby, where the late morning sun shone through the glass facade of the high-rise building housing the local branch of the Hudson Group and offering a dizzying view over mid-town Tokyo. Lincoln took a step forward, curious as to who or what had captivated everyone’s attention.
He heard her before he saw her. His gaze swung south and found the cause of the impatient tapping noise he’d just registered.
The first thing Lincoln noticed were the shoes. They were traffic-light red, leather Manolo Blahnik stilettos made to hug a woman’s feet and designed to inspire a man’s dick to pay attention. The ball of the left one was dancing a restless tune against the marble floor of the lobby.
The next thing Lincoln registered were the black, see-through stockings with a solid seam running up the back of the most beautiful legs he had ever seen, legs that disappeared enticingly under an above-knee, navy blue, pinstripe pencil skirt that wrapped around a stunning ass and shapely hips.
Lincoln allowed his gaze to roam up the delicious dip of the woman’s lower back and her rolled-up sleeved, black silk blouse, vaguely aware that he was growing hard. Sunlight cast a golden halo around her head and the cascade of luxurious, pale blond hair tumbling past her slim shoulders to the bottom of her delicate shoulder blades.
The tapping noise suddenly stopped. The woman straightened stiffly. She uncrossed her arms, her left hand clenched tightly on the handle of her cherry-colored Prada bag where she lowered it by her side.
Lincoln knew instinctively that she was staring at him through the reflection in the glass. How he was certain she was looking at him in particular and not the other men ogling her from across the lobby Lincoln wasn’t sure since she was wearing sunglasses, but he was willing to wager a significant sum of money that her eyes were focused on him.
She twisted slowly on her heels and faced him across the open floor. Diamonds glinted in the clip-on earrings on her earlobes. Her breasts were lusciously full, her nose pert and slightly upturned, her lips plump and crowned by a perfect Cupid’s bow, and her lipstick ruby red.
All the blood in Lincoln’s body went south. He held his breath as the jaw-droppingly gorgeous stranger crossed the lobby and stopped in front of him.
The woman pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, her stilettos bringing her slender, five-foot-six body just high enough to his own hulking six-foot-two frame for her to only have to tilt her chin up to fix him with an electric blue stare.
Lincoln’s dick pressed up uncomfortably against his zipper when he caught a hint of the perfume wafting enticingly off her golden skin in subtle waves. He detected
Jasmine and Lily of the valley, as well as a musk base note.
“Lincoln Hudson?” the woman said coldly.
Her voice was deep and commanding, with a hint of huskiness that made his mouth water. Since speech seemed a bit beyond him at the moment, Lincoln could only arch an eyebrow in response and pray to God he wasn’t drooling.
The woman frowned slightly. “Eveline Claude.” She marched past him and headed inside his office. “Let’s talk.”
Lincoln took a shallow breath. Fuck.
He met his secretary’s gleeful stare and knew Barnaby had guessed what was going on inside his mind.
There was only one word to describe Lincoln’s reaction to Eveline Claude, the owner of Le Secret and, by the looks of it, the woman dying to tear him another asshole judging by the anger he’d read in the icy depths of her eyes.
Instalust.
CHAPTER 3
SHIT.
Eveline fought to control the shiver of awareness running down her spine when she heard the door close behind her. She crossed her arms and turned to stare at the man facing her across the room, her heart pounding against her ribs.
Why does this asshole have to be completely and utterly, one hundred and fifty percent my type?
The last thing Eveline had expected when she’d turned up unannounced at the Tokyo branch of the Hudson Group to face her nemesis in the case of her misappropriated piece of real estate was that the man who owned the damn place was going to be a mouthwatering hunk. And not just any kind of hunk. Lincoln Hudson was the epitome of Eveline’s perfect man. Thick, wavy brown hair crowned his six-foot-two, solid frame. He was classically handsome, the hard lines and rugged masculine angles of his face making him look like some mythological God or hero on a bust chiseled by a sculptor from Ancient Greece. Then, there were his eyes. They were hands down the clearest shade of ice-blue Eveline had ever seen on a human being. Add to this his stupidly broad shoulders, a ripped chest that spoke of a regular workout routine, and long legs she would happily worship all day, and Eveline knew she was in trouble.
The fact that Lincoln Hudson also appeared to be in possession of the most impressive package Eveline had ever spotted on a man wasn’t helping matters.
It had been months since she’d last had sex, and the damp heat between her thighs told her she had a serious case of the hots for the guy gazing at her silently from the doorway of his office.
He moved then, his steps long and casual as he headed for the business end of the sleek desk dominating the space in front of the panoramic glass walls overlooking the city.
“Take a seat,” Lincoln murmured, folding his sinfully gorgeous body into the executive chair behind the table.
Eveline reluctantly lowered herself into one of the two chairs facing his. She removed a file from her bag and slid it across the desk toward him.
Lincoln ignored the folder and eyed her with a haughty expression. “What’s this?”
Eveline clenched her jaw. “The deeds to the land I bought off Nagato five years ago.”
Lincoln narrowed his eyes slightly before pulling the file across and opening it.
Eveline found her gaze drawn to his long, elegant fingers as he slowly riffled through the document she’d brought from Brooks & Kline.
I wonder how those would feel on my skin.
She tugged her lower lip unconsciously between her teeth when a torrid vision suddenly flashed through her mind. Of this man’s hands on her body. Of his strong frame crushing her own delicate one in bed while he thrust his impossibly thick, rock-hard cock repeatedly inside her and made her cry out in ecstasy. Of his lips and tongue wreaking havoc on the most intimate part of her, bringing her to one blinding orgasm after another. Of him taking her and making her his in every wicked, sinful way a man could possess a woman.
Heat flooded Eveline’s entire body and arrowed in on the aching space between her thighs. She crossed her legs and hoped to hell the man across the desk hadn’t noticed how aroused she was right now.
LINCOLN STIFLED a groan of desire when he saw Eveline chew her lower lip. She didn’t seem to be aware she was doing it, which made the move all the more sexy. Lincoln realized there was a good chance he was going to embarrass himself and come inside his expensive cotton briefs if he didn’t do something to calm his raging libido in the next minute.
He had never been so turned on in his life. In fact, there was only one thing Lincoln could think about right now. And that was to get up, walk around his desk, bend Eveline Claude over the table, lift her skirt up, and sink his throbbing dick so hard and deep inside her she’d scream with the pleasure of his possession. Then he’d do it over and over again until her voice was raw and they were both drenched in sweat and thoroughly sated.
It took all Lincoln’s willpower to force himself to concentrate on the paperwork at hand. His stomach dropped when the contents of the contract started to sink in. If what he was reading was correct, then Eveline Claude had indeed been conned into purchasing a very expensive piece of land that she did not rightly own.
Lincoln went over the deeds twice before finally looking at the woman before him.
“I can see where this could be a problem,” he said quietly. “However, that doesn’t change the fact that that plot is now legally mine.”
Eveline’s expression grew shuttered.
“Le Secret has been established there for five years,” she said in a steady voice. “It’s my most successful club after New York and London. And I would like for it to remain so.”
Lincoln’s interest piqued as he studied the woman seated across from him. He was fast realizing that there was more to Eveline Claude than just a pretty face and a hot body. The light smoldering in the depths of her blue eyes told him she was probably as savvy a businesswoman as he was a businessman and that she didn’t suffer fools lightly. He concealed his deepening curiosity and cocked an eyebrow at her.
“What are you suggesting?”
THE SEXY WAY Lincoln arched his eyebrow at her made Eveline want to climb over the desk, haul him close by the front of his expensive Ralph Lauren shirt, and kiss him hard.
Sweet Mother of God, I’m losing my fucking mind!
Eveline took a shallow breath and pinched the back of her right wrist subtly where she’d crossed her hands on her knee. The sharp sting brought things back into focus. She realized Lincoln was waiting for her answer.
“I am in a position to buy you off,” Eveline said. “As in, I want the freehold for that plot.”
Lincoln blinked. He leaned back in his chair and swiveled it slightly as he considered her.
“Really?” he drawled. “And how much are you willing to offer me for it?”
Eveline hesitated before naming a figure, aware Brooks and Kline would have skinned her alive for being so reckless had they been in the room. She was shrewd enough a businesswoman to know that it was too early to reveal her full cards to the enemy. But, right now, she was desperate.
She couldn’t afford to lose the Tokyo branch of Le Secret. Besides the fact that it would take a huge chunk out of her profits and jeopardize the livelihood of many of her local staff, she’d worked too damn hard to make it a success. It was also her favorite club of all her businesses.
Lincoln stared at her incredulously. A bark of laughter finally escaped his lips.
“Hell no! That land is worth twice that. Besides, I would never sell it.”
EVELINE NARROWED her eyes at him in the tense silence that followed. “Then, lease it to me.”
Lincoln frowned at her demanding tone. He had an inkling Eveline was used to getting her own way. Which was a pity. Lincoln didn’t like being told what to do, either inside or outside the bedroom. In fact, he very much enjoyed being the one who gave the orders, especially in bed. His cock throbbed as the urge to make this woman submit to him suddenly filled him.
“I have plans for that plot and leasing it to another business isn’t part of it,” he said, his voice turning cool.
Eveline stiffened. “So, you’re saying you’re not willing to negotiate?”
Since Lincoln couldn’t very well say, “I’d be willing to negotiate an arrangement where I get to fuck you at any time of day or night starting right this minute,” he contented himself with shrugging.
Eveline rose to her feet and placed her hands palms down on the edge of Lincoln’s desk.
“I’ll increase that offer by thirty percent,” she said icily. “That’s my final bid.”
Lincoln’s dick ached at the way Eveline’s breasts jutted forward slightly. He could just about make out her lacy black camisole beneath her blouse.
“The answer is still no,” he said.
Eveline inhaled shakily and closed her eyes. The fury in their depths when she opened them once more made Lincoln’s pulse spike.
God, she’s fucking beautiful when she’s mad.
Her next words drenched his libido as effectively as a bucket of ice.
“You asshole!” Eveline hissed. “I won’t offer you a cent more than that. The offer expires at midday tomorrow. After that, I will drag your ass and the Nagatos into court if I have to.” A grim smile curved her lips. “I bet your senator father would just love that!”
EVELINE KNEW INSTANTLY it had been the wrong thing to say. The way Lincoln turned to stone at the mention of his father and the rage that darkened his eyes to a stormy blue told her she’d just gone a step too far.
She’d done some research on Lincoln before she’d stormed over to his office that morning. She had unearthed his political connection to U.S. senator Harry Hudson pretty rapidly and had read up on his dizzy rise to fame and fortune from his mid-twenties with a degree of fascination. Despite the fact that they were in completely different lines of work, Lincoln’s path over the last decade had followed hers closely, his business acumen and drive mimicking hers. And it was clear to her that Lincoln hadn’t used his father’s reputation to get where he was today.
Undisclosed: Nights Series Book 7 Page 2
