‘Lucas, I don’t want to hurt you,’ I protested. I was worried sick about him.
‘You’ll only hurt me if we’re not touching, angel. I nearly died for you tonight, you owe me,’ he teased. I scowled at him as I got off the bed and pulled back the duvet.
‘Don’t even think about any funny business while you’re in that state,’ I warned, as I pulled off my comfy snuggling jumper and shimmied out of my lounging pants, leaving me standing in just a little t-shirt.
‘Define funny business?’ he asked, with a naughty grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at him, as I turned off the lights and carefully climbed in beside him. He held out his arm so I gently snuggled up to his good side, as he clutched my shoulder.
‘Thank you for running up all of those stairs for me,’ I whispered as I kissed his chest. ‘Butwoman appreciates her man of steel, more than you’ll ever know.’
‘You’d have done the same for me.’
‘In my heels? Think again, I’d have waited for the lift,’ I teased.
‘Sorry to have ruined your Valentine’s night.’
‘You haven’t! We had an amazing evening, one I’ll never forget, then incredibly naughty, but very hot public sex. It’s been magical, but then you went and gave me the best gift any girl could ever have.’
‘What?’ he asked, sounding puzzled.
‘Absolute proof that you love me. You risked your life for me, Lucas. I could never ask for anything better than that.’
‘And I’d do it again, angel. Anytime you need me to, I’d lay down my life for you.’
‘Let’s hope you never have to, because I quite like you, Lucas Logan Steel.’ I planted a delicate kiss on his chest, my heart too small to contain all my emotions tonight and tears rolled from my face onto his warm skin as I started to sob. He ran his hand up and down my back and kissed my hair.
‘And I love you, angel. Please don’t cry, you know how much that hurts me, to see you in pain when I can’t help.’
‘I feel the same right now. I can’t help you and I know you’re suffering.’
‘I’ll be fine, I’ll be healed before you know it. You and me, we’re going to get stronger by the day, pretty soon we’ll be invincible, Summer Beresford.’
‘I hope that day is sooner than later. Come on, you need to rest for me. Even Superheroes need a break now and then too, you know.’ I wiped my eyes and let his gentle caressing fingers on my back lull me to sleep.
I called reception to ask them to come and carry the cases, as Lucas was really feeling the pain in his ribs this morning. He had to complain about me asking for help of course, not wanting me to perceive him as weak. I’d run my fingers through his hair as I’d gently kissed him. I’d never see him as anything but strong. I still couldn’t believe he’d charged up all those stairs for me, thinking that I was in danger. I’d known I could trust him that first night I met him, and if his hero act didn’t convince my parents that he was an incredible man, in spite of his past career, then I didn’t know what would. Patrice, the hotel manager had informed us that if we wanted to stop by his office, he’d share the footage taken of the man who’d dropped off the envelope and flowers. I made Lucas rest while I finished packing, then I helped him get dressed in his trademark blue jeans, crisp white shirt and black jacket. We’d need to get his suit dry cleaned when we got home, it had his blood all over it. I went for casual attire, not really caring today about reporters. A pair of skinny jeans, teamed with a white shirt, grey suede ankle boots and a grey cape. I let the porters in and they disappeared with our bags, along with the box of roses containing the cards so we could hand them over to Mason when we got home. We headed down to the ground floor and across the lobby to see Patrice.
‘Lucas? Lucas Steel. Is that you?’ came a distinct firm male voice, with a very sexy French accent. Lucas and I turned around and I took in a sharp breath. If I hadn’t already been in love, I might well just have fallen. Striding towards us, commanding the vast hotel lobby, was a tall gentleman, with the same dark tousled hair as Lucas, his muscular build filling out the three piece suit he was totally rocking. He was gorgeous, I mean the French accent was bad enough, but he was top male model material all over, oozing confidence and reeking of pure sex appeal. I had a feeling he’d dominate his women in the bedroom too and doubted any would object to that, judging by the admiring glances being thrown his way. When he reached Lucas and extended his hand with a smile, I nearly swooned. He had perfect white teeth and those dimples I loved on my man adorned his face too. Close up I could see that he had the glossiest of deep chocolate brown eyes. Yes, Mandy and Jayne would kill to be introduced to this fine specimen of a man, but I had my own perfect man right next to me, one with the most expressive eyes I’d ever seen, grey eyes that I couldn’t get enough of, and a heart as large as the universe. And best of all, he loved me back just as much as I loved him.
Lucas
I heard my name being called and turned around to see Mr. Le Grand striding across the lobby, making a beeline directly for me. I smiled and reached out my hand to shake his as he approached.
‘Bonjour, Mr. Le Grand. Cą fait longtemps que je vous ai vu.’ It had been a long time since I’d seen him, possibly two years.
‘I have a meeting with some clients in an hour, I’m running early,’ he replied in flawless English, but his accent made it impossible to think he was anything but a Frenchman.
‘As usual,’ I laughed. ‘You’ve always been a stickler for never being late, something I’ve always admired about you. This is Summer Beresford, my girlfriend,’ I advised, as I slipped a protective arm around her waist. Mr Le. Grand had a very similar effect on women as I did. They tended to bat their eyes at him and go all flushed and giggly in his presence. He was a very good looking man. In fact if I didn’t have so much confidence, I might be intimidated being in the same room as him. He had all of my cockiness and charm, but with an extra five years practice on me, given he was thirty-five. He also worked out and would give many men body envy, I wasn’t entirely sure who’d be able to bench press the most, or do the most press ups in a competition if we were pitted against each other. Though I’d love to find out. We’d had this male posturing rivalry thing going on ever since we met and I’d love to put it to bed once and for all. ‘Summer, I’d like you to meet Mr. Le Grand. He owns the largest management investment company here in France, he and my father are serious business rivals.’
‘Well, I won’t hold that against you,’ Summer replied, as she hit him with her best movie star smile and held out her hand.
‘I’m very pleased to hear that. Enchanté, mademoiselle,’ he responded, as he lifted her hand to his lips and I felt a surge of jealousy tear through my body. He was known for his charm and suaveness and right now I could see women walking past completely confused as to which of the two of us they should gawp at, or fantasise about in the comfort of their rooms later. I dug my fingers into Summer’s waist, marking my disapproval, as I noticed her fluttering her eyelashes and her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink. ‘Why don’t you both join me for a quick drink?’ he asked, as he reluctantly dropped her hand and tore his eyes away from her to look over at me.
‘We’d love to, but we have some urgent business of our own to take care of,’ I responded.
‘You must let me know next time you’re in Paris, I would love to take you and your beautiful lady out for dinner,’ he smiled, showing a flash of perfect white teeth. If there was one man in the world who could damage my ego it was him. He was dressed in an immaculately tailored, and obviously expensive, three piece suit by Armani, his dark hair ruffled in the way Summer said was sexy when I did it. I really didn’t like the idea of her being in his company again, he had a way of making women fall for him, though from what I’d heard he never abused the fact, if anything his personal life was rarely mentioned in the tabloids, other than the wedding event of the century when he tied the knot five years ago with Myrtille Bouchon, heiress to the age old Bouchon banker
family. That was a marriage of convenience if ever there was one, she wasn’t exactly an oil painting, and I did find it rather amusing that the English translation of her name was Blueberry, and her maiden name Cork. That unison however saw one of the most powerful mergers of finances in French history. They were a force to be reckoned with.
‘I’ll be sure to do that. Apologies for running, but we must resolve a serious matter before we leave for the airport.’ I shook his hand again and bristled as he picked up Summer’s hand, kissing it again, even more when she fucking giggled and blushed. I gave her a glare, hidden behind the dark frames I was wearing, but it sure as hell made me feel better.
‘Au revoir, mademoiselle.’
‘Au revoir,’ she nodded, as he strode away. I pulled at Summer as she watched him leave.
‘If it’s not too much trouble, your actual boyfriend would like you to come with him, thank you very much,’ I muttered, throwing just the right amount of sarcasm her way to draw her attention back to me.
‘Sorry, he’s just very … wow, he’s just …’ She stalled as she looked back over her shoulder, anger riling me up immediately at the thought of another man turning my woman’s head.
‘You find him attractive?’ I growled.
‘Of course I do,’ she laughed. ‘I mean look at him, I doubt anyone wouldn’t, male or female. He just exudes power and masculinity, but I have to say the whole glossy deep brown soulful eyes thing doesn’t do it for me. I love my men with reflective grey expressive ones, ones that look at me and tell me how much more I am to them than just a pretty face attached to a hot body.’ She looked back up at me with a wink and a smile and I had to chuckle. She was being funny, but her confidence really was improving.
‘A stunning face attached to a smokin’ hot body, and trust me he noticed, I just didn’t like the way your tongue was hanging out.’
‘It wasn’t hanging out, thank you very much. Are you jealous? You were admiring all of the pretty girls strutting around the stage last night, I can’t admire a handsome man with a sexy as hell French accent?’
‘Treading on thin ice,’ I warned, with a sudden urge to have her back in my room at home, watching her bottom turn the same shade her cheeks had when he’d kissed her hand.
‘Lucas, since I first laid eyes on you, there’s been no one else for me. You’re the love of my life, you’re a masterpiece in my eyes, but it doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate other works of art for their beauty too.’
‘Works of art,’ I snorted, as I steered her towards Patrice’s office. ‘Mother’s pug dog has a more attractive face than him, and that’s before he’d have to replace those damn, white, straight out of a fucking commercial teeth if he ever looks at you like that again.’
‘Like what?’ she looked up at me, innocence radiating from her as I felt better for venting.
‘He’d have been booking a room and taking you up with him, if I wasn’t standing there next to you, angel.’ This time she snorted with a roll of her eyes.
‘He’s married.’
‘And how would you know that?’ I demanded, as I shot her another unseen glare.
‘He was wearing a wedding ring, all girls look at the left hand as soon as they see a handsome man. It’s an inherent trait, much like you jiggling your balls on an hourly basis.’
‘I do not jiggle my balls hourly. I jiggle them every half hour,’ I chucked, as I adjusted them through my jeans pocket, and my erection which had sprung at the thought of punishing her for looking at another man like that. I knocked on the door and took my glasses off.
Patrice showed us in, offering us seats opposite his desk as he turned his monitor to face us. He confirmed that officially he wasn’t supposed to show the footage, but given what had occurred he felt it was his duty and he advised that he was going to recommend that the lifts and stairs could only be accessed in future with a key card. His team had reviewed all of the footage and had seen the mystery man use the lift, keeping his head down as if he knew where the camera was, then deposit the box outside our suite entrance. He’d taken a call and had then quickly marched to the stairwell. I cursed as I realised I’d run past him on the stairs, not even throwing a glance his way. It seemed that he was aware that Summer was on her way up, which begged the question, how?
We watched all of the footage, it was obvious now that he knew exactly where every camera was, as there wasn’t one shot of his face. I shook my head as I pinched the top of my nose. Damn it. I didn’t recognise the guy, besides who was to say it was Mr. Black. Yes, somehow the flowers had made it from London to Paris, but he could have paid this man to escort them here and then drop them off with the note. All that told me was that Mr. Black had a serious amount of cash at his disposal and connections.
‘Does this help? Patrice enquired.
‘Not exactly, I don’t recognise him,’ I replied, but my mind was working overtime. We were in The Paris Domville, a chain of worldwide six star hotels owned by the ultra-rich Domville family of New York. The heiress, a spoiled, entitled, and frankly disgusting piece of work, Camilla Domville, had been my strangers for the night fantasy booking a couple of years ago. The client before I met Summer actually. She’d tried to capture me on camera, to blackmail me into becoming her personal fuck toy. Thanks to a tip off by the head barman Antoine, who had as much distaste for her as I did, along with assistance from my surveillance camera hacking expert Ian, I’d been able to thwart her plans. I’d blackmailed her with my own tape of her sexual shenanigans, which I threatened to show to her father, who thought his darling princess was still a virgin, along with the knowledge that she taped herself fucking his key employees to buy their silence. Camilla had the money and the means to assist with what had happened here last night.
‘Could you play it again for me,’ Summer asked. I looked over at her surprised.
‘You recognise him?’
‘Not exactly, it would be hard for his own mother to recognise him, given he keeps his head down and has that cap covering his face, along with those dark glasses. But there’s something very familiar about him,’ she frowned as she bit her lip. ‘Can you play the first part again, where he approaches the receptionist? Then stop it when I say and move it forward frame by frame?’ she enquired. I smiled, she was hot all in control. It did nothing to help ease the ache between my legs.
‘Qui, bien sur,’ nodded Patrice, doing as he was asked.
‘There, right there,’ she cried, as she pointed and leaned in for a closer look. I watched her face as she studied it in slow motion and then took a startled gasp. ‘I know who it is!’
‘Who?’ I demanded, as I held my ribs and straightened up in my chair.
‘That’s Daron Beck.’
‘Are you sure?’ I bit, watching her face, looking for any hesitation, but she’d worked with him for two years, filming pretty intimate scenes together, she probably knew his body language better than she knew mine. A fact that didn’t exactly sit comfortably with me. I may trust her, but it didn’t stop that enormous green eyed monster from rearing his ugly head on a regular basis.
‘Pretty sure, I mean his face is hidden, but see how his hand moves up to tug on his ear before he speaks? Daron does that every time he’s about to ask a question, I had to keep reminding him not to when we were filming.’ She looked at me and nodded, her eyes were telling me that she was confident about this, which was good enough for me. It seemed to fit, he’d wanted her from the start, I’d had to threaten him with exposure of his secrets and this was his way of getting back at me, while making sure Summer was available for him to pursue again. I text Ian and Mason immediately, to put them on alert and to search for his travel itinerary and for any form of connection with Camilla Domville. If we could prove he’d travelled to Paris and was here, especially if he knew her, then it was time to confront “Mr. Black.”
Mr. Black
Lucas
I paced back and forth in the meeting room at Davenport Technologies as I waited for Mason
to join us. I was furious. The only time I’d ever been this angry was when I thought that Summer had rejected me, when I’d accidentally given her the wrong number. Ian had proof that Daron had flown to Paris on Valentine’s day, returning the same night on a private plane, owned by none other than Mr. Domville. I’d immediately contacted Lulu McQueen, nicknamed “The Temptress.” She ran a high end and exclusive honeytrap agency here in London. We’d crossed paths a number of times, on a few occasions she had a male client wanting to test the fidelity of his wife so she’d booked my services. Like her, I’d never failed yet to get evidence, all of my marks had caved and agreed to return to the hotel with me, before I had a sudden “emergency” and had to bail. She put one of her younger girls on the case, one who had Summer’s colouring and body shape, and sure enough Daron had taken the bait. The girl had managed to get a date with him, slipping a bug into his mobile while he went to the toilet, then feigning food poisoning to leave without having to accept his offer to go home with him. While Lulu and her team took risks, actually sleeping with the client was not part of their mantra. In fact the three girls who had, were fired immediately.
I liked Lulu, she was a confident, sassy businesswoman. Very sexy and stunning as well, at one time I’d thought I might be interested, we were the same age and she fit my preferred type of woman, but when we had drinks after a successful case, there was just no spark there. Nothing like I’d felt the first time I laid eyes on my Summer. I’d left her at her fight trainer’s studio, with Bailey, the new bodyguard James and I had selected for her. He followed her during the day, with Wayne as back up for the weekends or any evening work required, but when she was relaxing at home at night, at mine or hers as we couldn’t decide where to live together, I was the one who was in charge of protecting her. It was nearly the end of March, and as my ribs had healed I had Wayne on special training duties during the day, honing my boxing skills, training me in the art of self-defence and attack. Until we started looking for a house together, with an official live on site security team, the three of us were going to look after her, and no way was I failing on my watch.
For the Night - Complete Box Set Page 58
