Chapter 2 Diamonds and Deceptions

Amara stood in front of her bathroom mirror, the diamond pendant penduluming between her fingers like a ghost she couldn't shake. The engraved date-March 13, 2018-glaared back at her as if mocking her for believing last night had been just sex.

Because that date? That date had past.

That date was the night everything changed.

She pressed the pendant into her palm, its serrated edge biting her skin. No man ought to've known it. No stranger ought to've left it behind.

Yet here it lay, resting on silk sheets, gleaming with the kind of precision that screamed intent.

Last night had not been an accident. He had known. He had meant.

The knock on her door startled her so much she let go of the necklace. It landed on the tiled floor, delicate but unbroken-like her. Like she was trying to be.

She slipped on a robe and made her way to the door. Probably her friend Zara phoning to touch base. Perhaps room service with her usual croissant and black coffee.

But door open, her breath caught.

It was him.

Black suit. No mask. Same storm-gray eyes that had stripped her bare with a glance and caused her to cry out his name behind silk-draped walls.

Only now there was no anonymity. Just a man with a face so dangerously beautiful it was almost cruel.

"You left something behind," he said, holding up a black lace thong between two fingers. "Or perhaps I kept it as a memento."

Amara's heart thudded into her throat. "How did you find me?"

A slow smile. "You really think I didn't know who you were last night?"

She retreated. "You said no names. No past."

"I lied."

She wanted to slap him. She wanted to kiss him. Instead, she settled for crossing her arms. "Who are you?"

He came in without invitation. Like he owned the place. Like he owned her. "Lucien Wolfe."

The name hit her like a cold splash of water. Wolfe Industries. Tech mogul. Oil tycoon. The man who turned bankrupt businesses into gold with a single investment.

And the man her father attempted-and failed-to destroy.

"You're lying," she whispered.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Google me. You'll find your daddy's name in the scandal section between insider trading and fraud."

Amara's jaw clenched. "What do you want from me?"

He dropped the thong onto her coffee table like an answer. His gaze then drifted over her robe, pausing on the way it opened around her thigh.

"I want another night."

"Why?"

"Because once wasn't enough. And because you owe me."

The words hurt more than she showed. "I don't owe you anything."

Lucien leaned in, close enough she could smell his cologne-smoky, musky, sinful. "Oh, sweetheart... your daddy's debts didn't die with him. They just passed down with your name."

Her heart rattled. He was bluffing. He had to be. "So this was revenge sex?"

"Not revenge. Just... the beginning."

And then he kissed her.

Hard. Possessive. Like a man who had to punish her mouth with pleasure. Her body betrayed her, melting into him, hungry for the danger he wore like a second skin.

He didn't ask permission. He ripped the robe open, exposing her naked flesh to the cool air and his scorching gaze.

"Still wet for me?" he growled, sinking a hand between her thighs.

She gasped, but didn't try to stop him. Couldn't. Not when his fingers zeroed in on her heat and stroked with maddening precision.

"You're dangerous," she panted, voice trembling.

Lucien smirked. "No, you're dangerous. You made me shatter every last rule I live by."

Then he lifted her up-just like that-and carried her over to the kitchen counter, sweeping everything out of the way with one arm before setting her down on the marble surface like a feast.

"No bed this time," he snarled into her neck. "I want you dirty. Urgent. Somewhere you'll remember every time you make coffee."

He fell to his knees between her legs without warning, and she screamed as his mouth took her center-hot, ruthless, worshipful. He devoured her like she was his last taste of sanity. Tongue whipping, teasing, catapulting her toward a peak she had no chance of controlling.

"Lucien-God-stop, I'm gonna-"

He didn't.

He pinned down her hips as she came apart, her screams echoing off the walls.

When he rose, mouth glistening, he was every bit the devil she'd fallen for too soon.

"You taste like lies and trouble," he snarled, grinding his length into her wetness.

"Then fuck me like you want the truth," she panted.

And he did.

He did not go gently-he plunged, hard and unfettered, eliciting a ragged moan from her lips. The marble was cold on her back, but his body burned, thrusting into her with a force that left her gasping and seeing stars.

"Tell me," he growled, each word punctuated by a thrust. "Tell me why you ran five years ago."

She shrieked. "What-"

"You disappeared. After the allegations. After the death."

Her nails dug into his back. "That wasn't me. That was my father's mess-"

He silenced her with a kiss, hips pumping harder. "Liar."

"I didn't know," she panted. "I didn't know he was stealing from yours."

Lucien stopped.

For a heartbeat.

Then his hands gripped her thighs harder, and he pumped again-slower now, deeper.

"That's the thing, Amara. I don't know if I want to forgive you-or destroy you."

She came again. Hard. Loudly. As if his threat was a drug her body couldn't resist.

He came with a groan that sounded like a war cry, slamming deep before collapsing onto her, breath hot against her ear.

---

Minutes passed. The air thick with sweat, regret, and something terrifyingly close to longing.

He pulled out slowly, helped her down gently, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

I want to have dinner with you. Tonight. At my place."

Amara's eyes widened. "You just fucked me on my kitchen counter and you're thinking dinner is the next order of business?"

"I believe obsession has odd cravings."

"And what if I say no?"

He moved back, adjusted his jacket, and smirked. "Then I'll come by here again. And next time, I won't invite you."

He walked away without another word.

And Amara stood there, robe gaping, heart racing, staring at the diamond pendant like it was a promise and a danger all in one.

Because Lucien Wolfe didn't want just her body.

He wanted everything.

And she didn't know if she was going to fall for him... or be destroyed by him.