Damien: Billionaire Bad Boy Romance (10 page)

Audrey nodded. “That’s the way it seems to me,” she said softly. “Based on the context of those emails at least.” She nodded her head slowly. “I mean, he never mentions anything about shoes. Just the store, and only at certain times.”

“Thanks,” I told her again. “Actually, you know what? Wait a second,” I added. “You’re coming with me. There are some things I want to explain to you.”

Audrey blinked. “Now? At the end of the day?”

I nodded. “As my secretary, you have to be privy to this information,” I replied.
And I am dying to get you alone because I don’t think I can keep myself from touching you here.
“It could be useful in the future.”

Audrey

I waited nervously at my desk as Damien gathered some things together in a chic, black leather bag. I had no idea what he would need to speak to me about outside of the office. Suddenly, my head was filled with terrible thoughts: Damien yelling at me and telling me that I wasn’t good enough to work for him anymore. Damien telling me that I was being too obvious at work. Damien telling me that he’d found another secretary and that I’d be transferred to another part of LennoxCo.

By the time he’d appeared, I felt like a nervous wreck.

“Ready to go?” Damien actually smiled at me—for one of the first times ever. I was taken aback by his expression. He looked a bit hectic and manic, but otherwise there was no change from usual. I wondered what was going to happen. Deep down, I was dying to know, but shamelessly all I could think about was how it would feel to kiss him again, to let him take me into his arms and hold me.

“Yeah,” I said. I grabbed my purse and slung it over the shoulder of my pink parka. I was sweating by the time we reached the massive front doors to LennoxCo—both from nervousness and the sheer heat that was pumped into the front of the building. “Where are we going?”

Damien didn’t reply. He hailed a cab and opened the back door for me, sliding into the backseat. When the cab took off, he jolted against me. It was the first time that our bodies had touched all day, and a shiver of delight and pleasure went soaring through my body.

“We’re going out to dinner,” Damien informed me casually. “French food, hope that’s okay.” He leaned forward and gave the driver an address a few blocks away. “There are some things I need to discuss with you.”

I bit my lip. “About work?” My words came out shaky, hesitant.

Damien nodded. “Of course,” he replied. Frowning, he turned to me and I felt a self-conscious blush break out over my cheeks. “Why? Did something happen?”

I shook my head and turned away, staring out the window as we passed skyscrapers and elegant people strolling around. I could never understand how some people managed to look glamorous despite the horrible Chicago weather. In the winter, my face always felt chapped and wind burned. In the summer, I could barely stop sweating long enough to keep my hair dry. Damien, on the other hand, was a vision in perfectly tailored grey. His chic overcoat was turned up to keep the chill away from his tanned neck and he was wearing the same scarf I’d seen on him a handful of times. Before I knew it, I was staring at him, fantasizing about the way his lips would feel on my cold neck.

We pulled up in front of a big building and Damien passed the driver a twenty. “Keep the change,” he barked, opening the door and guiding me out onto the icy sidewalk. The wind was whipping fiercely around us and I shivered as Damien took my elbow and led me inside.

The inside of the building was done in muted grey, cream, a dull gold. I watched in awe as Damien led me into a vaulted lobby with a domed ceiling.
La Maison Françoise
was printed in a squirmy font over the top of a door.

“This is my favorite restaurant,” Damien said. “I’ve done some of my best thinking here.” He took my elbow and led me inside. “I hope you like French food.”

I’d never had French food before, and somehow, deep down, I knew that Damien was aware of that. “I’m sure it’ll be nice,” I said softly, wincing at the awkward sound of my Wisconsin accent. “Thanks, Damien.”

“Mr. Lennox!” A maître d’ bowed and greeted us. “It’s been some time!” His gaze flickered over me and I saw the faintest hint of disgust on his face. “And who is this?”

“She’s my secretary,” Damien barked roughly. “My usual table in the back. Wine list first, please.”

The maître d’ nodded and bowed again. His eyes were focused on Damien’s chillingly perfect face. If I hadn’t been so worried about what Damien was going to reveal to me, I might have found the situation funny—the man was obviously trying to snub me. But Damien was absolutely perfect. I had a hard time believing that he’d ever been with a woman as gorgeous as he.

“Back here,” Damien said in a low voice. He put his hand on the small of my back, guiding me forward. I felt an electric spark jump between our bodies as we entered the mostly dark room. The restaurant was elegant, but seemed out of touch. It wasn’t like the places that Damien favored with lots of natural lighting and glass and chrome. Instead, it looked like something from an old gangster movie. The tables were dark wood—shiny, but stained from decades' worth of service. The walls were painted a dusty gold and covered with dark red velvet curtains. There were a few windows, but the overall effect of the place was a very dim one; it was private, almost like something from a mob movie.

“This is nice,” I said as I glanced around. “But I’m a little surprised. It doesn’t…well, it doesn’t exactly seem like you.” I blushed as soon as the words were out of my mouth. It seemed startlingly intimate to comment on something as personal as Damien’s favorite restaurant.

Damien chuckled. “There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know, Audrey,” he said in a low, silky voice. “Trust me on that one.”

I shivered. Even with my parka on, I could tell that the interior of the room was chilly. Damien watched me intently as I slipped out of my jacket. Instantly, a waiter was at my side. I felt startled—I hadn’t even seen him walk up to us. Had he been waiting?

“I’ll take that for you, ma’am,” he said smoothly, pawing my jacket and bag away from me before I could resist.

I felt naked without my parka. The restaurant was so sexy, so intimate, that I had the same feeling as I’d had last night in bed—that Damien and I were the only two people in the world.

“So,” Damien said. He picked up a leatherette folder and glanced down. “I take it you’re fine with a Malbec?”

I swallowed. “Um, yeah,” I replied. I didn’t want to tell him that I’d never had nice wine before. I’d had a couple of glasses at events hosted by the college, but that had been years ago. Now, I wasn’t really much of a drinker. Something about being drunk had never appealed to me—I never wanted to lose control of my faculties in public. Besides, being with Damien was thrilling enough. But a little spark of excitement went through me when I realized that it would be like a scene from a movie: I’d be drinking wine with a sexy guy, alone in the chicest restaurant I’d ever seen.

“It goes well with the food,” Damien said smoothly. He folded the menus together and held onto them. I felt perplexed; I hadn’t even gotten a chance to look at the offerings yet.

When the waiter appeared, Damien ordered the same meal for each of us: herb-crusted rack of lamb with a small Caesar salad to start, plus a bottle of wine. I gulped as the waiter carried the menus away with a swift grace.

“This is so funny,” I said. My voice echoed in the big room and I blushed hotly. “I mean, it feels like we’re alone in here. Is it always like that?”

“When the staff knows that I’m arriving, they clear out the other patrons,” Damien said. He took a sip of water, his features perfectly composed in the dim lighting. “I prefer to be alone, usually, but there are some things we need to discuss.” He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap, and stared at me. “Audrey, I don’t want to frighten you, but Hodges is a very powerful man. He knows that I’ve gone out of my way to avoid working with him in the past. He almost ruined me, you know. LennoxCo almost went under as a result of his scheming.”

I blinked. “Wow. And now he’s badgering you for help?”

Damien shook his head. “No, not exactly.” He chuckled. The waiter arrived with a bottle of wine, which he opened and poured into Damien’s glass.

“How is it, sir?”

“Perfect,” Damien said drily. “Thank you.” When the waiter had gone, Damien picked up the bottle and poured a generous amount of wine into my glass. “Audrey, Richard’s a dangerous man. He’s very powerful.”

I nodded. “I understand,” I said softly. When I sipped the Malbec, it wasn’t at all how I’d imagined. It was fruity and chocolatey and dark, almost like a piece of candy. At the same time, I could tell that it was savory, too, and that it would pair perfectly with the lamb. I began to feel overwhelmed again. This was just another way that Damien and I were polar opposites. He knew about wine and fancy dining. I, well, didn’t.

“I’m worried that he’s going to try to buy me out of LennoxCo,” Damien said carefully. He lifted his glass of wine to his mouth and drank deeply. “He’s threatened as much, and I know that’s what he wants. He can’t stand how I managed to survive what happened all those years ago.”

“I see. But why you? What about LennoxCo is so appealing to him? Why not find some other company? If he’s as powerful and rich as you say, he shouldn’t have a hard time finding someone willing to sell to him.”

Damien chuckled and sighed. “I wish I could give you a good answer to that,” he said. “But unfortunately, I have a feeling that the only reason he’s interested is because of me. He resents me for building the company back up to a level of greatness. He’s jealous he hasn’t managed to do that.”

“What is he doing right now?”

“He was just hired as a temporary CEO for a banking company,” Damien said. “Which doesn’t bode well. I’m surprised the company didn’t look into his background—it’s pretty spotty.”

I bit my lip. “If he’s as bad as that, why did you work with him all those years ago?” I blushed as Damien chuckled in response to my question. “I mean, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be impertinent. I just don’t understand.”

Damien shrugged. “It was my own fault,” he admitted. “I was stupid enough to be taken in by the idea of being able to make so much money, so quickly. I bought everything he sold me, hook, line, and sinker. If I’d been more careful, he’d probably be in a white-collar prison somewhere, doing time for embezzlement and money laundering.”

My mouth felt dry. I picked up my wine glass and took another long sip. The Malbec was beginning to warm up and I felt a slightly hot sensation in my throat. I wasn’t used to it, but it felt good. My head felt a little watery, almost floaty. I swallowed hard. “This is good wine,” I said softly. “Thank you.”

Damien waved his hand in the air. “This isn’t the best place around, but I’ve made some solid business decisions here.” He sighed and I watched the long curve of his neck. Desire prickled at my body, making me feel alien in my own skin. “I had a feeling you’d like it.”

“It’s wonderful,” I said honestly. “I’ve never been somewhere so posh.”

“So now that you know what’s happening,” Damien continued, as if we’d never broken in conversation, “you have to be on your guard, Audrey. Make sure that Hodges doesn’t hear anything scandalous. Always try to hold him off. If he wants to come in, suggest it in a couple of weeks. Don’t act like he’s worth as much as he is. Make him feel like we’re interested, but not interested enough.”

I blushed. “I don’t know that I can do that,” I replied. “I’m not a very good liar.” My cheeks were burning hot, but somehow I knew that it wasn’t just from the wine. “I’ve never been able to lie convincingly. What if he knows? What if he calls my bluff?”

“He won’t,” Damien said smoothly. “He won’t know, because you’ll lie very well. Understand?”

I nodded. An odd feeling came over my stomach and I licked my lips. “Damien, this isn’t…illegal or anything, right? I mean, I’m not doing anything that’s
really
wrong?”

Damien waved his hand in the air. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he chided me. “Of course not. This is all part of business. I just don’t want him getting any designs or ideas. Not until I’ve come up with a good way to get him the hell away from my company.” Damien’s nostrils flared and he looked almost angry. “This company is the only thing I have,” he said bitterly. “I’ve spent so much time working on it, I couldn’t let it fall now. I couldn’t let that asshole take it away from me.”

I stared at him in quiet surprise. I’d always known that Damien’s company was incredibly important to him, but it almost came as a shock to hear him sound so passionate. I’d never heard him sound like that about anything, especially not work. Slowly, in my wine-addled brain, I began to realize that there was a lot about Damien that I didn’t know.