Lucius (Acquisition Series #4) - Celia Aaron Page 0,29
out of my mind. I’ve gotten pretty good at that over the years. Even so, my thoughts turn in an even worse direction. Lucius. When he has his hands on me, it’s nothing like this. I should feel the same sort of revulsion, the same sort of violation, but I don’t. How can it be so different? But that begs the question of why I’m such a twisted mess, and I can’t get mired in that right now.
My next appointment is only a mile and a half away, the home of another board member. Mr. Angles is one of the few who have ever gone against Lucius’s wishes. He’s likely the most independent member of the board, but that doesn’t mean I can get him on my team. It’s going to take work.
I park and shake off the phantom sensation of that brute’s hands on me. I push it down deep and lock it up. It can crop up later, sometime when I’m alone, when I can be vulnerable. But not here. Not today.
Pulling up out front of a sprawling Victorian mansion, I park and step from the car.
I’m halfway up the steps to the wrought iron fence when I see a familiar shape on the front porch. As if my day wasn’t already a dumpster fire.
I almost miss the next step but catch myself.
Lucius waves from his spot on the swing, and Arlo Angles sips his iced tea on the sunny porch. Lucius’s filthy words from last night float through my mind, and a shiver runs through me. Shame quickly colors over those thoughts. I shake it off and focus on winning, on beating Lucius at his own game.
“Mr. Angles. We have a meeting.” I climb the four steps to the front porch, the wood planks a pearly white beneath my feet. The sun is oppressive today, the heat like a heavy touch.
“We do.” He nods but doesn’t make a move to stand and greet me.
Lucius, however, gets to his feet and comes over to me. “Would you like a drink?”
“I’d like a word with Mr. Angles in private.” I narrow my eyes as he moves closer.
“Let’s stick to things that are within the realm of possibility, shall we, darlin’?”
I’ve never met a man who needs a swift slap to the face as badly as Lucius. “You can’t prevent me from speaking to the board of directors.”
He moves past me to a drink cart set up against the shadiest part of the front wall. “Now, I can’t say for sure, but you strike me as a mint julep girl.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, darlin’. I hang on your every word,” he says dryly. He drops some ice cubes into a glass and pours bourbon into a tumbler.
“Stop calling me darling, I don’t want a drink, and I need to speak to Mr. Angles.”
“Go ahead.” He gestures with the tumbler in his hand. “Speak all you want.”
“In private.” I turn to Mr. Angles. “If we could perhaps go inside and sit down—”
“Heavy on the sugar, right?” Lucius holds up a packet with the Magnolia logo across it, then rips it open with his teeth and pours the sugar into the shaker. It’s lewd and wrong, but he looks so good when he’s doing awful things. He starts shaking the drink, his gaze never leaving mine.
I force my attention back to Mr. Angles. “Mr. Angles, please. I need to—”
“He’s not going to talk to you.” Lucius finishes shaking the drink and pours it into a glass.
“We set a meeting. You agreed to see me.” I ignore Lucius and stare down at Arlo Angles. “Remember?”
“Berating him won’t change it.” Lucius adds some mint leaves and offers me the glass.
“What did you do to him?” I peer at the graying man who hasn’t said a word. He won’t meet my gaze, and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
“Do to him? Nothing.” Lucius offers me the glass again.
I don’t take it, and instead entreat Mr. Angles again. “Listen, it is burning hot out here. I think we’d be more comfortable if we moved this inside. Just you and me. I have some great plans for the future of Magnolia, and you would be doing your shareholders a great service by simply meeting with me about how to move the company forward into a more profitable future.”
“Wow, you should do commercials.” Lucius smirks.
I should’ve taken the drink, because right now would be the perfect time for me to throw it into his smug face. Instead,