Page 23 of Lavish

We stared at each other, something uneasy settling between us.

“I didn’t touch your damn worker,” I muttered.

His brow furrowed. “And I don’t even know who’s on your site.”

“I asked my question first,” I reiterated.

“Don’t lie and don’t try to deny it. You’ve been trying to sabotage me,” he continued, voice silk-smooth and venom-laced. “Undercutting my deals. Taking my investors. Poisoning every opportunity before it even reached my desk. You really thought I would let that shit keep sliding?”

I glared at him, and tilted my chin up. “Business is business but I didn’t hurt your employee.”

His grip shifted, trailing down the column of my throat.Move back. Why are you letting him touch you?

“No, Sunny.” He said it like a caress. “This is personal. We will always be personal.”

He leaned in, lips brushing the shell of my ear.

“I’m taking the Harrington estate.”

My stomach dropped.

The jewel of the market. A sprawling waterfront lot that had been the source of intense competition among developers for years. It wasmine.

If I got the Harrington estate? Mama and Erik would have to acknowledge all my hard work.

King Developments would be at the top.

Maybe I’d get a say in King Enterprises as a whole. Years of work for the family would finally pay off. I would be unstoppable.

“You’re barely scraping by. How do you think you’re going to pull that off? It’s worth forty million alone. Those two nickels in your pocket ain’t enough.”

“The ladies think what I have in these pants is good enough.” He grinned.

Ihatedhim.

I hated how much I wanted tohurthim, to claw at him, to make himfeelsomething close to what I felt right now.

He released me and gave me his signature smile.

“Auction’s tomorrow.” He shrugged. “Just know I’m gonna walk away with it and have you looking sad.”

He turned like he was done—like he’d already won—but then glanced back, eyes gleaming.

“I’ll wave from the podium, Sunny.”

CHAPTER 5

Serena

The auction was buzzing,and all eyes were on me the second I walked in.

“Ms. King!” the attendant blurted out. He stumbled over his words before reaching out to hand me a paddle, which I quickly snatched. “Best of luck, Ms. King.”

“Luck isn’t needed.” I didn’t break my stride into the auction house.

I was up all night thinking of the auction. I had a meeting with Erik and Mama in a few days to report on King Developments’ most recent quarter, and Iwouldbe telling them that I’d acquired the best property on the market.

Winning this auction could be my leverage to demand more control, more resources from King Enterprises as a whole.