Page 52 of Lethal Torture

Shelby is not only gay as Christmas, she’s normally as haughty and arrogant as a supermodel. Given that I trained her myself, and she’s one of the best dancers in the business, she’s got every right to be.

Only here she is, positively fawning over Luke like the rest of them.

“Or you could just wait until the Winter Ball.” Nadja gives Luke a sly wink. “Shelby here is the star act. It’s the hottest ticket in town, and one hell of a party.”

One hell of a partyis the understatement of the year.

Our Winter Ball is London’s most extravagant, not to mention most exclusive, orgy.

One to which Simon Lowbridge is most definitely not getting an invitation.

I make a mental note to find out how Enzo got on.

“I’m the Winter Queen.” Shelby is all but arching against Luke like a cat. “I get to order my court around. They have to do anything I command.” She flutters her eyelashes at him. “And I do meananything,Captain McTasty.”

Captain McTasty? Oh, for goodness’ sake.

“Sorry to interrupt,” I say, smiling tightly at the little gathering. “But Luke and I need to get going.”

Luke pushes off the wall and nods at me with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes that sends heat straight down my spine.

Nadja looks between us curiously, then exchanges a knowing look with Shelby that has me itching to fire them both.

“Tomorrow, den,” Anatoly says, putting his hand out and gripping Luke’s with a bearlike warmth that pisses me off even more.

I walk outside, almost welcoming the damp chill on my face after the cozy intimacy of the office.

Luke, the smug bastard, still has that half smile curving his lips. It’s fucking disturbing.

“Where’s Charlie?”

“Since it will probably take some time to go over your apartment, I gave her the night off.” He delivers the information in a way that lets me know he isn’t asking permission.

Fuck.

“Well,” I say tartly as he holds the limo door open for me. “Aren’t you the master of making friends?”

One of his eyebrows lifts slightly, his amusement visible enough to make me aware I’ve just lost another round. But he doesn’t say a word, just tucks the bottom of my coat inside the door and closes it with a firm click. When he gets in the front, I realize the barrier between my part of the limo and his is up.

I want to ask him to put it down, but another part of me is grateful for the separation.

I’m well aware he’s won over my entire staff in less than a day.

Worse, I understand it.

He just lures them in with that damned magnetic silence.

There’s something strangely reassuring about Luke’s presence. It’s not just his mountainous size, although that helps, particularly with men like Anatoly. But it’s more than his physical assets or clearly superb skill set that sets people at ease. Luke has a watchful stillness, an ability to both meld into the background and somehow contain it, that seems to create a layer of protection around everyone in his immediate presence.

And according to Enzo’s gossipy texts, it’s not just the staff who fell for it.

Apparently several of the Mayfair club members who caught sight of Luke stared at him with open-mouthed awe. Going by their less-than-discreet offers, Luke could have named his price. Fortunately, Enzo tells me, he also has the very rare ability to reject a woman while still leaving her feeling like she’s the most cherished person in the room.

Which somehow makes it worse.

I can smell him in here.

How is it that I’ve driven with Charlie every day for years, and yet it’s Luke’s scent that lingers in the leather upholstery, like a tantalizing hint of what I’m not allowed to have?