Page 5 of Lucas (The Valeur Billionaires #2)

Chapter Four

LUCAS

T he floor-to-ceiling windows offer a stunning panorama of the glittering downtown skyline, but I barely spare it a glance. My focus is solely on the Valeur executives gathered around the long table.

“The latest updates to the Sapphire Towers project,” I announce, pulling up the revised schematics with a few deft taps. “We were able to optimize the layout and squeeze in twenty additional units. Projected profits are up by twenty million.”

I expand the 3D rendering so it fills the screens, the gleaming azure glass structure revolving slowly. Murmurs of approval ripple through the wood-paneled room as I highlight the key changes.

“Impressive work, Lucas,” Zachary, the CFO, praises. “You’ve taken this project to the next level. ”

Pride suffuses my chest, but I keep my expression neutral. I incline my head in acknowledgment.

“Thank you, Zach. I’ll have more to report next month when I present the quarterly earnings. I’m confident we’ll exceed all benchmarks.” I allow myself a small smile. “That concludes today’s agenda. Meeting adjourned.”

I power down the screens, plunging the room back into the muted gray light of the afternoon. The assembled executives rise from their leather chairs, gathering up briefcases and tablets.

“Great job,” Sean says to me on his way out the door.

Zachary grins at me. “We’re glad to see you settling down.”

Settling down?

Benjamin Stone, one of the board directors, approaches me. “I think I speak for everyone when I say how delighted we are to see you’ve found a suitable partner.”

“Suitable partner?” What the hell is he talking about? What are they all talking about?

“Choosing Ava Gant is surprising given your parents’ history, but I must say, it’s a brilliant move.

Combining forces with Gant Construction?

Burying the hatchet with the enemy and forging an alliance?

Frankly, it’s the kind of cutthroat strategic thinking we like to see from our future CEO.

We’re all thrilled to see you moving away from scandals and settling down.

When we discussed your candidacy to replace your father at the end of the year, there was significant concern about your ability to lead the company while you were.

..well, you know.” He claps a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re taking this seriously. I’m confident if you stay the course, you’ll have our full support. ”

He winks and claps me on the back. “Landing a big fish like her... I’m impressed, Lucas. She’s quite the catch. Beautiful, whip-smart, and connected. I have to hand it to you. You don’t do anything by halves.”

I laugh, my mind racing. What the actual fuck? Me and Ava Gant? There’s no reality in which that frigid bitch and I would ever be a couple. I’d rather fuck a cactus.

I fish my phone from my jacket pocket and open up the tabloid article that pinged on my alerts just as I was walking into this meeting. The obnoxious headline glares up at me.

New Power Couple Alert: Lucas Valeur Cozies Up to Former Rival Ava Gant. Wedding Bells on the Horizon?

Below is a slightly grainy telephoto shot of Ava and I at lunch yesterday. She’s leaning across the table, saying something. I’m smirking at her over the rim of my glass, looking completely engrossed.

Fucking vultures. Can’t a man have a simple business meeting without it being construed as some kind of lover’s affair? They’ve laid some saccharine filter over it, too, making it look like a soft-focus scene from a goddamn Hallmark movie.

Where did they get the wedding idea from?

I narrow my eyes, sure that Dear Old Dad has his hand in this.

In love? Please. Love is just a way for people to manipulate you. I never want to be in love .

My thumb hovers over the screen, itching to call my publicist and demand a retraction.

But…

Ava needs an infusion of cash to keep her sinking ship of a company afloat, and I need a respectable fiancée to win over the board and convince them I’m ready to take my father’s place.

A slow, wicked smile spreads across my face as a plan takes shape. Oh, this is just too perfect.

A marriage of convenience. Or rather, of mutual manipulation. I’ll offer her a lifeline...for the low, low price of becoming my blushing bride. She’s proud, but she’s also desperate. She’ll have no choice but to accept.

And the second that ring is on her finger, Gant Construction will belong to me. Everything she’s fought to protect, every scrap of her family’s legacy, will be mine for the taking.

I’ll bleed it dry, sell off every asset, fire every single employee. Meanwhile, she’ll have a front-row seat as I burn her empire to ashes.

I can taste it. The ultimate revenge, gift-wrapped and tied with a white satin bow.

Once her ruination is complete, I’ll discard her like yesterday’s newspaper. Leave her shattered and penniless, a broken shell of her former self.

Ava Gant thinks she can play in the big leagues with the boys? I’ll show her just how far out of her depth she really is.

When you swim with sharks, baby, you’d better be prepared to bleed.

I slide my phone back into my pocket and straighten my tie. I have a marriage proposal to plan .

Look out, princess. Your Prince Charming is coming for you.

And this is one fairy tale that won’t end with a happily ever after.

At least, not for you.

I lay across my sprawling king-sized bed, the cool silk sheets tangled around my bare legs as I stare at a painting on the wall. The bedroom is dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the wall of windows.

I have the phone pressed to my ear, my other hand resting low on my abs, fingers teasing along the waistband of my black boxer briefs. “Ava? This is Lucas Valeur.”

“It’s Miss Gant,” she corrects.

I roll my eyes. “Okay, Miss Gant.”

“What do you want, Mr. Valeur? Did you call to gloat about humiliating me with your little scheme?”

“What?” I frown. She can’t possibly know what I’m planning.

“The photo from yesterday. You knew it would embarrass me. That’s why you tipped off the photographer.” Her voice drips with accusation.

A harsh bark of laughter escapes me. “You’re giving yourself way too much credit if you think I’d go to all that trouble just to mess with you. I didn’t arrange anything. Believe me, I don’t enjoy being seen in public with the likes of you.”

“The likes of me? And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demands, her words clipped and frosty .

I open my mouth, a cutting retort on the tip of my tongue, but I stop myself. Antagonizing her won’t help me get what I want.

“I think we should meet again. I have a business proposition for you.”

“I already told you I’m not sleeping with you. Sex isn’t a business deal.”

Oh, that sharp tongue. I hate how much it turns me on. “And I told you I’m not interested in fucking you.”

“You’re not?” She sounds skeptical. Amused, even. I can practically see her arched brow, that infuriating little smirk.

“No. You’re not my type,” I lie. She’s stunning. But she’s also the enemy. I can’t allow myself to even entertain those kinds of thoughts about her. No matter how my cock twitches at the mere sound of her voice.

“Really?” She draws out the word, her tone dripping with disbelief.

“Really. I prefer my women...looser.”

She lets out a throaty little moan that shoots straight to my groin, my abs clenching.

“Oh, Lucas, you’re so big. So thick. Do you want to taste my sweet little pussy? It’s freshly shaved, just for you. And my clit is so swollen, I need you to make me come. Please, Lucas... Please…”

I shift on the bed, my erection growing, straining against the soft cotton of my underwear. I palm myself through the fabric, muffling a groan. “What are you doing, Ava?”

“I want to take you in my mouth. Lick you from base to tip and taste your precum. Wrap my lips around the head and suck you until you burst. Do you like getting your dick sucked, Lucas?” Her voice is a low, throaty purr, her breath hitching.

My hand slips into my briefs, gripping my throbbing shaft. I stroke myself, imagining it’s her slim fingers wrapped around me instead. I slick the pad of my thumb over the sensitive head, smearing the bead of moisture gathered there.

“Do you want to come in my mouth? On my tits? Paint me with your hot cum?” She gasps and whimpers, and I imagine her lying in her own bed, the glow of her phone illuminating her face as she touches herself.

Plunging her fingers into her wet heat, circling her clit.

Fucking herself to the sound of my voice.

“Fuck,” I groan, my head falling back against the pillows. I’m dying here.

“I’m so wet, Lucas. My thighs are slick just thinking about you fucking me.

Are you hard for me? Are you stroking that big cock, imagining shoving it inside me?

” Her breath catches on a moan, the filthy words somehow even more titillating whispered in the dark like this, murmured across the phone line.

“God, yes,” I pant, my hand moving faster now, gliding over my shaft. I thrust up into my fist, my hips pumping. So close already, embarrassingly quick. But I’m too turned on to care.

Her breathless little whimpers crackle through the speaker, and it’s the sweetest fucking music.

I want her spread out on my bed, writhing on my cock.

I want to bury my face between her thighs and lick her until she screams. I want to fuck her in the huge glass shower, against the cool tile, hot water coursing over our twined bodies.

Bend her over my mahogany desk, hike her prim little skirt up over her hips and sink into her tight wet heat.

Hear her moan my name for real as I pound her.

Lost in the haze of my building orgasm and filthy fantasies, it takes me a moment to realize she’s speaking again.

“You want to fuck me, don’t you? You want to bend me over and take me hard and deep?” Her voice is sluggish, almost dreamy.

“Yes,” I growl, my grip tightening, thrusting up into the tight clasp of my fist. The massive bed rocks against the hardwood floor with the force of my movements. “Fuck, yes.”

“I thought I wasn’t your type? That you weren’t interested?” she taunts with a throaty laugh in her voice, the sultry, seductive tone shifting into something harder. Colder.

Unease prickles at the base of my skull, a bucket of ice water over my passion. I still the motion of my hips with effort, my body strung bowstring taut. “I?—”

“Are you going to give me the contract I asked for?” she demands, cutting me off, her words crisp and businesslike. There’s no hint of the breathy sexpot from just moments ago.

Anger flashes through me, hot and bright. I rip my hand out of my underwear like I’ve been scalded. “No,” I grit out from between clenched teeth.

“Then I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

The call goes dead.

Damn her.

I stare at the phone in disbelief, my erection throbbing almost painfully.

She hung up on me. She worked me into a fucking frenzy, got me hot enough to hammer nails...and then just left me with the worst case of blue balls in recorded history.

I have to laugh, even through my frustration. Girl’s got some sass, I’ll give her that. Some hefty ladyballs too.

I take a few deep, calming breaths, willing my rioting body back under control. It’s not easy, with her breathy moans still echoing in my ears, my cock still prodding at my belly. But eventually, my thundering heart rate slows to a less alarming level.

Before I can second guess myself, seized by a sudden, reckless determination, I redial her number. She picks up on the second ring.

“I don’t like liars,” Ava says, not even bothering with a hello.

I settle back against the upholstered headboard, the plush charcoal velvet soft against my bare shoulders. “I know Gant Construction is in financial trouble. I’m willing to help you with that...if you help me with a problem of my own.”

“Aw, is Little Lucas not cooperating? So sad. Sounds like a job for your doctor, not me.” She chuckles.

I clench my jaw so hard my teeth grind together. Unbearable woman. I want to put her over my knee and spank her. Among other things.

Remember, you need her. Losing my temper now will only make this harder.

“Hear me out before you hang up on me again.”

“And why should I do that?”

“Because I know something about you, Ava. I know you’re desperate?—”

“I am not desperate!” she yells.

I plow ahead, undeterred. “—or you wouldn’ t be coming to your mortal enemy for help. And I have the means to provide that help. You said you wanted the Pearl Garden project.”

Silence. I can hear her breathing on the other end of the line, a touch unsteady despite her bravado.

“Ava?” I prompt, winding the sheet around my fist. The slinky fabric whispers across my skin.

“I’m listening.”

Satisfaction unfurls in my chest. I have her now. I can feel it. “I can’t give you Pearl Garden. But I can offer you something almost as good.” I can’t risk tying her company to my new development project. Not when I plan to crush Gant Construction into dust long before the first brick is laid.

“Not Pearl Garden?” She sounds disappointed.

“No. But you’ll get the infusion of capital you need to keep your doors open. I’ll funnel money into Gant, enough to get you out of the red.”

“Why would you do that? What’s the catch?” she asks, her tone sharpening with suspicion.

A slow smile curls my lips. “Meet with me again and find out.” I dangle the carrot, waiting for her to bite.

“Fuck you.”

She bites, all right. My head off.

The line goes dead for the second time.

I set the phone on the nightstand. I should be annoyed, but I find myself almost amused.

Ava Gant isn’t going to make this easy for me.

Good. I do love a challenge.

And this one will be my sweetest victory yet. I’ll have her right where I want her—under my thumb. I’ll destroy her, consume her, leave nothing but ashes in my wake .

She’s stubborn, but so am I, and I’m just getting started.

My other hand is still down my pants, my erection never having fully deflated. Her throaty dirty talk worked me up good and left me aching. I’d love to drag her to my office and put that filthy mouth to better use.

But for now, my right hand will have to do.