The Incubus's Secretary (Dark Council Series Book 2)

Chapter 20

Sanaya’s P.O.V

Nervously, I looked at the clock once more as I typed my final report for the day and shut down my computer. Unlike Acelin’s cabin which had a transparent glass divider that allowed me to look inside his office, Lancelin’s cabin was surrounded by a black stained glass walls, making visibility impossible. Which was an unfair advantage because Lancelin could see everything that went on outside his office.

It was past seven in the evening and the humongous lobby in front of me was completely empty, with no clients, no more paperwork and none of Lancelin’s odd jobs left for me to do. Even the plants and artificial flowers lining the glass windows were spotless, which gave me absolutely nothing to do except fidget over what Lance might want to do next.

It had been a month after the events at Amber’s party and Lance had been pretty silent about the whole deal as had Acelin, which was very surprising considering that Acelin wasn’t one to keep secrets. I didn’t know what went down between the brothers and their mother and neither did I want to get involved in it. Valleria Eustein seemed like a very dangerous woman, especially one I did not want to mess with.

Asmara’s party invite had said eight o’ clock sharp and if Lancelin wanted to get there on time, he should be getting ready right about now. But as the clock stuck seven thirty, I gave up all hope that Lancelin was even going to bother showing up. That’s too bad; considering how badly I wanted to go to Asmara’s party...notice my sarcasm? I wasn’t a party girl, never had been, and I especially didn’t want to attend this party.

According to The Hollywood Daily, her parties were the best in all of The US and they were also the parties that most celebrities frequented when she was living in Los Angeles. Whenever there was a new house built by any celebrity, she was the first choice for interior decoration. To have your house or club or even hotels decorated by the Asmara McKinley was like a dream come true. There was no doubt as to why such a popular Interior decorator who had established such a vast empire first in Europe and now in Los Angeles wanted to come to New York, but it was clear from her interaction with Lancelin that what she had in mind was far for expanding her business.

The two of them had been lovers once, that much was clear from the way Asmara had behaved, but the breakup must have really sucked if there was so much bad blood between the families. Apparently, whatever went down between Asmara and the entire Eustein clan was bad enough that Lancelin had pulled authority. And I know that I shouldn’t get involved, hell I shouldn’t even be curious, but I couldn’t help but get this feeling that there was more that meets the eye.

Lancelin however, hadn’t mentioned Asmara all throughout the month. The official invitation to the party had arrived last week and Lancelin had hardly even taken a look at the sparkly card in red that looked more like a Valentine’s Day card than party invite. Somewhere deep inside, it made me happy…gave me an odd feeling of triumph and satisfaction.

We hadn’t mentioned the kiss after that day, but something had changed between us ever since. He seemed different, a lot nicer. It was hard to tell if Lancelin was flirting with me or not but he hadn’t revoked the ‘call by name when we are alone’ deal we had made and I couldn’t help but get the butterflies in my tummy whenever he called my name.

I’d even found Martin delivering my favorite cup of coffee every morning for the last few weeks and occasionally, I’d find a single rose sitting on the small glass jar on my desk. The roses weren’t red, but a mixture of yellow and pink. It was like he was giving me mixed signals, but I was fine with it. Even I had no words for what we felt for one another.

Sighing, I turned my gaze to the lone flower that sat in the jar today. It had been freshly delivered this morning and its sweet scent lingered around my desk in slow swirls. It was a symbol, that was for sure, but I had no idea of what. The entire office had been super busy as autumn crept into New York. Soon it will be winter...and my father’s death anniversary.

Shaking my head as I didn’t want to go down that path tonight, I picked up my bag and got up from my seat.

But just as I was about to call it a day and get out from behind my desk, the doors to Lancelin’s office sprung open and there was my boss, looking like a hot piece of eye candy, in a crisp black suite and trousers, with a blood red shirt underneath. His hair was jelled back and his skin gave off a golden hue. When his golden eyes landed on me, it felt like someone had just knocked all the air out of my lungs.

“Lancelin?” I asked, silently cursing myself when I heard the breathlessness in my voice.

“You’ll need to change, Sanaya.” Was his curt reply.

I looked down at my outfit self-consciously, but found nothing wrong with it. A crisp white shirt and fitted black pencil skirt. I had even applied more makeup than usual for the occasion. I thought I looked perfectly fine dressed as Lancelin’s secretary.

Lancelin must have caught onto my thoughts because his deep voice filled my ears the next instant, but this time, far closer to where I was standing.

“You must remember that you don’t work for Acelin anymore, Sanaya.” He said, and there was a hint of something in his voice that I couldn’t quite catch on. “He might be fine with his secretary attending a charity dinner in her work clothes but I’m not. You don’t just represent the company now but you also represent me. Do you have anything that you can change into?”

I immediately shook my head. “I didn’t think I would need to change so I didn’t get anything from my house.”

“And if I’m correct, your house is in the complete opposite direction,” Lancelin sighed. “Well then, let’s go.”

I nodded and gathered my bag before following him out of the building. Martin was waiting for us right outside the building and he opened the door for Lancelin as we neared the car. I was heading to the passenger’s seat when Lancelin caught my arm.

Even through the soft material of my shirt acting as a barrier between our flesh, I still felt the jolt of electricity run up my arm. I couldn’t tell if Lancelin felt it or not, but if he did, he was doing a damn good job of hiding it.

“You’ll be sitting with me from now on.” He said in his curt voice before letting go of my hand and entering the car.

I rubbed at the spot where his hand had held mine and waited for him before getting inside the car myself. The cool blast of air suddenly felt heavenly against my skin and too late I realized that I had been blushing.

“Where to, Sire?” Martin asked as he got in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Ralph’s.” Lance told him before he began typing away at his phone. Someone was in a sour mood today.

I frowned. Ralph’s? I thought we were going to Asmara’s charity dinner. There was no mention of any Ralph anywhere in the invitation. But I stayed quite as Martin began driving.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived outside what looked like a fancy dress shop and then I looked at the name. “No way! I don’t have that kind of money to buy at Ralph Lauren!”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re not paying.” Lancelin informed me as Martin came over to open his door.

“Lance-Mr. Eustein!” I corrected as Lance got out and held his hand for me. “I can’t let you pay for my-“

And there it was again. That zap of electricity; like I was ready to explode any minute just from his touch. Lancelin helped me out of the car without a word and held me to his side.

“This is important for me, Sanaya, today’s event.” Lance whispered in my ears as Martin got into the car and drove to a parking space. “I can’t tell you everything yet but just know that this is very important.”

“Okay.” I nodded as I nervously looked at the golden lights highlighting the sign.

“Sanaya?” I looked up at his face as he called my name. His eyes were intense, the pupils constricted and the colour of his iris was a molten amber. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” I said without hesitation.