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

Chapter 13

Sanaya’s P.O.V

Lancelin Eustein, the CEO of ReefWood Inc. and the future King of all Incubi in the planet…had a sweet tooth.

His basket was filled with Twix bars, Oreos, M&M’s, KitKats and Reese’s as we neared the cash register. I tried to hold in my laugh when laugh when Lancelin peeked into my cart to see what I’d gotten and saw his disappointed frown when he found only cheeses, some Doritos and some hot pockets. There were also some spice roasted hazelnuts and pistachios thrown into the mix, as well as a pack of dried cranberries. They would all pair very well with some Barbera or some Pinot.

“I think you forgot the Hershey’s and Snickers, Sir. Should I go grab them for you?” I asked with the most innocent voice I could master.

“Not another word, Ms. Johnson. Not another word.” He glared at me from the corner of his eyes.

I couldn’t hold it in any longer; I just burst out laughing while covering my face with one hand as I held my basket with the other. Realization of the fact that I was laughing at my boss, who wasn’t Acelin, donned on me a few seconds later and I immediately straightened up, trying to disguise the last vestiges of laughter as a cough, but to no avail.

I thought I was a goner for sure. Because Lancelin had reminded me, very politely, on the very first day that he wasn’t like Acelin and our relationship was never going to be like that. But when I looked up at his face to check exactly how mad he was, it was only to find him smiling himself.

I had to do a double take to be sure I had witnessed the curve of his lips for what they really were…a very slight but very present smile. I breathed a sigh of relief as we got our purchases checked out.

“Get the bags, Ms. Johnson.” Was his curt response after he had paid for everything and I immediately gathered all the bags in my hand and followed him out of the grocery store.

One thing I immediately noticed as we neared our car in the parking lot was that Martin was missing. Usually he’d be standing by Lancelin’s door, ready to open it for him or take away any parcels I was holding. But today, he was nowhere near the car.

Where could he have gone so suddenly? We didn’t take all that long inside the store, did we? And besides, he didn’t seem like the disappearing type.

“What happened?” I asked when I couldn’t spot Martin in the driveway.

“Martin’s been called back to his coven for an urgent affair.” Lancelin answered as we reached his car and surprisingly, he took out a key from his pocket and unlocked the doors. “So, I’m afraid he won’t be joining us today.”

“Oh!” I hustled to put the bags inside the trunk as soon as he opened it. “Then…how are we going to get back, Sir? Should I drive?”

Lancelin gave me a sideway glance. “I don’t trust anyone with my car, Ms. Johnson. I’m driving.”

“Of course, Sir.” I stepped back from the trunk door as it began to close and followed Lancelin to the front of the car.

In a weirdly sweet gesture, Lancelin opened the passenger side door for me and helped me in and shut the door once he was sure I was strapped in. then he rounded the car to enter the driver’s seat and buckled in himself. The car roared to life a second later and we were driving smoothly out of the parking lot and into the busy streets.

“Have you submitted the review for the lipstick yet?” Lancelin asked, breaking the ice.

“Umm…not yet.” I fiddled with the chain of my purse.

“You aren’t one to delay work, Ms. Johnson,” Lancelin took a smooth U-turn, his hands gliding on the steering wheel like a pro. “How about you try it on right now.” From the tone of his voice, it didn’t sound like a suggestion.

“But...Sir...I feel like I should save such an expensive lipstick for a special occasion.” I told him a bit hesitantly.

“Sure.” Lancelin shrugged. “But I’m sure it won’t get exhausted if you try it out once.”

I guess he had a point. A little hesitantly, I took out the beautiful half-transparent tube from my purse and held it in my palm, just admiring the beauty of the casing.

“There is a box of tissues inside the cabinet in front of you.” Lancelin told me as he slowed down the speed and took a side lane to let the other cars pass by.

Doing as he instructed, I took out two tissue papers and wiped my lips clean of any lip tint. Scrunching up the papers, I kept them inside my purse to dispose of them later and took out my compact case and flipped it open to look into the mirror while applying the lipstick. It glided on like smooth silk and only one stroke painted my lips an exquisite red. It was the most beautiful shade of red I had ever worn and I regretted not trying it earlier.

“Gorgeous.” I breathed out.

“Indeed.”

I looked at Lancelin to see if he had seen the shade but he was looking out onto the streets, concentrating on the road. Did I just imagine him saying something? My mind seemed to be playing tricks on me a lot recently.

After about ten more minutes of driving, we arrived at ReefWood HQ and went directly into the parking lot. By the time my lipstick had dried a bit but it still felt glossy and my lips were moisturized. I touched my fingers to my lips, expecting some of the paint to come off but it stayed right in place. Surprised, I wiped at it a little harder, but still, the results were the same.

“It’s smudge-proof.” I informed Lancelin with a wide smile.

“Good.” Lancelin nodded as he parked the car. “What else do you do to test the quality of lipsticks?”

“Well, there’s the glass test, to see if the lipstick stains the glass or cup.” I listed them off one by one. “Then there is the food test to see if the lipstick stays intact after you consume some particularly messy foods like burgers or pizza or hot dogs. Then there is the cloth test to see if it sticks to cloths. And then at last there is the k-”

“At last?” Lancelin raised his eyebrows at me in amusement when I cut off suddenly.

“I can’t remember at the moment, sir.” I told him with the fakest smile I could master while my heart threatened to burst out of my ribcage. “I’ll inform you when I do…remember.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

We exited the car and I grabbed the bags when Lancelin opened the trunk and then we headed inside the elevator. But instead of going up, the elevator descended past the basement parking levels and went even further down.

“Sir?” I asked a little nervously. “Where are we going?”

“To the liquor cellars.” Was Lancelin’s amused answer. “Don’t worry, Ms. Johnson, I don’t like to attack my prey in the basement of my building. There are other, more comfortable places for that.”

A blush crept up my cheek at the mention of ‘prey’ and ‘comfortable places’. It could’ve had a more sinister meaning, until you consider the fact that Lancelin Eustein was an Incubus.

The elevator doors opened at the B4 level and we exited to find two guards standing in front of a set of metal doors. The place was heavily equipped with CCTV cameras and as Lancelin moved towards the door, I found it had an electronic panel to open the door. Rather than the one at the bar which opened with the help of our ID’s, this one scanned Lancelin’s palms instead.

But when the doors opened, Lancelin didn’t step inside immediately. Instead, he pressed a few buttons on the pad and then motioned for me to come forward. One of the guards took the bags from me and went inside the door while Lancelin pointed at the palm-print scanner.

“Set your palm on the screen so it can scan your print.”

I did as told and felt the warmth of the electronic device as it scanned my palm. I removed my hand once it was done.

“Good. Now you can have access to this cellar and all other alcohol cellars that I own around the world.”

“Sir?” I was a bit shocked at given such a big responsibility.

“As my Scribt, you ought to have access in case it is needed.” Lancelin tilted his head to point inside the cellar. “Let’s start our testing, shall we?”

“Sure, Sir.” I followed Lancelin inside the room, not quite sure what my purpose here was, but stopped short when I saw the insides.

Thousands of boxes lined every inch of the room. They were divided by racks and labeled by the aisle like any supermarket would. The temperature was cold enough to preserve the alcohol but not freezing. The room itself was humongous and as we walked to the end of it, I found several glasses had been laid out for us on a large table, containing different kinds of alcohol and someone had done us a favor by opening up the snacks and arranging them in a charcuterier board.

Just as we neared the table, Lancelin’s phone began to ring. I stopped just beside him but Lancelin motioned for me to continue. Since it was already lunch time, I went straight for the nachos and placed two of them into my mouth together, after slathering them with Brier. I picked up a glass of red and took a sniff of the delicate wine. It had a subtle hint of citrus in it so I couldn’t quiet tell which wine it was but the sip I took tasted delicious.

Good! The glass didn’t have any lipstick stain on it. Just perfect!

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Lancelin’s sudden yelling almost caused me to drop my glass, but I calmly put it on the table and turned to find him pacing the length of the room and throwing his free hand in the air as he switched to a language I didn’t understand.

After about five more minutes of yelling, Lancelin hung up the phone at what seemed like a curse about Jesus Christ and turned to me with a frustrated look on his face.

“I don’t suppose you have a change of clothes, Ms. Johnson? Please get ready within an hour. We’re going to a party.”