Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I laughed and nodded.
“You will find nothing,” Luc said.
Harrison looked back up at Luc with a shrug. “You assume I haven’t already. Or maybe I will plant some. But do yourself a favor and save a fortune in legal fees and treat her right.”
Luc looked down at me, really taking me in for the first time this morning. “Don’t worry, I will treat her like the goddess she is.”
A blush stained my cheeks as Harrison said something else and left for work.
Luc was still standing, and he pulled my chair around so I was facing him and he could cage me in with his arms.
“So, I guess Harrison really doesn’t care if the world knows we don’t have the same father,” I said. “Shame.”
“Why is that a shame?” Luc trailed his fingers from my shoulder up my neck to my hair.
“Because there really wasn’t any real reason for me to marry you,” I teased.
His eyes sparkled with mischief as he leaned down and whispered in my ear, his fingers tightening in my hair just this side of painful.
“Don’t think for a second that even though we are married, I won’t take you over my knee and spank your ass till it’s bright red.”
I placed my hand on his chest and pushed him back a little, then unwrapped my hair from his hand and pulled his palm to the side of my face. His thumb ran over my lips, and I couldn’t resist darting my tongue out to lick it. I pulled it into my mouth and sucked gently while looking into his eyes, the bright blue now only a sliver of a ring around his blown-wide pupils.
“There is just one problem with that,” I said as I took his hand and moved it down my neck to my chest and between my breasts, which were only covered by a thin, but opaque layer of white silk.
“And what is that, wife?”
“You would have to catch me first.” I darted out from under his arm and ran through the penthouse back to our bedroom.
CHAPTER 35
OLIVIA
Marksen was in his home office reading stacks and stacks of papers.
They were everywhere, just piles of bright white paper grouped in manila folders or in leather portfolios. Several piles had even spilled onto the floor in messy heaps of what looked like contracts and bank statements.
I wanted to talk to him.
I needed to ask him about what I could do to keep him from releasing those photos to the public. I didn’t know what he wanted from Luc or my father, or if it was something they would give or not. Luc would probably give almost anything to protect my reputation, he understood how hard I worked.
Luc knew what my magazine meant to me.
My father was more of an unknown.
In my life, at times, he had been an invaluable asset. Singing my praises, helping me land deals, or even shielding me from certain aspects of his business that I pretended to be in the dark about.
Lately, and especially when it came to my business, he was a liability. He would say I was acting out or that I needed to be wed and settle down to start producing male children. I had even heard him refer to my business as a “cute hobby” to a potential investor.
Later, of course, I found out that particular investor ended up working with my father and brother instead of with me. It all boiled down to one simple truth: if I wanted something done, Luc would help if he could, but when all was said and done, my reputation, my business, were my responsibility.
There had to be something Marksen wanted that I could give. If he wanted money, I could arrange it. If he wanted revenge, he just needed to tell me how he wanted it, and I would see what I could do.
At the end of the day, this was business, which meant everything was always up for negotiation.
I just had to figure out how to talk to the man who kidnapped me, hurt me, ridiculed me, forced me to take damning pictures, fucked me in front of a crowd, and made me feel things I didn’t think existed outside of books and Hallmark movies.
I took a deep breath, trying to summon my courage, and stepped into the room.
The second his blue eyes landed on me, all the courage fled from my body, and I practically deflated. When I didn’t say anything for a moment, his attention went back to his work, highlighting a few lines in a contract. So I bent down to start picking up papers from the floor.
I was holding a bank statement with several lines highlighted.
Something about it was … off.
I picked up another document and scanned it. Financial statements from DuBois Investments, as well as a few subsidiaries. Line after line was highlighted in neon yellow, blue, and pink.