CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE

➢

It was a warm evening. The afternoon hotness had simmered down to this warmth. As the saying goes, whatever is hot must surely get cold. The afternoon had been ablaze such that every resident knew to stay indoors. And though they were indoors, they could feel the heat. Only those who couldn't avoid it stayed working under the scorching heat. It was under this scorching heat that typical office works continued. In one of the busy offices in the county, two CEOs were in a meeting. The meeting,of course, was indoors, and full AC was working. But even then, the men had removed their suits. They had also gone ahead to loosen their ties. The meeting had started earlier in the day and was eating into the late hour.

"If we're done here," said the CEO of STARTERS. The company is a technological company and the best in the whole country, even globally. The CEO, Lucian Munroe, smiled at everyone seated. He was a handsome man with grey eyes and curly, short hair. Attractive doesn't suit this god of a man. For someone who was 6'7 tall, with broad shoulders and well-chiseled abs, he was easily an Adonis. Females ogled him whenever he walked past them. The way with which he carried himself alone left them insane seduced. He rarely smiled, but when he did, the ladies swoon faintly. Even now, as he sat with the 10th richest man in Japan and other prominent men in the room, he was easily the best looking man.

Moving back his chair, Lucian nodded at the other CEO's secretary. That should be all, cried his wolf in exhaustion. Asthe man, he was bored too. This meeting had gone on too long. In the meeting was the Japanese company's CEO, Mr Wachovia. His business partner was also one of the 20 richest men. They were good looking men in their youth, with flawless skin. Also in attendance was the prince of another rich part of Japan. He was also good looking and cute. Yet, none of these men could outshine Lucian. His beautiful look came from his parents. He was a cross breed. Perhaps that accounted for his rare beauty. His mother was Mexican. A beautiful model who was known to bag lots of trophies. She was a beauty to behold. His father had ladies tripping all over themselves to get his touch. Even in old age, he continued to win their heart. It is thus expected that seed of these two would be such a dear.

Two ladies were present for the meeting. Seeing the beautiful man for the first time had them speechless. Hours later, they couldn't still compose themselves around him. They stutter and flush endlessly. Lucian was used to that. It didn't bother him. Instead, he merely helped the ladies complete their sentences. He was a man of few words, only when it was business. For the best part, his men did the talking. He only chipped in when necessary. Right now, the meeting should be closed. His men were exhausted, as were the Japanese. It was written all over their faces, even if they tried hiding it with shaky smiles.

A few minutes ago, they had taken a short break. His secretary had served them food and drinks during the break. So, hunger wasn't the issue here. The time was. He was used to it anyway. He had closed meetings the midnight before. And some had started as early as 3. a.m. The time zone for his client mattered. And this time, he was dealing with a Japanese company. The company needed the best developer to help build their company's site. Lucian had been recommended.

The two companies had been on the project for over a month now. Today, they had finally completed the final draft from the colours to the wording and logo. All was set. The job was now left for STARTERS to complete.

Aside from being so handsome, Lucian exuded power that wasn't ordinary. Perhaps being a wolf made him so powerful, a force you wanna reckon with. Even his smile commanded respect. It was apparent he was a dominant male. Men and women alike ran to do his bidding. Unlike Peterson, Lucian came from a family that breeds money. And he knew how to make his money tree grow too. Something he and Peterson had in common. However, their personality couldn't be more different. And if any of these men catches anyone comparing them, they'd freak out. It wasn't hidden that they had bad blood between them.

And now, as he stood, all eyes turn to the powerful man. He did know how to make everyone cower indeed. "Are we?" asked Lucian with a small smile.

"Yes, I believe we are done here…" Mr Wachovia stood, as he did, he saw his secretary waving at him. She held a paper up and pointed to it. The man leaned over to look. He nodded after seeing it. There was still an item unattended. "One more thing,though."

"What's that?" Lucian asked. He briefly nodded to his Private Investigator. He had another meeting scheduled in an hour. The earlier he finished with the Japanese, the better. He had been hoping to get a break before that. The PI, Gilbert, understood what the nod was. He bowed and stepped out.

Gilbert stepped out to the reception. Like his boss, he was a tall man. His face was constantly screwed up in a stern frown. Perhaps his job made him that way. He wasn't just the private investigator. He is majorly the security leader for both Lucian and the company. "You need to reschedule the meeting," His deep sombre voice never ceases to catch people off guard. Even now, he smiled as the receptionist jerked at it.

The receptionist, a blond, looked up from her computer, distorted. "It's… isn't it just an hour from now?" she stuttered. Adjusting her glasses, she proceeded more confidently, "They might be on their way already."

"The meeting is taking longer than usual. Move it," he ordered and took his leave. It wasn't only Lucian who had the ladies flustered. He could too. Smiling inwardly, he got back in. Lucian was explaining something to the Japanese. He let his boss know that the meeting was rescheduled with just a curt nod. Then he went back to his stand.

"I love that approach," said Mr Wachovia. He leaned over to ask his partners. They also nodded in approval.

"I know you would." Lucian smiled and took his seat.

Wachovia stood up to address everyone, "And that concludes everything…" he was saying. Then he stopped when the door was flung open.

Everyone turned to look at the rude intruder. The lady, a sophisticated, pretty one with short chestnut hair, waltzed into the room. She exuded confidence as she strode elegantly into the room, unaware of the set of eyes that turned her way. It was either that, or she just didn't care what she did. "Hello," she greeted, ignoring Lucian's irritated glare. "Don't mind me. I'll just fade out here." She smiled, walking towards Lucian's desk. The meeting was held in the meeting room set in his office, but his desk was a few feet away. She walked over there, heels clamping on the hard tiles and all. Then she sat down on his seat and turned the couch to face the window. That way, she was facing away from the meeting. Chuckling, Sophie listened while pretending not to care about the meeting. She was particularly amused as her boyfriend ignored her.

"Mr Wachovia," Lucian called with a short laugh, "Forgive my lady," he apologized. "I'll see you next week?" he asked, stretching out his hand for a shake.

The Japanese man grabbed the hand with both hands, "Yes, surely." He smiled, bowed and grabbed his suitcase. His men did the same. They bowed and began to make their way to the door. Lucian walked them out. His accounting manager, PI, and secretary walked with them. At the door, the men bowed again, then took their leave. Lucian walked back into his office.

"I never can understand why Japanese and Koreans still can't do without the bows." Said Sophie the moment she was alone with her boyfriend. She had known for a while now that Lucian was seeing another lady. Just as she knew, like always, he would be bored and come running back to her. But the jerk had been avoiding her all week, and she was becoming frustrated. The annoying part was she didn't know the lady. Something tells her it had to do with the Japanese. Lucian had been going back and forth there for the job. So, she could bet the lady was there. What had she served her man that was taking him so long in her cunt?

Lucian ignored Sophie's sitting regally on his seat with legs crossed on his table. "Did you realize I was in a meeting before you badged in?" he asked, storming towards her. He was going to throw her out of his office. What audacity! His wolf challenged her. He couldn't believe what she wanted from him. How absurd.

Sophie stood angrily before he got closer. "Hey, stop there," she yelled. The command was for his wolf, looming over her like some predator. Her wolf skewered, and that made her angry. Who was he to make her scared this easily? Her wolf was never intimidated. Well, never. Unless it was Lucian, of course. "You've been ignoring my calls. I had to come."

Lucian stopped a few feet away, fuming. His wolf stood proudly on hind legs. He had sensed the other wolf's weakness and something else. The wolf stood happily, wagging its tail in triumph. "Even if that were true, didn't my receptionist inform you that I was in a meeting?" he said, forcing his wolf to behave without saying a word to it directly. Spoil fun grunted his wolf and stepped back.

"Which had ended." She pointed out. "Why haven't you been picking my calls?"

"Because of this drama, Sophie. I'm tired of the drama." He said, running his hand through his curls.

Sophie followed the movement of his hand with interest. His rigid torso beaconed to her. But her feelings were squashed now with his hurtful words. She took a step closer to him, "Who's she?"

Lucian scoffed, "What? So you can do what about it?"

"At least he's not denying it." she gasped, referring to him in the third person. "Don't you have no shame?"

"If I quite recall correctly, you're the shameless one, badging into…" he stopped talking. He had said too much already.

"You son-of-a-bitch," she hit his chest angrily.

Lucian captured her hands. "Hey, hey," he cooed, calming her. His wolf was coming out again, ready to play. But he wasn't. He had no intention of touching Sophie Phillips. She is beginning to be a pain in his ass.

"I hate you," screamed Sophie repeatedly. Then suddenly, she was crushing her lips over his, desperate for his touch. She sighed and jumped on him when he didn't push her away. He held her to steady her from falling. In a few seconds, she was all over him, kissing him, groping him. Lucian said nothing. He let her have his fill. When she reached down to grab his dick, he held her hands-off.

"Stop it," said Lucian pushing her away from him.

"Lucian?"

"I have a meeting in…" he paused to check her wristwatch. "In a few minutes. I need to prepare."

"No meeting ever stopped us before," she pointed out. She couldn't believe that her boyfriend, the man who never once turned her down, just did. Could he still be upset about their last argument? She calmed down considerably and moved closer to him. "Are you still upset with me?"

Lucian adjusted his shirt and started towards the desk. He reached for the folder he would need for the next meeting. Then pressing the intercom called for his receptionist. "Let me know as soon as the men get here." He said.

"Okay, boss." Replied the receptionist.

Turning to Sophie, he said, "I have a meeting."

Sophie shook her head. She knew her man well. He was still angry about the incident. "I'll wait for you at home." She replied, taking her bag.

"Don't," Lucian bellowed. His fist clenched as he fought to gain some control. "I might be staying late."

"Then you want me back here," she insisted and walked briskly towards the door. As she did, she remembered what had happened the last time.

➢

That day, Sophie recalled getting a text message from him out of the blues. The message read that she was needed as his plus-one at a company's meeting later that day. It wasn't unusual for Lucian to make such a request. As a matter of fact, she accompanied him to so many events. He was good company. So was she, she told herself. If not, he wouldn't have kept asking her to be his plus one. But what made this particular one annoying was before that message, she hadn't heard from him in ages.

He was fond of doing that. Sometimes, Lucian would be all over her. Those days, he could literally make a woman choke with attention. There would be gifts, parties, shopping and outings. Oh, he loved taking her places. Sometimes though, she suspected the outings were solely for himself. He was an adventurous soul. For a man who worked twice as hard as anyone, he deserved the treat. And she loved being the one with him, not some other blond. But that was as far as his affection goes. The next minute, Lucian would be head deep at work, refusing to pick his calls and all. In moments like that, he zoned everyone out. At first, she found that annoying. "Arrogant bastard," she would mutter to herself, thinking he was proud.

Then once or twice, she found herself at his office only to find him swamped with work. But then again, couldn't he have sent a romantic text? At least that way, she would know he thought about her just a teeny weeny bit. It didn't matter that she had kept complaining about this. "You know I'm busy," was always the excuse. He never changed. Then there were the other secretive girls lined up for him. Whenever her man went on business trips, there was always some lady with him. The internet crawled with pictures of him, always with some ladies. When they started dating, it didn't matter. She barely saw him as anything but her play thing. But now, she wanted more. Her wolf wanted him. He wasn't her mate. That she knew. But she wanted to be bonded with him. She needed to be, considering her feelings for him was all over the place.

It wasn't rare for wolves in their circle to be bonded even if they weren't mated. For Lucian, he had found his mate. And he had lost her. It was unlikely there was another mate out there for him. As for herself, Sophie wasn't sure she would ever be calm enough to find a mate. With the way Lucian's scent was always all over her, she doubted any male would ever want her. Though soul mates rarely get picky about their mate. Still, she tried to be reasonable. It was as well to say the man owned her.

Lucian was all she thinks about now. It seems she could never get enough of him.

Each time she tried telling him how she felt, he avoided her for days. Sometimes weeks. She knew how he hated clingy girls. As she also knew, she was acting irrationally. But she couldn't help it. Severally in their conversations, he would often say, "I hate when my girl is all over me." In their early stage of dating, she allowed him to play around. She did too as long as nobody gets hurt. That should have worked. Well, it worked for him. As for herself, it never worked. She found herself getting more and more into him. When he didn't call, she misses him. When he does, she misses. At the time of their last fight, he had, as usual,stopped calling her. She left him to himself, thinking that was it again. So when the text came in, she had been slightly angry.

Even though he mentioned that the meeting was important, she decided she wouldn't show up. She would make him think she was coming. That way, he wouldn't have time for last-minute adjustments. Then she would flat out not go. A few minutes into the party, he called. She told him she was running late and would soon be there. Sitting back in her chair, she laughed as the call ended. He was going to learn not to be spiteful.

But sitting at work, her conscience had kept pricking her. With annoying tardiness, she had dragged herself to the place. "Hey boo, sorry, I'm late." she had said when he walked up to welcome her. Only he wasn't welcoming her. He walked past her. She could sense his anger while half-running to meet up with him. He didn't stop to say anything to her until he was outside waiting for his driver. Because she ran so much on heels and all, she was out of breath. "Lucian?" she gasped.

"They left, thank you very much." With that, he got in the car and was driven off.

She felt terrible afterwards even though momentarily she had been satisfied that she got her revenge. For once, she was happy he knew what it meant to be left unattended to. But she tucked her happiness in. Her victory was only for her to enjoy. The next day, she showed up at his house to apologize. He had been so upset he wouldn't even look at her. She had kept apologizing about it. At least, she came. She didn't want to go. She was sure he wouldn't stay a minute longer in this relationship if he knew that.

After some days, he had said he was over it. She assumed he had. After he had taken her to dinner after that. But we haven't had sex since then. She said to herself not. How could she have forgotten that? Oh, God. She gasped. Does it mean he didn't let that go? Now he could see why he wouldn't touch her.