Page 26 of Scarlet Embrace

Linda told me to let her know before leaving as she had a few things to tell me. I smiled as she left the room, leaving Lucas and me alone.

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” he admitted.

“Neither did I, but I had to speak with you,” I told him.

I still found it hard to take my eyes off him. I was already used to Lucas with the suit and everything, but this was different. He had a different air around him, and it felt like I was looking at a different man.

“You are staring,” Lucas said with a smile.

That’s because you don’t look like the Lucas I know.

“Sorry. Still not used to this,” I said, clearing my throat. I was here to have a discussion with him, not fawn over him, which was exactly what I was doing. I won’t really say that Lucas was my kind of man, at least the Lucas I was used to. I’ve always had a thing for men who use glasses. It was my biggest turn, and seeing Lucas with those turtle-rimmed specs was like an assault on my senses.

“I understand,” he said, his eyes studying me. “What brings you here?”

“The rumors. I’m sure you must have heard about them by now.”

He paused as if trying to weigh his words carefully. “Yes, I am aware of them.”

“And?” I asked, waiting for him to continue.

“I created them.”

“What?”

“Let me explain,” he said, getting onto his feet.

God, he’s handsome.

He walked up to me and asked if I’d like to go on a walk with him. It was an abrupt move, and I considered turning him down, but I decided against it. I needed to hear his explanation for spreading a rumor that we were dating, and I hoped it was a good one. After the whole abduction/invite with Diana LaRosa, the last thing I wanted was to be involved with Lucas, but the dating rumors were going to make that difficult.

We left his study, and Lucas led me through several hallways before we finally came out into a garden. It was a spectacular sight. Fresh, lush green lawns, manicured hedges, and a variety of ornamental plants and flowers. A few of them were familiar, and I felt a little bit jealous. Back when I was younger, I had a garden like this. My father and I had tended to it together. It was our special place, one that was dear to me.

After his death and the loss of his estate, my love for gardening disappeared because it was a painful reminder of what I had lost.

A reminder of what the Cruz family had taken from me.

“Diana LaRosa is quite the complicated woman, and she wanted to send me a message using you,” Lucas told me.

“Is that so?” I asked as I walked right beside him.

“Yes. It was the reason why she took you, though I can’t understand exactly why she did that. I want to believe that it was because you had suddenly appeared at the warehouse before I did, and she thought you might know something about the person she had struck a deal with.”

When I was at her place, I had overheard her and Marcus talking about the friend who had helped them with the cars. Marcus had made it clear that he didn’t trust the old geezer since he was part of the Cruz family. I did not think much about the information, but now, I realize that it was something Lucas might need to know.

Know? I don’t have any reason to help him. If there’s someone in the Cruz family helping the LaRosa, wasn’t it to my benefit?

“I’m really sorry, Elena, but it was the only way I could protect you,” he told me.

He had saved me when he had no reason to. He could have ignored my message to Linda and left me alone to the mercy of Diana LaRosa and her depraved son, who had been eyeing me in a lecherous manner.

Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Thinking of Lucas as a good man wasn’t something I wanted to consider. I might have given up on my vengeance for now, but that won’t change the image I had of the Cruz family.

“Do you think you have a spy amongst you?” I suddenly asked him. He paused, his brows closely knitted. He was in deep thought, and I guess my question might have thrown him off. As much as I am unwilling to admit it, Lucas had saved me when he had no reason to, and I owe him. Telling him about the old geezer Marcus LaRosa had mentioned might be the way to help him. “When I was at the LaRosa place, Marcus told his mother he doesn’t trust the old geezer since he was a member of your family. Whoever he was calling an old geezer was the person who helped with the theft of your car.”

CHAPTER 12: LUCAS