Page 34 of Scarlet Embrace

“Of course. I won’t want to offend Lucas Cruz now, do I?” Marcus said with a sneer. “Maybe if you have your fun, I’ll have my go.”

I let go of Elena, wanting to hold the idiot by the collar, but Elena stopped me. She looked at me, and I noticed the anger in her eyes. She clearly knew what Marcus was doing, but she wasn’t going to take the bait.

“We don’t have to listen to what someone like him says, dear,” Elena said as she placed her hand on my chest. “Let’s head over to the bar.”

“Okay, darling,” I said with a forced smile.

Marcus might have been saved by Elena tonight, but he was going to regret that statement he made earlier. No one spoke ill of my woman, even if our engagement was nothing but a ruse.

CHAPTER 15: LUCAS

TEMPTATION

All night, I kept Elena close to me. She interacted with a number of people, and I was surprised with how well she carried herself. Most people would have been frightened being in the same room with most of the people we met tonight, but she held herself quite well.

“Do you want me to drop you home?” I asked Elena, who was a little bit distracted as we walked to the car.

“Now, that might seem like a good idea, you know, but I want to take a walk,” she answered instead.

She was a little bit tipsy, which was expected considering the number of glasses of champagne she had tonight. To be honest, I was interested in knowing more about this woman. Yes, I have a dossier on her back at my office, but that was just more like a record of the things that have happened to her; they do not say anything about the woman named Elena.

“Okay then. I guess we should go for a walk,” I said.

“The two of us?” she asked.

“Yes, unless you want to go alone, though I don’t think I should let you walk alone in your state,” I told her.

“Wow! I can’t believe it. The pompous and arrogant Lucas Cruz is coming on a walk with me,” Elena said in a rather loud voice.

“We don’t need to announce that to the whole world now, do we?”

A few minutes later, we were both walking the streets in what I assumed to be comfortable silence. Elena had taken off her heels and handed them to me. I wanted to know what was on her mind, but I wasn’t sure if I’d get any answer.

“You know, I realize that I might have been wrong about you tonight,” she suddenly said. “Maybe you are not a bad man like I thought. No wait. You are a bad man.”

I’ve been called many things in my life, and this was, to some level, the nicest of them. I do not deny who I am. I am Lucas Cruz, son of Andrew Cruz and, hopefully, one day, the leader of the Cruz empire.

“And you are one extraordinary lady,” I told her.

“Oh really?” Elena asked with a gasp. “Is that what you think of me?”

It was true. I watched her for a while tonight. I found how fascinating her mind was, and I had once thought how she would be good at going to an event like this. She was the reason I wasn’t bored for most of the night. Just like my father, I wasn’t entirely fond of evenings like this, but she had made it fun.

“Yes. That’s what I think of you,” I admitted.

“Wow. I’m impressed,” she told me. She suddenly pointed to a bench and told me she wanted to sit down because her legs were killing her. I escorted her to the bench and sat down right beside her as she looked up at the night sky. “The stars are beautiful tonight.”

“They truly are,” I said, looking up at the night sky.

When was the last time I went star gazing?

It was something I used to do with my mom when she was alive. After her death, I continued for a while before I finally gave up on it. I guess a part of me just gave up on it and focused on other things.

“Tonight was fun, Lucas,” Elena said as she rested her head on my shoulder. “Thank you for bringing me out tonight.”

“You’re welcome,” I managed to say.

For that brief moment, it felt like time had stopped. It seemed intimate, and I felt a stir of emotions deep within me, emotions that I could not explain. I could smell her perfume, and it was wonderful. This woman seems to have some sort of hold over me, one that I can’t explain with words.