Married To The Famous Devil

chapter 4

Claire's POV

Few days later

The evening felt like a personal hell.

It was supposed to be a simple business dinner, a chance for Lucas to network and show me off as his newlywed trophy.

I had hoped to make it through the evening unnoticed, but the glances, the whispers, and the icy stares from the other guests were enough to make me want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

The lavish restaurant was filled with the type of people I’d only seen in magazines-billionaires, investors, power brokers-all draped in designer suits and dripping with wealth. I felt completely out of place, my uncomfortable dress clinging to my skin like it was trying to suffocate me.

Lucas, effortlessly at ease in his world, looked as if he were born to belong in this room, while I was just a shadow beside him.

The chatter around us buzzed, and all I could do was try my best to keep up with the conversation, smiling when it was appropriate, nodding when I didn’t know what to say.

I could feel the eyes on me, evaluating me like I was some kind of commodity. And I hated it. I hated how I felt like a fraud, how they all saw me as nothing more than a piece of Lucas’s business deal.

"Claire, darling, how’s everything going?" One of the men seated beside me asked, his gaze traveling slowly over my face like he was trying to figure out what I was thinking. "How are you adjusting to married life?"

I smiled stiffly, forcing the words out. "It’s... fine. Everything’s fine."

His lips curled into an almost smug smile. "Must be quite a change from the humble life of a Bennett, huh?"

I could feel the temperature in the room drop. The words were thinly veiled, laced with mockery, and the sting of them hit me hard. I could feel my cheeks burn as I struggled to keep my composure.

Before I could respond, another man joined in, leaning in from across the table. "I heard the Bennett company is having some financial troubles. Quite the gamble, marrying into all this, don’t you think? You’ve really landed on your feet, Mrs. Knight."

The jab hit deeper than I expected, and I forced a smile, though it was becoming more and more difficult. I could feel my pulse quicken, the anger rising in me, but I wasn’t sure how to fight back-how to stand my ground in a room full of sharks.

And then, like a wolf protecting its pack, Lucas spoke up. His voice was calm, measured, but there was a sharp edge to it that I hadn’t heard before.

“I’m sorry, are you implying something about my wife’s background?” Lucas asked, his voice low, every word laced with an authority I hadn’t seen in him before.

The man who had insulted me blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in Lucas’s tone. "No, no. I just-"

"I don’t tolerate disrespect," Lucas interrupted, his tone turning icy. “Especially when it’s directed at my wife.” His gaze hardened, and the room seemed to shrink in on itself.

I stared at him, stunned. The man quickly shifted in his seat, his eyes lowering as he tried to backpedal. “I didn’t mean any harm, Lucas. I was just joking.”

"Jokes at someone else’s expense aren’t funny," Lucas said, his gaze unyielding, pinning the man in his seat. There was no room for argument in his voice, no softness.

For a moment, the entire room was silent. Then, one by one, the other guests looked away, murmuring among themselves. I sat there, wide-eyed, unsure of what had just happened.

When the moment passed, Lucas turned to me, his usual calm demeanor slipping back into place. "Ignore them," he said quietly. "They don’t matter."

I nodded, trying to collect myself. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful or angry. But as I looked at him, a new layer of Lucas Knight had been revealed to me. He wasn’t just the calculating billionaire I’d married for convenience. He was someone who, despite his cold exterior, would fight for what-or rather, who-he cared about.

***

Later that night, after the dinner was over, we returned to the mansion. The house felt so quiet, almost as if it were holding its breath. Lucas led me upstairs to our bedroom, the soft click of the door closing behind us the only sound in the room.

I walked toward the window, looking out over the dark city skyline. The weight of the evening, of everything that had happened, settled on my shoulders like a heavy blanket.

I didn’t know what to say to him. We hadn’t exchanged a single word since the dinner. But I felt a need to speak, to break the silence that had fallen between us.

“Lucas,” I began, my voice hesitant, “why did you defend me back there?”

He stood at the edge of the room, his posture rigid. “I told you. I don’t tolerate disrespect.”

I swallowed, stepping closer to him. “But it wasn’t just about disrespect. You… you weren’t just protecting me. You cared.”

His jaw tightened at my words, and he turned away from me, walking toward the bed. “You don’t understand,” he muttered, his voice laced with frustration.

“I don’t?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. “What do you mean?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair, a sign of the exhaustion I hadn’t seen before. When he finally spoke, his words were softer, more vulnerable than I had ever heard from him.

“I lost my parents when I was young,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “They died in an accident. After that... I had to learn how to survive, how to control everything around me. I couldn’t let anyone get close, couldn’t let anyone see my weaknesses. I built my empire by making sure nothing was out of my reach.”

His eyes met mine then, and for the first time, I saw something raw in them-a pain that ran deeper than anything I could have imagined.

“That’s why I push people away. I don’t want anyone to get hurt again.”

I felt my heart twist at his words. He wasn’t the cold, unfeeling man I had thought him to be. He was just… broken.

Before I could respond, Lucas closed the distance between us, his eyes dark with something I couldn’t name.

His hand cupped the back of my neck, pulling me closer, and before I could even process it, his lips were on mine. It wasn’t gentle-it was fierce, demanding, and completely unexpected.

I gasped, but he didn’t give me a chance to breathe, his tongue pushing past my lips as he deepened the kiss. He tasted like whiskey and something darker, something dangerous.

His grip tightened around me, and suddenly, there was nothing but him, pressing me against him, urging me to kiss him back.

“You taste so...” His voice was a low growl, his lips trailing down to my jaw before returning to my mouth. “Your tongue... I can’t get enough of it.”

I shivered, my mind spinning as his words sent a shock of heat through me. I didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know if I even wanted to pull away. His lips were insistent, hungry for more, and somehow, despite myself, I was kissing him back with just as much intensity.

His hand slid down to my waist, pulling me in even closer, and I felt his pulse quicken. He groaned, as if he’d been holding this back for far too long, and the sensation of it sent my heart racing. “Don’t pull away,” he murmured between kisses, his voice rough. “I need this, Claire.”

I could feel every inch of him-every tension, every emotion flooding from him, and somehow it made me want to give him even more. His hand moved to my thigh, lifting it slightly, making the kiss even more intimate, more consuming.

I parted my lips again, and this time it wasn’t just a kiss-it was something deeper, something more tangled. He kissed me as if he was trying to unravel me, trying to pull everything out of me that I’d been hiding, that I hadn’t known I was capable of giving.

His hands roamed possessively, his mouth never leaving mine, and in that moment, I could feel the control he usually had slipping.

But then, suddenly, he pulled back. The air between us snapped, the heat leaving as quickly as it had arrived.

I blinked, disoriented, and confused my heart hammering as I tried to catch my breath. His gaze had hardened, and his jaw was set, almost like a wall had been built around him.

“This was never part of the deal,” he growled, the words harsh, like they were meant to push me away.

My mind raced, but all I could do was stare at him, confused, my lips still tingling from the kiss. What just happened? What had changed in him? Was that kiss some sort of mistake for him?

“What do you mean?” I asked softly, trying to find some clarity in the storm of emotions swirling within me.

But Lucas didn’t answer. He turned away from me, and the moment was gone as quickly as it had begun.