CLAIMED BY THE BILLIONAIRE: The secret I kept in Paris

Chapter Three

I woke up on sheets that felt like cool water against my skin, my head throbbing with a dull rhythm that matched the blinking lights of the city outside the massive glass walls.

The room was silent, filled with the kind of expensive stillness that made me feel like an intruder, and I tried to sit up, but a sharp sting in my side made me gasp and fall back against the pillows.

I looked down and saw that my ruined clothes were gone, replaced by a soft white robe, and my arm was bandaged with a precision that told me a professional had been here while I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Don't try to get up yet, the doctor gave you something for the pain and you need to let it work," a voice said from the shadows near the window, and I turned my head to see Lugard sitting in a low leather chair, his long legs crossed and a glass of amber liquid in his hand.

"How long was I out? I need to go, I can't stay here in your house," I said, my voice sounding thin and raspy in the vast space of the bedroom, but he didn't move, he just kept watching me.

"You were out for three hours, and you aren't going anywhere in a storm like this, not when you can barely hold your head up," Lugard replied. And he stood up, walking toward the bed with a slow, deliberate stride that made my heart start to pound against my ribs.

"You don't understand, I lost everything tonight, my husband is with my best friend and I have no money, no car, and nowhere to sleep," I told him.

"I understand that you were married to a man who didn't know what he had, and I understand that you are safe now because I decided you would be," he said, stopping at the edge of the mattress and looking down at me.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You saved my life, isn't that enough for one night?" I asked, pulling the robe tighter around my chest, but I couldn't look away from him, because his presence was the only thing stopping me from falling back into the black hole of Ken’s betrayal.

"It isn't enough, Eva, and you know it isn't, I felt the way you held onto me when I pulled you out of that car, and I know you don't want to be alone right now," he whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

" I think I'm broken. I just signed away my entire life to a man who cheated on me," I said, reaching out to touch his hand, my fingers brushing against his knuckles, seeking some kind of heat to prove I was still alive.

"You aren't broken, you're just starting over, and I can give you anything you want, I can make you forget that he ever existed," he told me, his hand turning over to grip mine, his palm hot and rough against my skin, and he leaned in until our foreheads were almost touching.

"Make me forget, please, just for tonight, I don't want to think about the rain or the crash or the look on Ken’s face when he told me to leave," I begged, my voice breaking as I leaned into him, the physical need for comfort overriding every bit of logic I had left in my head.

Lugard didn't hesitate, he reached out and cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs tracing the line of my jaw with a tenderness that didn't match the coldness of his reputation, and then he kissed me, his mouth hard and demanding against mine.

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, wanting to lose myself in the strength of his arms and the heat of his body, because as long as he was touching me, the rest of the world didn't matter.

"You belong to me now, do you understand that?" Lugard muttered against my skin.

—---

We stayed tangled together for hours, the storm outside battering the glass while we created our own chaos inside the room, and for the first time in years, I didn't feel like the discarded wife or the victim of a fraud, I felt like a woman who was desired by the most powerful man in the city.

But as the first rays of the sun hit the tips of the buildings, the excitement started to fade.

I saw the way his hand was still resting on my hip even in sleep, a claim he wasn't willing to let go of, and I realized that Lugard wasn't a savior, he was a predator who had seen a wounded animal and decided to keep it for himself.

If I stayed here, I wouldn't be a wife, I would be a prize in a golden cage, and the thought of being owned by another man after just escaping Ken made me feel like I was suffocating all over again.

I moved slowly, sliding out from under his arm and creeping across the floor to find my clothes, which had been cleaned and folded on a chair near the door, my movements silent as I dressed with trembling hands.

I found the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby, the descent feeling like it took an eternity as I stared at my reflection in the mirrored walls, seeing a woman I didn't recognize anymore.

Once I was on the road, I hailed a taxi with a frantic wave of my hand.

"Where to, lady?" the driver asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror with a frown.

"The airport, as fast as you can, I have a flight to catch," I said, leaning back into the seat and closing my eyes, the image of Lugard’s dark, obsessive face burned into my mind.

I had enough money in my emergency account for a ticket to Paris, a place where my parents lived and where Ken would never think to look for me, and as the taxi sped away from the glass tower, I felt a sob of relief and terror break from my chest.