ROSES & THORNS

- 7 5 -

"And who might this beautiful lady be?" George's eyes raked over me, making me squirm in my place as I forced a smile on my face.

"Laura." I answered and his grin grew wider.

"Laura." He tested the name on his lips before smirking and looking at Lewis.

"Looks like you got lucky today Lewis." He said to the man beside me who gave me a heated look and smirked.

"I sure did." He said as George settled down and started talking with the lawyers, my ears now hanging onto each and every word.

Is he the one laundering the money from Adam's company?

But I thought Adam trusted him and his father.

"Yes, I have his signatures." George said pulling out a few papers from his bag and I noticed the signatures immediately, the cursive writing more familiar to me than anything.

Adam Thorne.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice a hand sliding up my thigh and nearly flinched.

"You look lost somewhere." Lewis said in my ear and I offered him a sheepish smile before shrugging.

"Just thinking about random stuff." I shrugged nonchalantly, trying hard to hide he panic on my face when he nodded, turning to George again.

"I'll make sure the transfer goes smoothly without any disturbances. And don't worry, he won't be notified either." Lewis said confidently and George nodded, leaning back in his seat before his eyes came to me, scanning me.

"Laura." He said and I looked at him with a small smile.

"Yes?" I smiled politely when his grin grew.

"You look awfully familiar. Have we met before?" He said and I felt my breath get stuck in my throat as I feigned confusion.

"I'm sorry?" I asked confused.

"You look like someone I know, except she is English." He said and I forced a small smile.

"I get that a lot, but I haven't seen you before, sorry." I said smiling sheepishly when he nodded, but his eyes narrowed at me in the slightest and I could feel my palms getting sweaty.

Is he suspicious?

"Oh, no need to apologize. We could always get to know each other later." He said suggestively and my smile faltered for a brief second before I nodded.

As the men talked further, I felt Lewis place his hand on my bare thigh again, sliding it upward towards the slit while I clutched my drink tighter, glancing at him but he was talking to the lawyers and didn't look at me once.

I tried to remove his hand discreetly but he only gripped my thigh tighter and I felt like throwing up at the feel of another man's hands on me.

It was absolutely disgusting.

Briefly, my eyes caught George's who was watching the exchange between me and Lewis curiously, his eyes on the hand on my thigh, narrowed in the slightest while he waited for the next move as his hand slid under the slit of my dress.

I flinched slightly at the touch but covered it up immediately, bringing my drink to my lips, thankful that his hand had stopped moving up but still dreading the fact it was under my dress.

My eyes wandered around the club to distract myself when they met blazing blue ones and I nearly choked on my drink.

Shit.

His eyes were solely on mine, furious, angry, livid before they slowly moved towards the hand on my thigh and darkened even more, if possible.

His jaw clenched so tightly I thought it would break as he clutched his drink tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the grip on it.