Criminally Yours

20.

A M A R A

I woke up the next day to the smell of heavenly food coming from the kitchen. It was Thanksgiving. I wasn't one to like this holiday because I was more of a Christmas person. Thanksgiving was just the pregame.

The whole family was already present in the kitchen together. It seemed I was late to the party.

When Sandra noticed me her face perked up, "Amara! We've been waiting for you!"

I could feel Lucian's gaze on me. I felt nervous for some reason. Butterflies in my stomach kind of nervous. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you guys were waiting."

"No worries. Sit and we'll have breakfast."

I smiled at them and walked over to the open seat in between Lucian and Ava. I was at the table for less than five minutes when Lucian's hand made its way to my thigh. I gulped and glared at him. He wasn't looking at me, but I could see his sly smirk from the side.

I pushed his hand off only for him to place it higher on my leg. I sighed and aggressively put some bacon on my plate.

He was really testing my patience today. When everyone at the table left and it was just me and Lucian, he whispered in my ear, "my office. Five minutes."

I glared at him as he walked over to the stairs. Sandra came over to help me clear the table and I went up to his office.

I didn't knock and just decided to barge in. He wasn't sitting at his desk. The fuck? Where was he at? "Lucian..?"

Suddenly I was roughly pushed into his desk. I let out a slight moan at the pain. He smirked at me and asked, "You like it like that don't you?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, but I could feel my cheeks heating up. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it like that. "I guess you'll never know," I smirked back at him. Two could play at this game.

"Never? Are you sure about that?"

"More sure than anything."

Lucian leaned in slowly and kissed me almost passionately? It didn't feel like the kisses we had previously shared. He brought his left hand up to my cheek, "Let me take you out."

I stopped to look at him, "Like.. a date?"

"Like a date." He started kissing me again, this time on my neck.

"Fine, I guess I'll let you," I said as I lifted his head to meet mine.

He was staring deeply into my eyes when a knock came. My first instinct was to sit in his chair? At his desk? I don't know what was going through my head but I did it.

"Come in," Lucian said.

Lorenzo entered the room eyeing us suspiciously. Because I sat in his chair I think he was a little less tense. "Your mother and I are going to have to leave early. We have a business meeting to attend. Something that suddenly came up."

"What's it about?"

"It just had to do with the new shipment of monitors for the company."

"Ah," Lucian said before he looked at his father with a 'you're interrupting' look.

"We'll visit again soon." He smiled at me before leaving.

When the door shut Lucian turned back to me. I grinned at him, "I like this chair."

"I can tell." He shook his head smiling.

I propped my feet up on the desk and intertwined my fingers over my lap, "I can see why you feel powerful while sitting here."

L U C I A N

I knew my father was keeping something from me, but at this moment all I was focused on was her. She looked like it was Christmas morning sitting in my seat. I sat down across from her.

"How do you know I feel powerful?"

"I don't know. There's just something about it. Plus, you kind of have this aura about you," she pointed out.

She stared at her feet resting on my table and suddenly looked spooked. "I'm sorry. You probably don't like me putting my feet up on your stuff," she said as she quickly put them back on the floor.

"I don't mind," I rested my chin on my hands, still in awe at just her.

She raised her eyebrows looking surprised, "Really?"

It was like she had me in a trance. Normally in this situation, I would be extremely mad at whoever dared to put their feet on my stuff, but she made me feel calm. At peace, almost. "If I cared, you would not be sitting in my seat right now."

"Fair enough." She leaned forward and started looking at the papers on my desk. "Can I look at this stuff?"

I hesitated. Did I trust her enough? I decided that I could and nodded my head at her.

She opened the first folder and skimmed through it. "A technology company is a good coverup."

"What do you mean?" I inquired, leaning forward

"Well, judging off of how many shipments of tech equipment you get each week, it shouldn't be a surprise to the workers who go over your financial reports when things come during the weekends at odd hours." She turned the folder to face me. "Like this one. 1 a.m. and I'm assuming not a single person asked questions."

I didn't bother looking at the report. I already knew this, but I loved that she was interested.

She took the report back and closed the file, moving onto another folder. Almost immediately, her eyebrows furrowed. "There's a mistake in this one."

I never caught a mistake. "What?"

She got up out of my seat and came over next to me. The smell of roses and vanilla filled the air. I couldn't focus with her this close. She pulled up the chair next to me and leaned in.

"Right here, I'm no accountant, but these numbers do not add up," she said before lifting the folder up.

Instead of looking at what she was saying, I stared at her in awe. She was explaining to me what was wrong, but I didn't care. Everything about her had me in a trance.

"Lucian?" She said, bringing me back to reality.

"Hm?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you even hear a word I was saying?"

I shrugged and she looked at me sternly, but with a smile on her face.

"Just look at this," she offered.

My eyes examined the pages. If Amara didn't catch it, then I definitely wouldn't have.

"What the fuck?" I flipped through more pages noticing more mistakes. "Someone's been lying to me."

I slammed the folder shut and hit my fist on the desk. Instead of flinching back, Amara grabbed my hands. "We just need to get every employee who works in the financial department in questioning."

I turned to face her, her soft skin still holding my fingers. She looked genuinely concerned.

"I'll call Gabe and Adrian, let's figure this out."