LUCIEN: A Standalone Romance by Glenna Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page A

Or maybe something totally unrelated to it all.
    I crossed the room to my computer and pulled up the email. She moved up beside me, moving in front of me as she moved closer to read. Her ass was just right there, pushing back against me. I couldn’t help but touch it, running my hand slowly along the curve of her hip to the long line of her outer thigh.
    “When did you get this?”
    I almost had to ask what she was talking about.
    “This morning.”
    She was chewing on her lip, eating off the lipstick that had been there. She straightened up and, because we were standing so close together, pressed back against my chest. I slid my hand around her waist, helping her catch her balance. She stood there for a moment, clearly not disturbed by my touch. But then she pulled away and walked back toward the couch.
    “That reads like a death threat.”
    I don’t think she wanted a response from me. She pulled her cellphone out of that dainty purse, clearly annoyed with it when the phone caught on the purse’s lining. She tugged roughly at it, and I was pretty sure I heard something rip. I had to bite back a chuckle. This was a serious situation, after all.
    Very serious. But it was going to be a lot of fun, too.

Chapter 6
    Adrienne
    My father answered his phone on the third ring, his voice thick with sleep.
    “What?” he mumbled.
    “It’s me, Poppy. There’s been a development in the case.”
    “What?” he repeated, but his voice was clearer, the sound of drowsiness quickly disappearing.
    “Lucien Montgomery got an email this morning that reads like a death threat to me. It says he should be more careful about who he talks about. That the device has been compromised, and if he knows what’s good for him, he should just let it go.”
    My father was quiet for a long moment.
    “I’ll call Robert, have him trace the email back to the origin IP.”
    “Okay.”
    “Stay with him. It might be an idle threat, but it could be real. You need to stay with him as much as you can until we figure out just how high the risk is.”
    I glanced over at the desk where I’d left Lucien. He’d moved over to the small table on the other side of the room and was gathering his abandoned lunch trash. He wasn’t looking at me, but I got the impression he was listening just the same.
    I covered my mouth and the bottom half of the phone.
    “I don’t know if I can do that, Poppy. You know this role playing stuff isn’t really my thing.”
    “I’m aware of that. But you’ve already begun. He knows you. If we suddenly introduce someone else into the equation, the guilty party will get suspicious.”
    “I know, but surely—”
    “You’ll do as you’re told, mija .”
    “Okay.” I dropped my hand back to my side. “I’ll call you later with any other developments.”
    I disconnected before my father could say anything else. My cheeks were burning, and I felt like a chastised child. Which, I supposed, I was.
    “Everything okay?”
    I nodded without turning around. “My father’s going to have one of our people see if he can figure out where the email came from. In the meantime, he wants me to stick by your side.”
    Lucien didn’t respond immediately. But when I turned, he was watching me with a small smile on his handsome face. I could imagine how that smile might make some women’s hearts twitter like birds in the spring. But not mine. He might be pretty, but he really wasn’t my type. Too tall. Too handsome. I liked my men to look more like they belonged in the world I grew up in, a place where the men proved their masculinity by fixing a carburetor on the kitchen table and sweating on the basketball court. Lucien looked like he didn’t even know what a carburetor was. Though I could imagine he might have seen a few basketball courts in his time. But it was probably in a fancy club where the pool was heated and the track had a nice, padded carpet to protect that precious instep.
    “What does that mean, stick by my