A taste of Ruby and Lucian in The Cigar King. Available 9/27 in Kindle Unlimited.
Prologue
15 years ago
The
divers broke the surface and there was something between them. From the shape,
it appeared to be a body. Water dripped off the remnants of ripped water-logged
clothing that once covered a person. The men on the boat assisted the divers in
getting the body on board. They placed it in a tarp and carefully wrapped it
up. The camera was unable to get a clear shot but from the half a leg left, it
confirmed it was indeed a person, but unclear at the time if it was male or
female.
Ruby
and her parents looked at the television screen watching the scene with horror.
The reporter on the six o’clock news came on and stated the footage had been
taken earlier that morning, and the body pulled out of the river had been
identified. Celeste Reid.
“Oh
my God!” her mother wailed.
“Jesus,”
her father said, already rising and reaching for his phone.
Ruby
didn’t stay to hear any more. Instead, she’d run out of the apartment up the
backstairs to the family living area. Her father was the chauffer and bodyguard
to the Reids. He would have been the last to see Celeste Reid alive, besides
the kidnappers. The police had been questioning him almost every day for the
last three days, to the point her mother had insisted he get an attorney.
They’d tried to keep it from her, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew her father
was considered a suspect. She had no idea now that they pulled Mrs. Reid’s dead
body out of the river what it would mean for her father. She was terrified for
him. But she was also worried about Lucian. He’d need her, his best friend, who
wanted to be more.
She
had no idea how she’d feel if it were her mother being dragged out of the
river. She had to see him, had to be there for him. Even though he was two
years older and her family worked for his, they’d always been the best of
friends. In the last few months, some of that had changed. At least, on her
part. But she knew he’d never see her as anything more than his best friend.
She’d never gotten rid of her baby fat, and she wore glasses and had braces.
She’d seen the girls he went out with. They looked nothing like her. They could
have been models. But right now, she knew he’d want to see her.
She
took the back way to his side of the house. No one was in the hallway, and she
hoped he’d be in his room. She knocked on the door.
“Who
is it?” came a muffled voice from inside.
“It’s
me, Ruby.”
He
pulled the door open and grabbed her hand, tugging her inside. He quickly shut
the door and took her into his arms, crying into her shoulder. All she could do
was hold onto him and cry too.
CHAPTER ONE
Lucian
stood unabashedly naked as he inhaled the fresh scent of a morning rain that
was typical of Miami in the summer. He looked down at the empty courtyard that
cradled the Luxe mosaic pool and tried to remember if he’d had a chance to
enjoy it before falling into bed with his sleeping guest. For the life of him,
Lucian couldn’t recall what had happened after leaving the fourth bar on his
crawl down Ocean Drive.
He
shoved his thick dark hair out of his face and rubbed his tired gray eyes. On
behalf of his father, he’d travelled to the Sunshine State to handle a labor
dispute at their tobacco farm just outside of Miami. However, once all labor
issued were resolved, he made sure to indulge in everything that Miami was good
for; food, booze, and women. And last night, he’d had his fill of all three.
Unfortunately, it was time to put a cap on overindulgence and head back to “The
Big Apple.”
Lucian
looked longingly down at the clear blue water in the swimming pool one last
time before turning away. He entered his posh suite in the luxurious Villa Casa
Casuarina.
Villa
Casa Casuarina was once the home of the late and beloved Gianni Versace. But
after the famous fashion designer’s untimely death, the incredible Miami
mansion had been converted into a posh boutique hotel.
With
bare feet, Lucian shuffled across the cool marble floor until he was in the
bedroom. He yawned, piercing the unusual silence of an ocean front hotel. For a
few seconds, he stared down at the busty, young blonde that was sprawled out on
the expensive cotton sheets and worked hard to remember her name.
He
couldn’t.
But
whoever she was, she was definitely a beauty. The sheet had fallen from her
creamy skin and was barely covering her tight, round ass while the curve of one
large tit, smooshed into the bed, provoking Lucian’s desire. Her full lips were
slightly parted as she slept peacefully. Lucian’s cock jerked and tensed. He
was seconds away from a hard-on. One more go with his overnight guest would
have been ideal. Too bad, he would have to pass. Lucian had a plane to catch.
So, instead of obeying his growing cock, he gave the woman a swift smack on the
ass.
Instead
of waking up, the woman grunted and turned her head opposite Lucian. Another
smack on the ass did encourage a startle. She raised up on her elbows and
turned in Lucian’s direction. After struggling to focus, she looked up with
murky blue irises.
“I
gotta catch a flight,” Lucian announced.
“W-what?”
Her voice was hoarse, and she seemed a bit disoriented.
“Time
to go,” Lucian informed her as he walked around the large California King-sized
bed. “Have a good day.”
Once
he made it to the doorway of the bathroom, he looked back and observed the
blonde as she began to collect her undergarments.
“Oh, excuse me,” Lucian called to her
back.
Hell, he still couldn’t remember her
name.
Lucian
couldn’t help his smile when she turned around and looked at him with a question
in her big blue eyes, reminding Lucian just how pretty she was.
“Take
your friend with you,” he said, pointing to the pretty, young brunette lying
next to her.
