One57, the billionaire’s den. That’s where Lucas lives, and that’s why I’m heading there right now, my limo fighting its way through the afternoon traffic. Swear to God, it’s in moments like these that I wish I could simply grab a helicopter and fly around New York City. Still, even though I’m the CEO of a company that earns its money by carrying millions of people over the air, there are some limits to what I can do.

But no matter, I can already see the rising silhouette of the monstrous building at the end of the street. “I’ll walk the rest of the way,” I say to my driver, pushing the chromed button on the intercom.

“Yes, ma’am,” is his formal response, and he pulls the limo toward the side of the road. I jump out of the limo the moment it stops, not even waiting for the driver to come around and open the door for me; I never cared for stuff like that and, besides, I’m in a hurry right now.

I’ve been hearing rumors about a possible deal between Ares and Seymour Lee, and I need to get to the bottom of that as soon as possible. Ares isn’t picking up his phone, and he isn’t at the Strong Capital building, and that’s why I’m meeting Lucas right now. If anyone knows what’s going on, it has to be Lucas.

“Ms. Kane,” the One 57’s doorman greets me politely, tipping me his hat and opening the door for me. I thank him briskly and then cross the hallway in a hurry, heading toward the elevators. I press the button over and over again, as if that somehow would make it work faster, and almost jump inside the damn thing the moment the doors slide open.

The ride up seems to take forever (although I’d wager not even thirty seconds passed), but now I’m finally standing in front of Lucas’ door. I raise my hand to knock, but I guess he was already waiting for me because he opens the door before I even have the chance to rap my knuckles against it, and pulls me into his embrace fast.

Our lips meet right away and, for the first time since I heard about Ares’ possible involvement with Seymour, all the stress of the day seems to melt away from my body.

“God, I needed that,” I whisper with a smile as he finally pulls me inside his apartment.

“So did I,” he smiles, guiding me toward his living room. The apartment is huge, even by a rich man’s standard, but it’s impeccably decorated. Unlike other billionaires, Lucas doesn’t seem to have a snobbish penchant for modern art that no one understands; instead, the walls are decorated with old signed vinyl records from the jazz legends of old, and a grand piano dominates the whole room, its sleek black frame making it look like something straight out of a movie from the 50s.

“Jazz fan, uh?”

“Is it that obvious?” he smiles again, sitting down on the piano bench and lifting the lid. He runs his fingers over the keys casually, the lines of some music I recognize but can’t quite name filling the whole room.

I look at him for a moment, just enjoying the moment and his off-the-cuff playing; a few seconds later, though, he lifts his fingers off from the keyboard and turns to me, dropping his smile.

“So, I take it you’ve already heard about Ares,” he says, diving straight into the subject.

“Yes … but it doesn’t make any sense. A deal? What kind of deal? And why would he do something like this to us?”

“I know… but I’ve been in touch with my lawyers, and they heard through the grapevine that yes, it’s quite possible that Ares has sided with Seymour.” He looks down at his shoes, stopping for a moment in complete silence, and only then turns his gaze toward me again. “I don’t know what kind of deal they’re planning, but according to my lawyers … well, let’s just say that the most obvious outcome is that the government will use Ares’ company to buy Union Airlines, which means that they’ll own Union Airlines outright.”

“Oh, shit. This isn’t good. Are you sure?”

“ Yes, I’m sure; and no, it isn’t good,” he whispers, his voice strained and cracking. “I can’t believe he did this … I trusted him, and he betrayed me. He betrayed us.”

I look at him in silence for a long while, realizing that there’s something that he isn’t telling me. His words tell me that he’s hurt, that there’s real sorrow inside of him, and it goes way deeper than this whole situation.

Walking toward the piano, I sit on the bench by his side and lay my hands on top of his.

“What happened between the two you, Lucas? I know that there’s something you’re not telling me…” I start, feeling as if I’ve just stepped onto thin ice. I have no idea what it is between these two, and I never like to feel uncertain and insecure. “Tell me, I… I want to know. I want to understand.”

“It’s a long story. One that I don’t really like to remember,” he starts, but then takes a deep breath, almost as if he’s readying himself for something extremely painful. “But you deserve to know. You see, Daphne, Ares and I go way back… We met at Harvard when we were just freshmen, and we became like brothers. Inseparable.”

“What happened…?” I ask him with a whisper, repeating my question from before and urging him to go on.

“There was a woman. Joanna, Joanna King. We both wanted her and… We both loved her. But we were idiots back then. We simply couldn’t accept that we had feelings for each other as well; and we didn’t understand that love doesn’t submit to someone who wants to own it.”

“You fought because of her…?”

“We did,” he nods. “But more than that, we forced her to choose. And she couldn’t, Daphne, she couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to do it. But we pressed the subject, you see? We wanted—we demanded—a choice. She ran away from us that day, tears in her eyes. We dashed after her but we were too late… She ran across the street and she wasn’t looking. She wasn’t looking and she…” I squeeze his hand in mine, my heart tight inside my chest. It’s his pain, but I feel tears stinging my eyes. “She was hit by a car. She entered a coma and died two days later. That was when Ares and I went our separate paths.”

“I… I’m sorry, Lucas. I really am.”

“Yeah…” he whispers softly, turning toward me and offering me one sad smile. “But that was a long time ago. I just thought that I could trust Ares, that we were starting anew … but I was wrong.”

“Maybe … maybe it isn’t as it seems,” I try, even though I’m not sure if I believe my own words. “I simply can’t believe that he --”

“Daphne,” he says, cutting me short as he lowers his voice. “ You don’t understand. I met with Ares a few days ago, when we finally decided to stop all this bullshit between the two of us. We were together… Just like that time at your office. And now he’s backstabbing us.”

“You were… together?” I ask him hesitantly, not sure if I’m grasping the meaning behind his words. I already knew how badly they wanted each other (I mean, remember what happened inside my office? Of course they want each other), but I had no idea that things were progressing without me to serve as a … facilitator. Now this is a surprise.

“We were.” He brushes the back of his hand on my cheek, pushing a stray lock of hair away, and then smiles. “I was surprised too. I wasn’t … I wasn’t expecting it.”

“What happened?” God, maybe this isn’t the best time to act like a curious kid, but I simply can’t help it. My blood boils just by imagining them together, their hands wandering over their bodies and exploring what I’ve already conquered …

“Well, you know,” he chuckles, the heaviness in the air around us being replaced by a kind of lightness. “A lot happened.”

“Tell me,” I ask him in a husky voice, almost too desperate to hear all the details.

“Well,” he smiles, “aren’t you the curious one, uh?”

“I am.” I place my hand on his knee and run it up to his crotch, allowing a smile to take over my lips as I realize that his cock is already hardening up. I guess that even Ares’ supposed betrayal isn’t enough to cool down Lucas’ desire.

“We … kissed. And I took my hand to his cock, and I … I jerked him off. And, fuck, it was amazing, Daphne. It felt right.” His cock pulses hard against my hand, now completely erect, and I realize that I’m already soaking wet, Lucas’ words turning into lustful images inside my head.

“Tell me … Tell me everything,” I say, the tone of my voice a begging one. He leans back and I push forward, my tits mashing against him. “I can’t wait to hear every filthy detail.”

“Then get ready for a story that’ll make you moan, baby girl,” he says, running his hands over my body and squeezing my ass. He pulls me closer to him and I feel his hard cock. He's enjoying this too. “Because it was dirty fucking sex.”

Oh God, who knew that simple words like this could make me this fucking wet?