His Woman (18+)

Chapter XXXVI

THE PRICE, PT 1

People will treat you as well as you treat yourself, honey.

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CHAPTER XXXVI

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LUCIEN CREEPED ME out.

Now more than ever because as I served him, he wouldn't take his eyes off me. He even ended up touching my thigh at some point and had the audacity to make eye contact as if I should have been thankful for his sexual advances.

“What's your name?” he asked, watching me with his predatory brown eyes as I poured him a glass of water and handed it to him.

“Araceli,” I answered simply, doing my best to not meet his mischievous eyes.

“Araceli,” he repeated, letting the name roll off his tongue. “The alter of heaven. You know, I have a niece called Araceli.”

All I could think about was how Daniel had a cousin named Araceli. I hoped she wasn't prettier than me.

I shrugged, having no words for him as I took a step back and he took a sip of his water. His eyes met mine before I could look away and I resisted the urge to groan in annoyance when he smirked.

“You are quite the fighter. Still can't believe someone as small as you beat up my own men,” he said, letting his eyes run over my appearance appreciatively, not bothering to hide how they lingered on my chest and my hips. “Makes me think of all the things you could possibly do... elsewhere.”

I mentally reeled back in disgust. It wasn't that Lucien was ugly per sé. Of course he wasn't! He had Daniel after all. It was just that I had seen the worst of him and, unlike Daniel, I couldn't justify it. It just never seemed to get better.

He bought and sold innocent, young girls and forced them into his prostitution ring. If that didn't spell bad, I had no idea what did. Thankfully, Daniel put an end to that after she came.

That fiery redhead sure did teach him a lesson in consent.

“You know I killed him, right?” he asked, making me snap out of my thoughts and stare at him with wide eyes. “If he couldn't defend himself from a small bitch like you, then what good is he to me? I had to get rid of him.”

Small bitch lik—I sure wanted to show him what a small bitch could do. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and stared off into the far distance as he continued talking.

“I shot him right in the head. And used him as a lesson to all my other men. They shouldn't pick fights they know they can't win.”

I couldn't meet his eyes because I knew if I did, they would be cold and remorseless. I, on the other hand, was on the verge of crying.

Again.

Now Miguel was another item to add to the list of things that were weighing me down. I just wanted to let everything go and slip into a much more peaceful state.

I just wanted to close my eyes forever.

“How much?”

I snapped my eyes open, turning to look at Lucien as he got up. “Huh?”

He wiped the stray tear that trickled down my cheek away with the pad of his thumb and looked down at it before smirking. Taking me by surprise, he sucked his thumb into his mouth, tasting the saltiness of my tears as more poured down my cheeks.