Chapter 94

[ 1,179 words ]

Arabella Toussaint:

I didn’t know how I was managing any of this so calmly. Maybe keeping my hands busy was easier than thinking about the Lycans who could walk through those doors at any moment. My friends unfortunately weren’t handling it well.

I smoothed a hand over my pencil skirt and pushed my braid over my shoulder before turning my attention to the delivery guy.

“We’re missing three cartons of cream and two bags of coffee beans. Check the order again.” I handed the invoice back to him and congratulated myself silently when I noticed my hands weren’t shivering.

“That’s everything they loaded.” He shrugged carelessly.

I smiled and pushed the invoice toward him. “I’m not signing for things I haven’t received. Ask the warehouse people to check what they didn’t load.”

Behind me, Toby was arguing with a customer who thought we’d made her coffee wrong. Tessa was busy staring at the menu card and didn’t hear when Toby called her name several times.

My friends were disturbed. They weren’t taking it well, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

***

I returned to my office and closed the door behind me, grateful for the few minutes of silence.

The computer screen was still displaying the café’s inventory sheet from this morning. I sat down and checked the pending deliveries one last time, making a note beside the coffee-bean order that hadn’t arrived in full. If I was really leaving today, I didn’t want Maya opening the file the next day and wondering what the hell I’d done with the accounts.

I had just forwarded the updated sheet to her email when the door opened, and Maya stepped inside.

“Did you think of anything?” She stopped across from my desk, searching my face hopefully. “Did you change your mind?”

I shook my head and returned my gaze to the computer. Maya released a frustrated breath. “Ara, you can’t seriously—”

The door suddenly flew open, and Chloe rushed inside, almost stumbling over her own feet. “Aria… ma’am…”

I immediately straightened. Chloe’s face had lost most of its color, and she kept glancing over her shoulder.

“What happened, Chloe?” For some reason, my heart started racing inside my chest.

“There are some men downstairs, dressed in suits.” She struggled to catch her breath. “I … I offered them table f… fifteen, but they didn’t even sit down. One of them just asked, Where is Miss Arabella Toussaint? “

My fingers went still over the keyboard. Maya, who had been standing a few feet away, gasped.

Goddess. He was here.

“I told them that no Arabella works here,” Chloe continued hurriedly. “But they wouldn’t leave. They just kept looking around and—”

“It’s okay, Chloe.” She gave me a puzzled look. I saved the file, closed it, and calmly pushed my chair back. “I’m coming. Don’t worry.”

“Miss Aria, who are they?”

I glanced at Maya before giving Chloe a reassuring smile. “I’ll handle it.” I had barely risen from my chair when the office door opened again.

Lucien stood in the doorway. Everything inside me went strangely quiet.

Three years.

Three fucking years, and there he was.

He looked broader than I remembered, dressed in black with dark glasses hiding his eyes. His presence filled my tiny office so completely that, for a ridiculous second, I became painfully aware of the stack of invoices on my desk and the half-dead plant Tessa kept insisting wasn’t dead.

My throat went dry.

This was the moment I’d known was coming since last night, yet every sentence I’d rehearsed in my head disappeared.

I swallowed and somehow managed a nervous smile. “H… hello, M… My King.” Goddess, why was I stammering? I cleared my throat. “How are you?”

He didn’t answer and slowly removed his glasses. Those golden eyes knocked the breath out of me. His gaze shifted toward Maya, and she seemed to stiffen, then his attention returned to me.

“Are you going with me?” he paused for a second. “Or should I drag you out?” he asked in a dangerously soft voice.

Well. So much for how are you?

A startled chuckle escaped me. “I’ll go. No dragging necessary.” I stepped away from the desk and smoothed my hands over my clothes. “Let me get my suitcase from my room.”

Only then did I notice Toby standing behind Lucien, looking from him to me with an expression I couldn’t even begin to decipher.

“Toby.” I gave him a small smile. “My suitcase, please.”

Poor Toby. He looked completely intimidated by Lucien’s presence as he quickly nodded and hurried away. I turned to Maya, who was already trying to control her tears. “Hey. Don’t worry about me.” I hugged her. “Café YaRa is doing good. I know it’s in good hands.” I wished I could promise my friend that I would return. But I knew Lucien could easily hear me.

Maya held me tighter instead of letting go. “You better find a way to contact me,” she whispered against my hair. “I don’t care if you have to steal someone’s phone, send a letter, or train a damn pigeon. Just let me know you’re okay.”

Despite the heaviness in my chest, I laughed and pulled back to look at her. “Okay.” I wiped the tear that had escaped down her cheek. “I’ll figure something out.”

Her lips trembled as she nodded, and I quickly looked away before my own eyes betrayed me. Crying in front of Lucien was absolutely not part of today’s plan. Footsteps approached from the hallway, and Toby returned with my suitcase. Tessa was right behind him, her earlier panic replaced by a miserable expression that made my heart ache all over again.

I wanted to remind my friends that they were supposed to give their king a curtsy, but Lucien didn’t seem to mind.

“Here.” Toby rolled the suitcase toward me. I reached for the handle, but before my fingers could close around it, I saw Lucien signaling someone. One of the suited men waiting outside the office immediately stepped forward and took the suitcase.

I turned back to Toby and wrapped my arms around him. He seemed surprised for a moment before hugging me tightly. “Take care of everyone for me.” Tessa didn’t even wait for her turn. She threw her arms around me the second Toby stepped aside.

After a few moments, she pulled back reluctantly, and I looked at the three people who had somehow become my family over the last three years. Toby looked cute when he bit his lip to keep himself from crying. I forced a smile and waved. “Take care of YaRa for me.” Then I turned toward the door to walk out.

I had barely taken a step when two arms slid behind my back and knees to scoop me up. “What—” A startled gasp escaped me when the floor disappeared from under my feet.

My hands instinctively grabbed his shoulders. He didn’t even look at me.

“Let’s go,” he said curtly and carried me out of the office as if I weighed nothing.

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