LUCAS
“I’m gonna grab some dinner,” Lucas said into his cellular. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I thought we were working over.”
“It’ll keep till tomorrow. Go home to your husband,” he said to Quincy, his assistant. “Bella called. She’s leaving work early. I’m gonna meet her at Catch 35.”
“Cool. Enjoy.”
Lucas could hear the relief in Quincy’s voice. They’d been working day and night on the acquisition of a smaller, but lucrative cruise line.
“You too. I’m turning my cell off. If you need me…too bad.” Lucas chuckled.
“Understood. Later.”
“Yep.”
Lucas disconnected the call and stuffed the phone into the inside pocket of his jacket. He’d decided to walk from his office, but was suddenly rethinking his decision. It was that part of the late afternoon, early evening when everyone was getting off work. Maneuvering through the crowd of bodies on the sidewalk was like navigating an obstacle course. Right in front of him were two women dressed in business attire. They were both nice-looking women, maybe in their thirties. One had brown eyes, a nice smile, and a wholesome look that was attractive. The other was blonde with blue eyes and big, bouncy tits. The one with the blue eyes grinned mischievously at the other, just beforeaccidentallybumping into him.
“I am so sorry, mister,” the blonde crooned, looking up at him with flirty eyes.
“It’s not a problem,” Lucas responded with what he thought was a polite smile.
“So, do you w—”
Whatever sentence she had attempted to complete was cut off abruptly when Lucas continued down the street. He was close to the restaurant and the last thing he wanted was for Bella to walk up and think that he was flirting with the blonde.
He looked down the street toward the restaurant. He didn’t see Bella, but he did see a replica.
It was Donatella.
She was walking in his direction. But, for some strange reason, she took off in the other direction as soon as she laid eyes on him.
“Donna!” Lucas shouted. Surely, loud enough for her to hear. But she kept going. She even had the nerve to speed up. All was definitely not right. Maybe she was in trouble.
Lucas jogged until he caught up with her. He grabbed her arm, careful not to hurt her, and pulled until she was facing him. She whipped around and glared at him with a look of agitation. Lincoln studied her with a frown.
“Donna, are you okay?”
“Yes!” she said impatiently before yanking her arm out of his grasp. She turned to look behind her, then turned back with pleading eyes.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lucas snapped.
He looked past her. There was a handsome, middle-aged woman that seemed intently focused on her. But she definitely didn’t appear to be a threat. In fact, she seemed…nice.
“Kateri!” she called out with a smile.
Kateri?
Donna blew out a frustrated breath and narrowed her eyes in warning. She mouthed, “Shut up!” and turned around.
“Hey,” she responded in a bubbly tone. “I was just on my way to the restaurant. I got a little turned around.”
“Oh.” The woman frowned.
“It’s okay. This man was nice enough to give me directions.”
Clara looked past Donna and smiled. “It was very nice of you to help my friend. Thank you, sir.”
