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.

I was in a house with psychopaths.

“How much would it cost, Araceli, to have you in my bed?” he asked, placing his hand on my hips as I shook my head back and forth. He frowned, even though the humour in his eyes were evident, and he took my face in his hands, wiping away my tears with his thumb. “Oh no. Don't cry. Smile for me.”

“No,” I said, backing up as he only walked forward into me. “I won't sleep with you.”

“Oh, don't be silly. Everyone has a price. And I plan to find out yours so I can make you mine.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me into him, letting out a dark chuckle as I squeaked at his brazen actions.

He quickly took a step away from me after that and walked out the kitchen before I could land a deserved kick to his nuts.

I felt unsafe. And like an object. Like a piece of pretty furniture that men acquired to make themselves look better. And yet, instead of seeking solace in myself, in that moment I yearned for the comfort of one specific man.

Daniel.

As I ran up the stairs, I couldn't help but remember Celeste's words.

“But at the end of the day, it's Daniel that owns his father and not the other way around.”

I still had no idea what that meant, but if Daniel was the more powerful one between the two, then all I had to do was be on his good side.

I sighed and threw open his door, not even bothering to knock. It was just something that I found myself not developing a habit off since his door was usually always open unless, of course, I was in it.

I was instantly met with the sight of Daniel lying on his bed, on top of the covers with his back against the headboard. His arms were over his head and his eyes were closed as he breathed clamly.

I closed the door carefully behind me, realising that he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. But I also didn't want to leave.

I sniffled and wiped the rest of my tears away so he wouldn't see it after I woke him. Carefully, I crawled onto the bed with one leg on either side of his own until my face was right in front of his.

I couldn't help but stare at him as he slept. For once, the blank expression on his face was normal. I could understand his nonchalance and inability to care as he slept. He looked truly at peace.

That thought caused my heart to clench in pain. Nothing could bring Daniel the peace he deserved except sleep. And he didn't tend to sleep much, so he was rarely ever had it.

I watched worriedly as his face scrunched up into one of discomfort. His brows furrowed and his forehead had thin lines in it as his pink lips pulled into a deep frown. He shook his head from side to side and muttered quiet, incomprehensible words under his breath.

“Daniel,” I said, wanting to wake him up from the obvious nightmare he was having. “Daniel, wake up. It's me.” I placed my hand on his thigh and he instantly jolted up, grabbing a hold of my wrist and yanking it away from him.

I lost my balance, finding the only thing holding me up was gone and went tumbling into his chest. He froze up underneath me, not even allowing himself a breath as I tried to catch mine. I scrambled back up, wanting to apologise profusely when I witnessed something that made my heart stop beating.

In his eyes was an emotion that I never ever thought that I would see in him.

Fear.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked me harshly, shoving me farther away from him as I stared at him like a fool.

“I—you...”

“Have you been crying?” he quickly cut off what was going to become rambling as he stared into my eyes.

I sniffled quickly and wiped at my cheeks, wanting to make my current state of mind less obvious.

“A little bit.”

“What happened?” he asked as I crawled closer to him.

He looked at my face before taking a looking behind me. With a low groan he reached out a hand and placed it on my bum, pushing it down so I was sitting on his lap instead having my ass up in the air.

I laughed and wiped the remnants of my tears away before settling closer to him and making myself comfortable on top of him.

“Araceli,” he said in a warning tone, grabbing my waist to stop me from moving.

Meeting his eyes, the initial thing I saw was them darken with lust but as he looked over my face, the frown returned. “What happened?”

“I think your dad likes me,” I said, fiddling my fingers nervously as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Isn't that good? If he likes you, he thinks your competent and—”

“No, I think he likes me,” I cut him off, grabbing his hands and placing them over my boobs as I stared into his eyes to get the point across. “He said he was going to make me his.”

“Oh.” The frown deepened on his face as he finally got what I was trying to tell him. He subconsciously massaged my breasts, making me shift on his lap uncomfortably. “Did he touch you?” he asked after a couple seconds of silence.

I shook my head, finding my voice stolen and my breath lost. His thumb ran over my hardened nipple through my uniform and in that moment, I refused to believe that he wasn't aware of what he was doing to me.

“And that made you cry?”

“Not just... That,” I struggled to breathe out, feeling my pussy throb between my legs. “He told me... Daniel!”

He smirked as I exclaimed his name, proving that he was well aware of what he was doing to me. He brought one hand to my waist and pulled me closer to him so my chest was against his and without a word of warning, he placed his lips on mine.

“Don't you like when I touch you?” he asked, trailing his hand down to my panties as he pulled away from me slightly. “Answer me, Araceli.”

“I'm working...” I whined, closing my eyes shut as he didn't even bother teasing me. He brought his hand into my underwear, and let his finger run over my clit, sending a jolt of pleasure through me.

“And I'm your boss. Am I not?”

“Oh, fuck. Daniel.”

He grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. “Am I not?”

“You are,” I answered quickly, moving my hips against his skilled fingers. He gently pushed his middle finger into me, making my eyes flutter shut at the feel of him.

“Look at me,” he said lowly, making me snap my eyes open to look at him like he had instructed. “Who do you belong to?”

I stared into his eyes and placed my hand on my chin, pretending to think hard about it even though I already knew. “Hmm, I'm not quite sure.”

“I'm not playing,” he said even though he was smirking up at me. If you knew Daniel, then you knew that he could be completely serious and be laughing at the same time. You would be a fool to think that he was laughing with you.

Most likely, he was laughing at the fact that you were about to die.

“You,” I gave in, making his fingers speed up as I moaned louder. “I'm yours.”

“So what Lucien likes, what Lucien wants and what Lucien thinks he knows about you doesn't matter. Okay?” he said, stroking my cheek as I looked at him and nodded. “I don't want you to be upset over this issue.”

“I won't.”

“Good,” he nodded before finally pulling his fingers out of me, making my frown. “Take off your uniform.”

“Daniel, I can't right now. I'm working,” I said, scooting off his leg, but he grabbed my hips and pulled me back to him so our chests were flush against each other again. “Daniel...”

“What did I tell you to do?” he asked, making me roll my eyes and reach up for the top button.

He grabbed my hand and guided me down to his pants, placing it over the large bulge that I had just missed sitting on. “You see what you've done?” he asked, taking my chin in his hand and tilting it to the side so he could kiss my neck. “See what you've done to me?”

“Daniel,” I tried to protest, but I found myself massaging his quickly growing erection in my hands. He let out a groan against my neck before taking the collar of my dress and quickly pulling it apart.

“Daniel!” I shrieked, thinking he had broken the buttons.

“It's not ripped,” he said, not sounding like he cared as he pushed my dress off my body.

His lips trailed down to my chest and I felt my breath hitch as he pulled my bra down and took a nipple into his mouth.

“Fuck,” I groaned, grinding myself into his erection. His hand played with my other breast, rolling my nipple between his finger while his tongue circled my hardened bud before flicking over it and sucking on it gently.

His hand reached up from behind me and unclasped my bra, making the whole red piece fall off my shoulders. He picked it up and chucked it away from us before reaching for the hem of his shirt and pulling it up and over his head. He chucked it in the same direction as my bra before grabbing my waist and flipping us over so he was on top of me.

He trailed kiss down my chest towards my stomach, but I took his face in my hand and placed his lips on mine. “I need you,” I breathed out, reaching between us for his belt buckle. “Right now.”

He chuckled at my impatience but listened to me. He placed his hand over mine and helped me undo his belt before pulling his jeans and boxers down, revealing to me the cock that I think I loved more than I loved him.

He placed his hand on my stomach and kissed my jaw tenderly before, without even a word of warning, slamming right into me.

*****

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