“Lucy, would you mind coming with me to visit one of our properties? I’m meeting a woman there and think she’d feel more comfortable if you were with me.”
“Is this the same blonde from yesterday?” Lucy asked, her smile just a little mischievous as she stood.
Over the last couple months Lucy’s relationship with him had become a little more relaxed. He’d never had employees comfortable enough to treat him like anything other than a boss and he’d never had female friends. But he liked the dynamic of their relationship. “Maybe.”
“I knew you liked her,” she said, her smile growing wider as she pulled her purse out of one of her desk drawers. “I saw you checking her out at the Chef event. I’m never wrong about these things.”
Lucy was far too observant—which was one of the reasons he’d never regretted hiring her. “It’s not like that.” Even if he wanted it to be. “We are…acquaintances.”
She snorted as Abram stepped out of his office, a frown on his face. “Where are you two going?”
“To show Dominique the house.”
Lucy’s eyes widened slightly. “The one right on the beach you had Rita cancel all those rental reservations for? That place is gorgeous. Are you selling it to her?”
His brother was the only one who knew why he wanted to give it to Dominique, not sell. That wasn’t something he’d share with Lucy or anyone else. “Something like that.”
“I’ll come with you,” Abram said, stepping back into his office.
“No.” Viktor didn’t want his brother there. That would only make Dominique uncomfortable.
His brother stared hard at him, the tension between them clear.
Lucy cleared her throat. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” she murmured, her heels clicking as she hurried out into the hallway. Abram’s gaze strayed after her for just a moment, the longing in his eyes clear. Viktor didn’t think his brother would ever make a move on her, and not just because he was her boss. He seemed to view Lucy as unattainable. Viktor could relate to that sentiment.
“You don’t want me with you?” Abram asked once they were alone.
“Not tonight.”
“What if this woman wants to hurt you? You don’t know that she doesn’t blame you for our father’s sins. Maybe this is a plot to lure you there alone.”
Viktor sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. He was glad his brother cared enough to be concerned, but he wasn’t worried about Dominique trying to attack him. “You think I can’t handle myself against a woman?”
“I think your judgment is clouded. This house is worth so much…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I understand why you’re doing it, but what if the offer insulted her and now she wants to hurt you?”
“Is this about me bringing Lucy?” Because his brother couldn’t seriously think he’d be ambushed by an untrained woman.
Abram just clenched his jaw.
“Well?” Viktor demanded.
“I think we’re pushing her too hard. She’s putting in seventy-hour workweeks with us. And now you’re bringing her with you when she should have left an hour ago? I want to hire another assistant so she doesn’t burn out.”
Ah, so it was about Lucy. “I agree. You want to tell her or should I?”
Abram lifted a shoulder. “Maybe you should. And she should be the one to approve the final hiring—after we’ve vetted them.”
“Agreed.” Lucy would be working closely with whoever they hired so they would need to get along. His brother was right too. They had been pushing her too hard. Some days he felt as if all he did was work. But he’d rather be at the office than go home to an empty house or out to some bullshit event where he didn’t like most of the people there to begin with.
As expected he found Lucy waiting downstairs in the lobby, talking with one of the security guards. And as usual she was a chatterbox on the way to the beach house, talking about what they had on the books for the rest of the week and the next, some figurative fires he and his brother specifically needed to put out and other stuff he half listened to.
He was glad she was talking, filling the space with noise so he could try to ignore the anticipation humming through him at the thought of meeting with Dominique.
It was completely stupid to be excited to see her, but after she’d been so visibly vulnerable yesterday she’d gotten even further under his skin.