Page 13 of Saved By A Dark Billionaire
"Beautiful," he boldly stated as he held his hand out for me to take.
"I won't be out all night," I told Hailey as I stepped past her through the door.
"Have fun, and don't worry about me." She pushed me out with a gleam of excitement in her eyes. I silently followed Lucas out of the building to his car. He must have money, seeing as he showed up in a Lambo. He held the door open for me to get in like a gentleman. I felt my cheeks flush at the gesture as I entered the car.
"You clean up nice." I finally said, as he drove us. "Where are we going to make me dress up so nicely?"
"My dad's house." He answered causally.
"You dress up nice to go to your dad's house?" I arched a brow at him, thinking he was joking with me.
"He has a dinner meeting tonight, which means a fancy meal, fancy clothes, and a boring business talk. It may be selfish of me, but I brought you to save me from a hellish night." He grabbed my knee as he spoke, sending a spark of energy through me.
"Are you sure I should come? It sounds like you're making me crash this dinner." He gave me a cheeky smile, letting me know how right I was. I smacked his arm scoldingly.
"Lucas!"
"It's fine, I promise. Trust me, Rose. I would never embarrass you." Something inside of me inclined me to trust his words. I sighed, trying to gather even more courage, but failing as the nerves took over instead. I'm meeting his dad, while crashing his business meeting.
"I could kill you," I muttered to him, making him laugh.
"Thank you, Rose," was all he said as we pulled up to a large iron gate.
Lucas pushed in a code, having the gate creek open for us in protest. It led to a long driveway that circled in front of an enormous house. Better yet, let's call it a mansion. I did not know Lucas came from money. I honestly didn't care about it, but at the moment, I found it intimidating. What if they have a table set with all kinds of silverware I don't know how to use? You know, like the mini fork, the one no knows what it’s used for. Lucas parked, coming to my side, opening the door for me again. He held his hand out, helping me out of the car. He led me up the 5 steps to the front door, passing by a familiar blue car. Where have I seen that car before?
"Good evening, young Mr. Porter." An elderly man with a gray mustache and an air of sophistication about him greeted us.
"Hello, James. Where are they?" He handed James his keys and jacket as he spoke.
"In the front room, sir." He motioned to the room in the back left corner. Lucas grabbed my hand, placing it in the nook of his arm, before walking behind James. He slid the French doors open for us, revealing a small group of people. All eyes landed on him, and then on me, but mine were stuck on an all too familiar face.
Clover sat in a lounge chair by herself. Beside her was an older woman and man I recognized as her parents. Lisa, Lucas' sister, whom I met last night, sat on the couch beside a more serious man with the same blue eyes as Lisa. His jaw ticked in obvious anger, but he said nothing about me. Hell, he seemed to pretend I didn't exist. Lisa tried to suppress her smile not too well. She found this amusing. I gripped onto Lucas' arm tightly as Clover eyed me.
“Olive, sweetheart, is that you?" Clover's mom called out to me, breaking the long silence.
"Yes, hello, Mrs. Camilo," I greeted her with a sweet smile.
"You look so beautiful! I didn't know you'd be here." She came up to me, embracing me in an awkward hug. I'd met her many times when she would come to the apartment to visit Clover. We would all talk, eat, and shop together. It was usually Clover and her mom did the shopping.
"I was sad to hear you had moved." Clover obviously didn't tell her why, and I would not be the one to reveal what a bitch her daughter was.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself."
"Ronda, Malcolm, this is my son, Lucas, and it seems you are acquainted with his guest," Lucas' father finally spoke.
"So lovely to meet you, Lucas. This is my daughter, Clover. She and Olive were roommates until last week," Mrs. Camilo explained.
"Nice to meet you," Lucas said with a curt nod. He was also being polite, but I didn't miss the quick second of anger that crossed his face as he looked at Clover.
"Shall we start dinner now that everyone is here?" Lisa suggested, trying to save us all from any more of this.
"Yes, please, follow me," her father responded.
We all headed to the next room. The table sat 12 despite there only being 7 of us. I did not know where to sit and, to my horror, the tiny fork stared at me from the table. The urge to take a step back and run away and hide was very strong as I approached the table. I won't give Clover the satisfaction. Lucas thankfully led me to my seat, pulling it out for me, and pushing it in as I sat. He was a proper gentleman. He took the seat beside me, but then they directed Clover to sit beside him. Her parents sat across from her and Lisa sat across from Lucas and I. Of course, Lucas' dad sat at the head of the table looking out at the rest of us.
His gaze lingered on me, but I made sure not to show any intimidation. I kept my gaze fixed on the odd painting above the fireplace. I couldn't make out what it was, but it was slightly off-putting. Lucas squeezed my thigh under the table, trying to give me some encouragement. I turned to look at him, seeing him wink at me with a little smirk. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the small smile tugging at my lips.
Lucas' dad talked business with Mr. Camilo shortly after we all finished eating. He invited Mr. and Mrs. Camilo to the cigar room to talk more, leaving Clover out here with Lisa, Lucas and I. I bit my tongue not wanting to say anything to Clover.
