"I asked who hired this kind of person as my personal assistant?" Rowan bellowed again, his cold gaze fixed on Riley instead of the supposed new personal assistant.
The secretary's lips trembled as she thought of a reasonable answer. She knew her boss understood she wasn't in the best position to answer that question of his yet here they were!
And Rowan Donovan would never take silence for a response whenever he asked a question.
"I... I told him you definitely wouldn't want to...to work with someone like him but he... he..." Riley struggled for words, her eyes darting to Lucian as if to yell: 'Didn't I warn you?'
Totally unbothered by the woman's misery which apparently he was the cause of, Lucian narrowed his eyes on the CEO with a look that screamed 'shouldn't you be thanking me for allowing you to cry on my shoulder?
However, Rowan's eyes didn't hold any recognition for this new employee. Instead, he glanced briefly at him with disdain. If looks could kill, Lucian would definitely be buried six feet under, already.
"It doesn't even matter who hired him. My HR department clearly doesn't understand their job anymore. I would have to teach them." He snapped, his voice sharp as a blade.
Then without allowing the weight of his words to settle over the duo standing before him, he added;
"You are fired."
That was directed at Lucian. Riley let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she slowly figured out that the command wasn't for her.
Meanwhile, Rowan had turned around sharply, facing back the window as if the matter was already resolved. As if Lucian had already ceased to exist in his mind.
Riley nodded firmly in understanding and looked at the man, expecting him to move.
Her eyes squinted, bewildered, when she noticed that Lucian wasn't acting as if anybody was talking to him. He was just standing there, one hand casually in his pocket, the other at his side, staring at Rowan with an expression that was almost amused.
"Just how much damage would this man cause today?" Riley wondered inwardly, her anger rising. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lucian beat her to it.
"Why are you pretending to not remember me?" He asked the CEO even though the man had his back to him, in a very light and calm voice- almost playful.
For a few seconds, the words hung in the air like a challenge. It was a rude challenge to Rowan Donovan, by the way but Lucian didn't seem to care.
Or was it because he didn't know who he was dealing with?
Riley's heart skipped a beat at the challenging question. Her mouth went dry and her eyes snapped towards Lucian as if to check well whether the man had suddenly grown two heads.
Even if he was a stranger in the company, he would have definitely heard about who Rowan Donovan was and how he operated, in the business world, wouldn't he?
Riley choked on a cough. Then she glanced at her boss, waiting for the explosion she knew was coming. Nobody spoke to Rowan Donovan like that. Nobody was audacious enough to challenge him, to suggest he was lying and imply that they had some kind of history.
"Of course you wouldn't deny not knowing me when we had such an encounter last night." Lucian's voice came up again, his tone still unbothered, still warm despite the coldness in the room.
Riley's eyes widened.
"Such an encounter?" She repeated under her breath.
Without preamble, her mind went somewhere dark and inappropriate, and her cheeks flushed immediately as she realized what she was thinking.
"No. Surely not. The boss wouldn't..." She shook her head but her confusion was written all over her face.
At that moment, Rowan's head snapped around.
He turned to face Lucian again, and for the first time, there was something other than disdain in his expression. There were different emotions; shock, confusion and flicker of something that looked like fear.
"Riley, leave us alone." Rowan ordered, his voice low and controlled.
The woman hesitated for a heartbeat, her legs refusing to move, on instinct. Her curiosity was burning, eating her alive from the inside out.
She wanted to know what this was about. Especially now that her boss suddenly seemed interested after he had fired someone- that was something she had never witnessed before in her entire time of working for her young boss.
Riley could instantly notice how Rowan now looked like he had just been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.
Rowan glared at her- just once, just a brief flash of those ocean-blue eyes filled with a warning that was unmistakable.
Riley didn't need to be told twice. She ran out of the room, closing the door behind her with a sharp click.
Lucian was still standing in the same position, still staring at Rowan with that expression of amusement, as if he was enjoying some private joke that only he understood.
He didn't look intimidated nor did he look like someone who had just been fired and should be scrambling to leave.
He looked like someone who held all the cards.
Rowan's nostrils flared as he noticed this. The coldness in his expression shifted, became something more volatile. Something more dangerous.
He stood up from his chair- slowly, deliberately, and began walking toward Lucian. Each step was measured, controlled, but there was something menacing about it. Something that suggested Rowan was used to people backing away when he approached.
But this man defied another rule in Rowan's world, again...
He didn't step back. He didn't lower his gaze. He didn't do anything except stand there, hand lazily in his pocket, waiting.
When Rowan finally closed the distance between them, his jaw was tightly clenched. His eyes were blazing and his entire body was radiating a cold, sharp fury that filled the room like ice water.
Yet, Lucian didn't seem affected.
And when Rowan Donovan spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried the weight of a threat.
"Who the hell are you?"