Chapter 11 Seduced
Lia bit her lip, trying to step back. Just as she was about to break free, the hand on her waist tightened, pulling her flush against his chest.
Oh God.
She had slammed into Lukas’s body—solid, muscular, hot even through his soaked shirt. The black fabric clung to him, two buttons undone at the collar, revealing the faint lines of his chest.
Her pulse spiked. She knew Lukas was fit, but up close… staring downward… her face flamed scarlet.
“What are you looking at?” His voice rumbled above her.
She jerked her eyes away, cheeks burning. “N-nothing.”
His mouth curved, though he didn’t move. He just waited, watching, as if curious how far she would go.
Under the heat of his stare, Lia stammered, “I’m afraid the pipes will burst again. Can I… shower in your room?”
The word shower came out soft, shaky. Anyone listening would think of something else entirely.
“Just a shower?” Lukas murmured, tilting her chin up with one finger.
Her gaze followed his touch—straight to his lips.
“Don’t you want to do anything else?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them. “Yes. I want to sleep with you.”
Her mind exploded. What did I just say?! Why did I say it so bluntly?
Lukas laughed quietly, low and dangerous, and leaned closer. His breath grazed her skin. “I want you too.”
Her lips parted, ready for his, when—
“Sorry! Wrong timing!”
The door slammed.
Lia spun around, but only caught a glimpse of two figures fleeing.
“What did you see just now?” Moritz teased, elbowing Ober, who looked stricken.
“Careful,” Ober hissed. “Mr. Müller will gouge your eyes out.”
“You insisted on coming upstairs!” Ober protested.
Moritz smirked. “All I saw was Mrs. Müller in a bathrobe.”
“Keep your voice down!”
“A bathrobe after two years… looks like she’s grown up.”
“Which part?” Ober asked warily.
Moritz’s eyes flicked down. Ober immediately hugged himself, mortified.
Before the exchange could escalate, Erik arrived. “What are you two doing?”
“Mr. Müller and—” Ober began, but Moritz clamped a hand over his mouth. “Pipe burst. Go check.”
Erik stiffened. If Mrs. Müller was angry, Lukas would be furious—and if Lukas was furious, the whole household would suffer. He called maintenance at once, then reached for the bedroom door.
But he froze, glancing at Moritz and Ober lingering like guilty schoolboys. “Is Mr. Müller inside Mrs. Müller’s room?”
Ober nodded.
That was enough. Erik stepped back fast. Repairs could wait.
The door opened. Lukas appeared, his face carved in anger.
“Get out,” he said coldly.
“Yes, sir!” Ober and Erik scrambled away, dragging Moritz with them. For once, even Lukas’s ice-cold dismissal sounded merciful.
Inside, Lia had changed into a fresh towel. “Lukas, can I borrow your phone? I need to call Theodor.”
Her own phone was long gone—smashed, like the dozens before it. If she gathered all her broken phones, she could probably build a robot. Lukas had always replaced them immediately. Until two months ago, when his patience finally snapped.
She regretted her foolishness, hated her old self. If fate had given her rebirth, why not earlier—before she wasted those years in Stilles Haus?
Lukas turned. The chill in his gaze froze her mid-sentence. She babbled anyway, voice shrinking smaller and smaller: “I just need it for a moment… If it’s inconvenient, I don’t need it… I know there are confidential files, but—”
He cut her off. “I’ll bring it later.”
Her mouth fell open. What?!
But then he set his phone on the dresser by the door and walked out, closing it behind him.
He had looked furious, yet still left it for her.
Heart fluttering, Lia slipped into a nightgown, lay on the bed, and dialed the number etched in her memory.
“Hello?”
The cold, detached voice of a man came through the line.
