47: Girlfriend

**Tristan**

“Brody Hugo. You’re right, it has been a while, so much so that I think you may be sprouting a few grey hairs here and there.” Damon said. I found his joke awful, but Mr Hugo, who had finally taken his eyes off of me laughed and walked up to Damon before shaking his hand.

“Always the jokester!” He said.

“You call that a joke…” Lucien muttered, immediately catching Mr Hugo’s attention. His genuine smile fell into a false one and he asked, “And you must be the mysterious ‘other’.”

Lucien rolled his eyes and folded his arms. “I-”

“He’s my brother,” Damon interjected.

Mr Hugo’s brows raised, and he tilted his head slightly as he gazed intently at Lucien, and then at Damon. “You don’t look alike.”

“Different mothers.” Damon said. Mr Hugo nodded in understanding and then focussed his attention onto his main target- me. The moment his eyes rested on me, a sickening smile appeared, and he took a step closer towards me. Instinctively, I took one back. I hated people being in my personal space… except when Lucien was the one invading it.

“And you must be Damon’s PA. Tristan, was it? It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He purred. It was at that moment that everyone in the room became uneasy, Lucien especially. In fact, he was just about to reach out for me when Damon cleared his throat, rather loudly, and said, “Well, I think it’s time for our discussion about the advertising contract?”

Damon’s quick distraction seemed to have worked because immediately, Mr Hugo turned back to him and smiled. “You’re right.”

He placed a hand out and motioned for us to sit down at the large table before us. It was clear the moment we sat down, that Mr Hugo was trying to get as close to me as he could. Only one person stood in his way- Lucien, who immediately took a seat right next to me, leaving Mr Hugo closer to Damon than to me.

When Damon and Mr Hugo finally began to talk about the product Damon was supposed to advertise, Lucien’s hand began to wander. At first it seemed innocent, a gentle touch to my hand which I had placed naturally on my thigh. Then, he gripped at my hand for a moment before swiftly moving it off of my thigh and replacing it with his. This was when all of my attention was pulled away from the conversation between Damon and Hugo and placed on the feeling of Lucien’s hand.

*”Stop it!”* I said through our mind link.

The side of his lips pulled up into a mischievous smirk and he began moving his hand upward. I took a sharp breath and bit at my lip as a whimpered moan escaped my lips.

“Are you okay?” Mr Hugo asked.

I immediately slapped Lucien’s hand away and folded my right leg over my left. “Yes… I forgot to eat this morning.” I lied.

Damon raised an unconvinced brow, but Mr Hugo seemed to buy my little lie. In fact, he bought it so well that he put a hold to the entire conversation and demanded that we take a break to eat. Of course, we had no choice but to oblige.

Mr Hugo made his assistant bring us food from one of the local restaurants, and while we waited, we all began to casually converse. From this moment onwards, everything just went downhill, and it all began when Mr Hugo opened his mouth again.

“So, Tristan, how long have you been working for Damon?”

“That’s none of your business.” Lucien scoffed before I even had a chance to reply.

Damon cleared his throat. “Let her speak for herself, Lucien.”

If I had it in me, I would have thanked Damon for reprimanding his brother. It was actually quite surprising for him to stand up for me like this. Then again, I always seemed to underestimate him.

“A few weeks now.” I said.

“A few weeks? And you’re already letting her join you in meetings?” He said as he turned towards Damon in astonishment. “Your previous PAs had to wait months before they could achieve that privilege…” he then fell silent for a moment, “… you two aren’t sleeping together, are you? Or better yet, is she the mysterious fiancé?”

Damon’s eyebrows raised in astonishment and so did mine and Lucien’s. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, sir. Damon is merely my boss.”

“Damon? You’re even using his full name. Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

This time, Damon spoke up, and rightfully so. His relationship with my sister was, after all, his secret to tell.

“Tristan is my fiancé’s sister. But beside that, she is one of the most competent workers I’ve had in a while.”

Mr Hugo nodded in understanding, and then a sickening smile began to form on his face. “So, does that mean you’re available, Tristan.” As he said this, he reached out a hand to touch mine which was placed on the table. I was just about to retract my hand when Lucien’s grabbed at Mr Hugo’s.

*“Keep calm everyone.”* Damon said through the mind link.

But Lucien was clearly no good at remaining calm. Immediately, he flung Mr Hugo’s hand back towards him and said, with deep hostility, “Don’t fucking touch her.”

Mr Hugo stared up at Lucien, rather surprised and asked, “Who is this woman to you?”

Lucien casted his gaze back towards me with such an intensity that I felt heat rising up in my stomach.

“I think the correct question here is, what am I to her.” He then placed his hand back on mine and held it tightly. “What am I to you, Tristan?”

I gulped and searched his eyes desperately. I wanted to know what on earth he was thinking, asking me such an intense question. But the more I searched, the more desperation I found. He was still unsure about the reason I ignored him in the first place. And beyond that, I saw the intense fear behind his desperation. It was the fear of loneliness, of being alone again. Looking back at it now, this was probably one of Lucien’s most vulnerable moments, and it was mine too. Because for the first time in a long time, I actually cared more than I should have. I didn’t want Lucien to be lonely anymore, and I myself didn’t want to be lonely, isolated and emotionless either.

And so, I intertwined our fingers and let out a sigh before saying, “Well I suppose Lucien and I are dating.”

“Oh, I see, so you’re his girlfriend then?”

It took me a moment before I nodded. “Yes, I’m his girlfriend.”

To say that Lucien was shocked, would have been the biggest understatement of the century. He recovered soon enough, though, and raised my hand up to his lips where he placed a soft, gentle kiss against the back of my palm.

“What a pity. Are you sure you’re happy with him? I mean I am rich and well-connected. You could get really far in a relationship with me.”

Lucien was just about to say something when I cut him off. “I’m sure. No one else could make me feel the way he does.”

I ended my last statement with a blush and cast my eyes down to avoid Lucien’s gaze.

*“Oh you’re asking for me to take you in front of everyone here!”* Lucien mind linked.

*“You forgot to make that thought private, Lucien.”* Damon added. With that, the two began to engage in the most childish telepathic argument, forcing me to completely disconnect from the mind link.

“Well, if you’re sure. If you do change your mind though, you know where to find me.” Mr Hugo said with a wink. I fought back a scoff and was then graciously saved from anymore questions from Mr Hugo when his assistant came in with our food. And while we ate, I couldn’t help but catch Lucien stealing a few glances at me. It was clear that we now had a whole lot more to talk about, and that thought strangely excited me.