Page 11 of King of Rage

“His favorites are on the list I left on the fridge. Just pick whatever you think he’d like. You know what he enjoys better than I do anyway.”

The woman said something that made Stella smile.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

A moment later, Stella ended the call.

She lowered the phone and immediately slipped out of bed.

Lucius watched her as she glanced around the room, searching for something to cover herself with. Before she could find anything, his voice cut through the silence again.

“Who is Shane? Why is he at your house? And why is there a list of his favorite dishes on your fridge?” His expression darkened. “Is he your boyfriend?”

The question carried more tension this time.

Lucius kept his eyes on her, his jaw tightening as he waited for an answer.

Stella let out a frustrated breath.

“None of your business.”

She bent down and grabbed one of his shirts from the floor. Without bothering to button it, she pulled it over her shoulders and let the fabric fall loosely around her body. Then she gathered her own clothes from the floor, clutching them in her hands as she turned toward the bathroom across the room.

Lucius’s expression hardened when she continued to ignore him.

Stella turned and began walking away, but his voice stopped her.

“I know that three months after our breakup, you married someone else.”

Her steps faltered.

For a brief moment, something flickered across her eyes before anger quickly replaced it. She turned around, her face going cold as she carefully guarded whatever emotion threatened to surface.

“Last night was a mistake,” she said. “It will never happen again. I was drunk, and I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

Lucius said nothing. He simply stared at her, his gaze fixed on her face.

“I want you to honor your rule,” she continued, her voice steady despite the tension in her expression. “Don’t ever contact me again. Forget that this night ever happened.”

She turned away before he could respond and walked into the bathroom.

The door slammed shut behind her.

Lucius’s jaw tightened as he stared at the closed door. The anger on his face was clear, but he kept it carefully contained, refusing to let Stella see how deeply her words had affected him.

Then something caught the light on the bed.

His gaze shifted.

He reached down and picked it up.

A necklace lay across his palm.

The moment he recognized it, memories came rushing back.

Stella had bought it on their first anniversary.

He still remembered the way she had stormed into his office without bothering to ask whether he was busy. She had marched straight toward his desk, thrust the small box into his hands, and smiled at him.