Lillian’s stubborn gaze burned with anger and grievance. Even pinned under him, she pressed her lips tightly together.
Conrad’s eyes landed on her lips, and he grabbed her face, pressing a kiss onto them.
Her lips tasted like blood-who knows how long she had been biting them to hold back her emotions.
Was being with him so unbearable? How dare she!
Unable to stand his forceful kiss, Lillian gasped for air and bit down hard on his lower lip.
Conrad, however, merely smirked wickedly, letting her bite him, seemingly enjoying the sting of the blood.
As his blood unconsciously trickled down her throat, he grabbed her neck and kissed her even deeper. She could barely breathe, but when he kissed her again, he wasn’t in any rush.
Instead, he wiped the blood from his mouth, leaving Lillian shaken and frightened.
Conrad moved slowly, pinning her down with a commanding air.
From her position, she could see the menacing black wolf tattoo and the red kiss mark tattoo on his chest.
So tacky, she thought to herself.
His chest heaved as he asked, “What are you thinking? How to insult me?”
Lillian didn’t even have the strength to argue anymore. She was already exhausted after a long day at work, and fighting with him just wasn’t worth it.
“I was thinking, Mr. Conrad, how are you going to explain that kiss mark tattoo to your future wife?”
“You want to know? Why not stay by my side and find out,” he replied before continuing his torment.
“Apologize,” he demanded.
With tears in her eyes, Lillian shook her head. She wasn’t wrong, so why should she apologize?
But Conrad wasn’t going to stop until she did.
He thrust in and out of her again and again, demanding, “Apologize.”
Lillian, now sobbing uncontrollably, snapped, “You’re so annoying! So annoying!”
Still, Conrad repeated, “Apologize!”
“Fine! I’m sorry!” Lillian finally screamed, on the verge of breaking down completely.
Conrad smiled in satisfaction. “Good. You’re forgiven.”
Scooping her up, he pulled her onto his lap.
The cold in the room seemed to disappear under the heat radiating from him.
Lillian sniffled, and Conrad, seeing how pitiful she looked, wiped her tears away and kissed her cheek.
“I think you’re so restless every day-why not have a baby with me?” he said casually, thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to stay quietly at the Taylor Mansion during pregnancy.
He glanced at her slender waist and wondered if she could even carry his child. He’d heard tall people tended to have big babies.
“Lillian, you should eat more. Otherwise, how are you going to have a baby?”
Who the hell wants to have your baby, she thought bitterly.
Good thing she had planned ahead. While Conrad was in the bathroom taking a cold shower, she opened the bedside drawer, found the birth control pill she’d bought, and swallowed one to ease her nerves.
“What are you taking?” Conrad walked out just in time to see her.
The water in this dingy place made him feel like even bathing wasn’t clean.
“Vitamins. I’ve been feeling a little run-down lately.”
Conrad glanced at the bottle. It was indeed vitamins. “I told you to come back with me, but you insist on staying here and making yourself suffer.”
He sat on the edge of the bed. Lillian figured she should go clean up; she could still feel his scent on her, along with traces of his saliva.
“Stay put.” Conrad poured bottled water into the kettle and boiled some to wipe her down.
It was the first time Lillian had ever seen him do something like this.
“What are you staring at?” he asked.
Leaning against the pillow, she replied, “Aren’t you heading back tomorrow?”
“Not for now. There’s nothing urgent to take care of.”
“Won’t Evelyn get mad at you?”
“Are you jealous?” Conrad smirked.
“I’m just asking.”
“I haven’t seen her in two months. How would I know if she’s mad? And even if she is, what makes you think I’d bother to pacify her? Not happening.”
Not everyone got the luxury of Conrad’s attention and effort-especially not Evelyn.
Lillian froze for a moment but didn’t bother asking about the other women in his life.
Conrad, of course, knew exactly what was on her mind. Sometimes it just depended on whether he felt like explaining. But since she’d cried so miserably today, he figured he’d humor her for once.
“I’ve been handling Hunter’s situation for the past two months.”
Her eyes widened. “Hunter?”
“I personally dealt with Hunter’s family,” he said nonchalantly.
Such an offhand remark sent a chill down her spine.
More than anyone, she understood how terrifying the destruction of an entire family could be.
“Scared?” Conrad tossed the towel aside and slipped under the blanket, his warm body pressing against hers. “Lillian, why is your body always so cold, like a snake’s?”
“The room’s freezing.”
“Funny, you were burning hot just now when I was having sex with you. I wasn’t gone that long, and now you’re icy again. The bed doesn’t even retain your warmth.” He paused, then added, “Didn’t your dad raise you like a princess? Weren’t you supposed to be the little darling, pampered and spoiled?”
Lillian hadn’t met Conrad growing up. All she knew was that after their bankruptcy, the infamous second son of the Brown family had returned-a man shrouded in mystery. Sent off for military training as a child, he had attended a military academy and seemed worlds apart from her.
She’d thought someone from the military would have no place in business, but in just a few short years, he had ruthlessly elevated the Brown family to unprecedented heights. Known for his sharp and decisive methods, he quickly became one of the most powerful figures in City N.
By then, her Lewis family had long since fallen from their glory days. Alvin’s prime was nothing but a memory.
“I wasn’t always like this. Back then, I had to be a stunt double in the winter, filming take after take of water scenes. That’s how it started.”
Actresses with fans and popularity refused to do their own stunts, so doubles like her were brought in. The pay was better than usual, so of course, she jumped at the chance. Every bit earned counted back then.
Conrad sometimes couldn’t stand this about her. She had the money he gave her, yet she still insisted on earning more-often at dirt-cheap rates.
“If you have that much free time, you’d be better off spending it in bed with me,” he muttered.
Lillian didn’t dignify that with a response.
“What… happened to Hunter?”
As if Conrad would share anything so gruesome with her.
“Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t. Just know he didn’t get away,” he said, cutting off the subject entirely.
Lillian stared at him. “Don’t tell me… he’s dead.”
“What’s this? Hoping he’s dead?”
“I don’t even know him. Unlike you, I don’t have a million ways to handle people.”
Conrad didn’t respond.
Whether Hunter’s family was destroyed or wiped out completely wasn’t something she dared to ask.
For Conrad, dealing with Hunter wasn’t just about one thing. Hunter had dared to lay a hand on his woman, and if he didn’t make an example of him, others might think it was okay to mess with him.
Besides, Hunter had been a pest he’d wanted to squash for a long time.
Over the past two months, Conrad had dismantled his entire operation, all thanks to the drug Hunter had used on Lillian.
Thinking about it, Lillian really was his little lucky charm.
He ran his hand over her skin, a little too fondly.
Lillian tried to squirm away but was pulled firmly into his arms. Feeling his warmth, she mumbled awkwardly, “I’m really tired.”
“Then sleep.”
“I mean… this place is remote and has nothing. You should head back early.”
Conrad was holding her wrist and frowned. “I’ve barely been here, and you’re already trying to kick me out?”
“I’m not kicking you out… I just don’t want to hold you up.”
For a moment, Conrad considered wrapping her up and hauling her back home right then and there. But he also knew she’d been especially stubborn lately.
Instead, he pulled her closer, closed his eyes, and said, “Go to sleep.”
She would never know the storm he had stirred up abroad these past two months. Hunter’s family had been like cornered rats, pulling every trick in the book and sending wave after wave of assassins after him.
Play with women? He hadn’t even had time to sleep for days before finally capturing that bastard Hunter.
Maybe because Hunter had come up before bed, Lillian ended up having a nightmare.
In her dream, Hunter’s twisted face loomed over her, his lifeless eyes staring her down like a vengeful ghost.
“No!” Lillian woke with a start, trembling.
She found herself locked tightly in Conrad’s arms.
“Lillian, what shady business did you do during the day to be so restless at night?” he muttered. She’d only been asleep five minutes before causing a commotion.
Lillian turned to glare at him, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.
“I dreamt of Hunter.”
Conrad rolled his eyes. “You dreamt of him and not me? Really?”
“…” Neither of you is someone I want to dream about.
“Hunter’s eye… does that have anything to do with you?”
“I’m the one who blinded him. Why?”
The sheer audacity in his tone.
“Why would you do that?”
“Why else? Because he deserved it, obviously.” Conrad was starting to get impatient. “If you’re not planning to sleep, we can continue to have sex.”
Lillian immediately lay down and pulled the blanket over herself.
Conrad stared at the back of her head for a while, but thanks to her antics, he couldn’t fall asleep anymore.