The towering building disappeared behind me as I shoved open the limousine door and kept walking, not sparing Bastien a glance. The cold bit into my face, but it was nothing compared to the fire tearing through my chest.
Yesterday afternoon, after visiting Karl and Marlon in the hospital, Daisy had sent me a message. No explanation. No apology. Just one short line: she would be back in the store tomorrow. After a week of silence. A week of her shutting me out.
I would not let her go—not in my head, not in my blood. The thought of her belonging to someone else set the rage blazing like an inferno. She had become part of me, a poison in my veins. Not a day, not an hour, not a heartbeat passed without her. God, how I hated her for what she made me feel. I needed a distraction, something to cauterize the pain. But even the thought of numbing myself felt empty, pathetic. Because beneath the anger, something else tore at me—something I couldn’t drown in alcohol or fuck away.
Ference. His name burned in my mind like iron. Tomorrow I would stand at his coffin. My fists clenched as the past week replayed again and again. If only I’d never let her into my life. If only I’d never touched her. But that was a lie. Because if I could turn back time, I would do it again. Over and over. She was part of me, poison in my blood. Not a day, not an hour, not a single heartbeat passed without her. Her gaze. Her voice. The way she pushed me to the edge. The way she saved me and ruined me in the same breath.
The door to my office opened, and Tanja Walters walked in—confident as ever, briefcase swinging at her side. Her steps were calm, precise. No hesitation. No fake smile. A business partner who knew her worth. She sat across from me and pulled a stack of papers from her case.
“The new investor is pushing for a faster release of funds,” she said, sliding a few pages across the desk.
“Does he want control or return?” I asked, scanning the documents.
“Both, I’d say.” She leaned back, crossing her legs. “Like most men.”
“And what do you say to that?” Her fingers tapped against the tabletop, steady, deliberate.
“What do you suggest?” I countered.
“Feed him, but keep the leash in your hand.”
“You mean the way you like it.”
A low laugh escaped her. Not mocking. Familiar. “You haven’t had me on a leash for a while. I’m almost offended.”
Seconds stretched. The air between us thickened. Tanja leaned forward, sliding another document toward me. “The calculations for the deal,” she said, though her gaze lingered on my mouth, not the numbers.
“And you want me to sign off without compensation?”
“That depends on what you mean by compensation.”
One wrong breath, and memory slammed into me like a fist. Her body beneath my hands—naked, bound, perfect. Legs spread wide, skin hot and trembling beneath my grip. Her eyes—wide, greedy, waiting—exactly how I wanted her. No shame. No restraint. Only obedience. Only hunger. I remembered how she whimpered beneath me, half begging, half demanding, while I fucked her—slow, hard. How I held her face when I came on her. Brutal. Merciless.
“Have you finished the portfolio?” she asked.
I nodded, and she rose, circling the desk. My eyes followed her. She stopped in front of me, and I turned my chair toward her. Her stiletto pressed between my legs, pushing my knees apart. For a moment, our eyes locked. Then she lowered herself onto my lap as if she belonged there. Her perfume clung to my skin—heavy, suffocating. Her body warm, pliant, familiar.
Tanja reached for the mouse and opened the portfolio on the screen. “Then let’s see what you’ve conjured up,” she murmured, scrolling through. Her ass shifted against me as she clicked. My hand closed on her waist, steady, firm. Not out of need. Out of defiance. Because I had to prove I was still me. Not the wreck Daisy had made me.
Tanja’s fingertips trailed my thigh—a silent invitation that needed no words. I shoved the laptop aside. Instinct took over—raw, cold, merciless. I spun her around and set her on the desk. Pens clattered to the floor. She grabbed for balance as I tore open her blouse without hesitation, without care, shoving her skirt up. My belt clinked, pants sliding down my hips, and the next second I was inside her. Hard. Deep. Mechanical. Her moans filled the office, but inside me—nothing. Only motion. Only the hollow echo of control. I used her body like a tourniquet—tight, brutal, useless.
And even that slipped. Every thrust, every second, was torture. Not because of her, but because of who wasn’t there.
My gaze dragged over her body, her parted lips, her desperate grip on the desk’s edge. And I hated her. Hated her for not being Daisy. Hated myself for sinking this low. I should end it. Now. Another harsh thrust, a gasp—
The door opened.
A shadow.
A heartbeat.
And then her gaze hit me like a blade.
Daisy.
She stood frozen in the doorway. Pale. Eyes wide. Stunned. Shattered.
Everything inside me stopped—then fell. My hands clamped around Tanja’s hips, my body locked in place. For one endless second, I could do nothing. Only look at her. Only drown in the pain in her eyes. Only taste the bitter acid of my own betrayal.
