Just like I'm about to become.
When we pull up to his building—a tower of glass and steel in the most expensive part of the city—my heart is pounding so hard I think I might be sick.
This is it. The moment of no return.
I could still leave. I could still walk away.
But where would I go?
The elevator rises, and I watch the city drop away beneath me. My reflection stares back at me from the polished metal—pale, frightened, tears streaking my face.
I'm walking into a trap. I'm surrendering everything I am to a man who's destroyed my life.
And I hate myself for it.
Nathan is standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows when I enter, his back to me, the city lights creating a halo effect around his silhouette.
Tall. Powerful. Every line of his body radiates absolute control.
And what he wants is me.
"Eve," he says quietly, finally turning. His green eyes find mine across the room. "I knew you'd come."
"Did you?" My voice comes out sharp. "Or did you just make sure I had no other choice?"
A slight smile touches his lips—satisfied, possessive—and it makes me want to slap him. "Both, perhaps."
I walk further into the room, my hands clenched into fists. I stop a few feet away from him.
"I hate you," I say, and my voice breaks. "I hate what you've done to me. I hate that you've taken everything and madeit so I have to come crawling to you like—like some broken thing you can collect."
His expression doesn't change, but something flickers in his eyes. "You're not broken, Eve. You're—"
"Don't." I hold up a hand, tears burning my eyes. "Don't you dare tell me what I am. You don't get to do that. You've already taken everything else—my company, my privacy, my choices. You don't get to define me, too."
He takes a step forward, and I take a step back, my heart racing.
"I'll accept your deal," I say, the words tasting like ash. "Save my company. And I'll be yours. But don't pretend this is anything other than what it is. Don't romanticize it with talk of protection and promises to dead men. You wanted me, and you took away every other option until I had no choice but to surrender."
His jaw tightens. "Say it properly, Eve. I want to hear the words."
"Why?" I demand, anger flooding through the fear. "So you can gloat? So you can have your moment of victory?"
"Because I need to know you understand what you're agreeing to."
I meet his gaze, refusing to look away even though tears are streaming down my face now. "I'll belong to you. Completely. You win, Nathan. Are you happy? Is this what you wanted?"
"This isn't about winning," he says softly, stepping closer despite my retreat. "This is about—"
"About accepting what's always been true?" I laugh, the sound bitter and broken. "That's what you said last night. But it's a lie, isn't it? Because what's true is that you stalked me,manipulated me, destroyed my life piece by piece until I had nowhere else to turn. That's what's true."
He reaches out, cupping my face in his hands, and I flinch but don't pull away. I feel the tremor that runs through him—the first crack in his careful control.
"You're mine now," he whispers, his thumb brushing away my tears. "And I'm going to make sure you understand exactly what that means."
"I'm terrified," I whisper back, my voice breaking completely. "I'm terrified of what you are. What I'm becoming. What happens next."
"I know," he says, and for the first time, I hear something like tenderness in his voice. "But I'll never let anything hurt you again. Not even yourself."
