“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 hadto 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.
“Fuck.” I tore myself away from Tanja, shoving her off the desk. She cried out in shock. With my pants still open, I lunged toward Daisy, but she spun away, bolting, nearly stumbling in her panic to escape.
“Daisy!” My voice tore through the air—raw and desperate, harsher than I meant. Christ, I sounded like a wreck. Like a hollow echo of myself. What the hell was she doing here?
Why now, of all times?
I lunged after her—past the wrecked desk, past Tanja’s heaving body that was nothing but a filthy reminder of the worst in me. Past the secretaries in the hall, their wide eyes fixed on the scene. Daisy was already at the elevators, jabbing the button like her life depended on it.
“Daisy, wait!” I shouted, catching the doors at the last second. She spun on me.
“Leave me alone!” Her voice was a raw blade of pain.
“What are you doing here?” I panted, helpless, scrambling for words that didn’t exist.
“Really? That’s your question? What I’m doing here?” She shook her head, tears flashing. “I can’t do this. I… I quit!”
Panic clamped tight around my throat.
