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My legs tremble as I take the final step and close the distance.
Jax wraps his thick fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck. He doesn’t ask. He claims. He pulls my face to his and crushes his mouth over mine.
It is a violation disguised as a kiss. Possessive, bruising, and absolute. His tongue parts my lips, tasting, taking, demanding a response. I try to stay rigid, try to hold onto some shred of dignity while Ari watches, but Jax’s grip tightens on my hair, sending a jolt of pain through my scalp.
My body betrays me. It remembers the rule: compliance brings pleasure. My hands lift and rest on his broad chest. My lips part willingly, returning the kiss, a soft moan vibrating in my throat. I am kissing my captor, melting against him, entirely at his mercy while the man who tried to save me watches from his knees.
Jax pulls back, his breathing barely altered. I am shaking, my lips swollen and wet, my eyes unfocused with unwanted arousal.
He turns his attention back to Ari.
“She’s mine,” Jax explains, his voice conversational again. “Every response, every reaction, every tremor of pleasure—I built that. And I’m going to build the same thing in you. The only question is how much you make her suffer before you submit.”
Jax releases Ari’s hair, letting the man slump forward onto the carpet.
Without another word, Jax turns and walks out of the suite. The heavy steel door clicks shut. The deadbolts engage with finality.
The silence is devastating.
I wrap my arms around my waist and retreat to the far corner of the room. I cannot look at Ari. I cannot face the disgust, the pity, the realization in his eyes.
Ari slowly pushes himself off the floor. He wipes the blood from his mouth, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. He steps toward me, his hands raised in a placating gesture.
“Liv. It’s not your fault.” His voice is entirely broken, stripped of all its usual smooth confidence. “He conditioned you. He broke you down. I won’t let him do this anymore. We’ll find a way out. I promise you.”
A bitter laugh tears from my throat. It sounds unhinged, wild, and sharp, echoing off the reinforced glass. I wrap my arms tighter around myself, staring at this beautiful, arrogant man who still doesn’t understand the rules of the game he just lost.
“There’s no way out, Ari. Not anymore.” My voice is a dead, flat thing. “The cage isn’t the room. It’s in our heads. And he’s going to put one in yours too.”
Ari shakes his head, stepping back as if my words physically strike him. He wants to deny it. He wants to cling to his strength, his Viper training, and his unshakeable belief that he masters his own fate.
I almost warn him. I almost tell him that fighting Jax will only drag out the agony. I almost tell him that the sooner he drops to his knees and gives Jax exactly what he wants, the less it will hurt both of us.
But I stay quiet. Let him have his defiance. Let him hold onto the illusion of control. Jax prefers it when they fight back at first. It makes the breaking so much sweeter. And if Jax is happy, I am safe. Or at least, the twisted version of safety I have come to depend on.
Hours bleed away into the night. Ari refuses the velvet couch, opting to sit against the wall, knees pulled up, eyes scanning the room for weak points that don’t exist.
I lie in the massive, luxurious bed, the silk sheets cool against my heated skin. I stare at the ceiling, listening to Ari’s rhythmic breathing in the dark. How long will it take? Days? Weeks? Jax is a patient man. He will savor every second of tearing Ari Carter apart.
I trace the bite mark on my shoulder, my fingers lingering on the bruised flesh. The most horrifying part isn’t that I am trapped here. It isn’t that Ari is doomed.
It is the dark, rotting thing inside me that flutters with anticipation.
I should want him to stay strong. Instead, I’m wondering what he’ll look like on his knees, learning the same lessons I did. Jax hasn’t just broken me. He’s made me complicit. And tomorrow, I’ll help him break Ari too.
5
JAX
The monitors in my private study cast a cool, blue glow over the dark mahogany desk. I swirl the aged whiskey in my crystal glass, listening to the heavy ice clink a steady rhythm against the rim. On the main screen, Ari Carter paces the reinforced suite. He moves with the restless, caged energy of a cornered predator. Seven steps to the locked door. Pivot. Seven steps to the bulletproof window. Pivot.
Liv watches him from the edge of the velvet armchair. Her posture is flawless. Her hands rest quietly in her lap. The contrast between them thrills me to my core. She already possesses the quiet stillness of total surrender. She tracks his frantic movements with a heavy mixture of pity and dark fascination. She knows exactly how futile his resistance is. When I first brought her here, she scratched her fingernails bloody against that same oak door. Now, she waits patiently for me to turn the lock.
I take a slow sip of the whiskey. The burn coats my throat, warm and familiar. I have wanted Ari Carter for seven months. It started at a charity gala down in the city center. I stood on the mezzanine, watching Ari work the massive ballroom. He wore a custom Tom Ford tuxedo, flashing a dimpled smile that disarmed every wealthy socialite in his path. He played the charming billionaire playboy flawlessly. But I saw the hollow vacancy in his striking green eyes when the women turned away. I saw the deep hunger for something beyond the shallow society games.
He built walls of charm and sarcasm to keep the world out. Taking Derek Harrison’s daughters served multiple purposes. It punished Hunter Reed. It fractured the Harrison empire. It also gave Ari a reason to come after me. I knew he was involved with Liv. I counted on him to lose patience with Hunter’s search, and he did at the Montana cabin.
I study the live feed, analyzing the board. Breaking a trained operative requires an entirely different set of tools than dismantling a sheltered heiress. Liv craved approval. She needed structure. I gave her both, wrapping them in discipline and pleasure until she could no longer distinguish between the two.
