Masuk(Calder)She opens the suite door immediately.Barefoot. Dark slip dress. Blonde hair down. Ice blue eyes shining. No glasses on.For a second she just looks at me like she still doesn’t quite believe I came.Then she steps aside.I walk in. She closes the door behind me.“If you came here to soften you leaving me,” she says, “don’t.”I take off my jacket and drape it over the chair.“I’m not here to leave you again.”I don’t wait to be invited to kiss her. Her back hits the wall.My hand is already at her throat, not squeezing, just holding her there while I take the kiss the way I need.Then her fingers knot in my shirt and she kisses me back hard enough to pull something ugly and hungry out of me.I grip her wrists and pin them to the wall above her head. Pulling her up until she is on the tip of her toes.Her eyes flash.Not fear.Surprise. Heat. A little shock.Still no retreat.I hold her there and keep my mouth on hers. Kissing and exploring with my tongue. Tasting her as deep
(Calder)I call my lawyer.I don’t know what the hell my mother is talking about but I’m about to find out.I also know that I did not read everything. I trusted it was just the basic prenup stuff.I wasn’t myself that day and I slipped up.The lawyer answers. “Mr Wynn? How can I help?”“The prenuptial I signed on my wedding day. If I exit this marriage early, what happens?”“If the marriage ends before the five-year mark, Common Ground absorbs into Wynn Holdings.”“What!?”“It goes under family company control,” he says calmly.“Like fuck it does.”“There’s more.”I walk to the windows, my hand tight around the phone.“Under the current governance provisions, interim oversight would fall to your brother. The board would then decide the final outcome.”The board has fought me on Common Ground from the start.They called it impossible. Too expensive. Too idealistic.They would rather build another glass monument for people who already have five homes than prove ordinary families deserv
(Calder)At the end of the day, I read Mia’s text again.We should finalize the divorce date. August 1st. Clean break. As agreed.It should feel like progress.It doesn’t.This is what I wanted.So why does it read like a warning?She left my office hours ago.She still hasn’t answered me.I don’t know why this all has to be so complicated now.I’ve spent the last hour trying to focus on anything else and getting nowhere.I can admit I want her. Of course I do, she’s a stunning woman in every way. But wanting her is not the same as loving her.She is my ex’s younger sister. I’ve known her since she was eighteen. It just can never work like that for us.I can’t believe Mia thinks I’m still hung up on Yara as well.That is ridiculous. I wish Mia was every other woman and I could just have sex and walk away.But she isn’t and I can’t be like that with her.This day was supposed to make her feel special.Emma coming early really messed that up. I want to make it up to Mia. But how can I w
(Mia)I almost stayed naked in his office and waited longer for him to come back.Then her name flashed up on his screen. Emma Pearce.In that moment, I realized what a fool I was being. Clearly, he was with her.My car Bluetooth lights up with a call.I expect it’s Calder again. It isn’t. It’s his mother.I glance upward and silently thank the universe for its impeccable timing.I take a deep, fortifying breath and tell the system to connect.“Hello, Harriet.”“Good afternoon, Mia. I’d like you to join me for tea. Five o’clock.”“Today?”“Yes. Is that a problem? I’m booked up for the next two weeks and I wanted to catch up.”“Sure. I’ll be there.” It’s just easier to get this over and done with and go.“Wonderful.”The call ends.I was about to call Lena.I was about to say, Meet me somewhere with tequila. I’m done for today.Maybe I shouldn’t have left. That’s what I told myself in the elevator.But it had been forty-five minutes not fifteen.Then I thought maybe I was wrong thinkin
(Calder)I drop into my chair and stare at the city through the glass wall.Projections. Acquisition targets. A board meeting in ten minutes.My head keeps circling back to Mia.The way she went still when I said panties were optional. The color in her cheeks.I probably shouldn’t have said it, but I love seeing her blush.Marcus steps in without knocking. That alone means something is wrong.“Patterson’s office called,” he says. “He’s refusing to reschedule. He’s gone back to Denver.”“Get the jet ready. I’ll go to him.”“I’m not sure that will work. He thinks you deprioritized him.”“I did,” I say. “For my wife.”“No shit, Sherlock. Can you fix it?” Marcus asks.“I’ll fix it. I always do.”He pauses at the door. “One more thing. Emma Pearce requested time on your schedule tomorrow afternoon.”“Tomorrow afternoon is mine till three,” I say. “Then I have a tele-conference I can’t move.”“I understand.”“But… I need to set her straight for the last time.” I tap my screen. “Give her thi
(Mia)Wynn Property Development headquarters goes quiet when we walk in together.Not polite quiet.Watching quiet.Calder doesn’t let go of my hand.Not in the lobby.Not when his assistant says, “Mrs. Wynn,” like she’s recalibrating the universe.Not when every pair of eyes in here tracks us.This is his world. And today, he’s putting me in the center of it.Calder doesn’t release my hand.He stands slightly closer than necessary, his thumb resting against the inside of my wrist.Claiming.The elevator doors open directly into his private floor. No reception desk. No waiting area.That extra space is a place to grab a bite and catch a few hours of sleep.I glance into the living area as we pass it. I wonder how many of his side chicks he’s brought here?I push that thought out of my head as we enter the formal dining room at the very end of the hall.Inside the dining suite, he pulls out my chair himself.Not for show.There’s no one important in here to impress. No media. It’s just







