تسجيل الدخولMAXWELL'S POV:I lean against the conference table and laugh to myself.She said it did not mean anything. She looked me in the eye and lied to my face and walked out like she was not shaking, like her hands were not trembling, like she had not just come undone around me in a way that no one has ever come undone around me before.Athena Ashcroft is the most infuriating woman I have ever met. She is cold and crafty and she argues with every word that comes out of my mouth. She treats me like I am a child who does not know what he is doing. She acts like she is better than me, smarter than me and more qualified than me.And she is. She is smarter. She is more qualified. And that is part of why I cannot stop thinking about her.I have been circling her for months, although it was not intentionally, not at first. But somewhere along the way, the arguments stopped being about business and started being about something else. The bickering stopped being annoying and started being foreplay. T
ATHENA'S POV: He leans down and sucks hard on my nipple, biting just enough to make me cry out. One hand covers my mouth as he fucks me mercilessly. “Security guard is just down the hall,” he says, voice low and rough. “So you need to be quiet.” I bite his palm. He laughs darkly and pulls my hair with his other hand, yanking my head back as he rails me even harder. The table shakes. My moans are muffled against his hand but I can’t stop them. He feels incredible, thick, hard, relentless. He pulls out suddenly, flips me onto my stomach, and yanks my hips up. He slams back in from behind, one hand fisting my hair, the other slapping my ass hard. The sting blooms into heat and I push back against him, meeting every brutal thrust. “God, look at this ass,” he groans, slapping it again. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to fuck you like this.” “Then stop talking and do it,” I snap, even as pleasure coils tighter in my belly. He fucks me like he hates me and loves me at the same
ATHENA'S POV:I do not know who moves first. Maybe me, maybe him or maybe we both move at the same time, pulled together by something stronger than logic, something that has been building between us for months, something that I have been pretending I do not feel.One moment we are arguing about Drakon. The next moment I have him pinned against the conference table, my hands fisted in his shirt with my mouth on his.He kisses me back almost immediately, hungrily, like he has been waiting for this just as long as I have. His hands find my hips and pull me closer and I make a sound, something between a moan and a gasp, and he swallows it with his mouth."You are so annoying," I say against his lips, biting the bottom one."You started this," he says, voice already rough."I am finishing it."I push him down onto the table. He goes willingly, his back hitting the polished wood, his eyes wide and dark and full of something that looks like want. I climb on top of him, straddling his hips, a
ATHENA'S POV:I have been circling Maxwell Valancourt for months now, like a cat who is not sure if she wants to fight the other cat or mate with it, and honestly I am exhausted by the whole thing.He is infuriating. That is the first thing you need to know about Maxwell Valancourt. He is tall and handsome and charming and he knows it, and he uses his charm like a weapon, like a shield, like a way of getting what he wants without ever having to actually work for it. He walks into a room and everyone smiles at him. He makes a joke and everyone laughs. He proposes a business strategy and everyone nods along because he is a Valancourt, because his father built this empire, because his sister is married to my brother and no one wants to cause trouble between the families.But I am not everyone. I am Athena Ashcroft, and I do not smile at men just because they are handsome, and I do not laugh at jokes that are not funny, and I do not nod along to business strategies that are stupid.And Ma
KIER'S POV:She picks up a vase from the side table and throws it at me. I dodge and it shatters against the wall behind me, fragments of porcelain scattering across the floor."You cannot do this!" she screams. "I am your sister! You cannot just give me away!"She picks up a book. Then a lamp. Then a crystal figurine that our mother has had for years. She throws them all, one after another, her face contorted with rage and fear and with something that might be heartbreak.I do not move. I do not flinch. I let her throw things and scream and cry until she runs out of ammunition and collapses onto the couch, sobbing."I hate you," she says, her voice muffled by her hands. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."My mother is crying too, silent tears streaming down her face, her hands clasped in her lap."Kier," she says. "How could you? How could you do this to your own sister?"I stand up and walk to the window. I stare out at the dark garden, at the shadows of the trees, at the stars th
KIER'S POV:He turns back to face me. His smile is thin and cold."But I can beat him. I have resources that he does not. Connections that he cannot access. Methods that he would never stoop to. If you want me to destroy Lysander Ashcroft, I can do it. But it will cost you, and it is not just half your company and not just your sister but everything, Kier. Everything you have. Everything you are."I swallow. My throat is dry. "I understand.""Do you? Do you really? Because once you start down this road, there is no turning back. There is no redemption. There is no forgiveness. You will be mine, Kier. Body and soul. And I do not let go of what is mine."I think about Celestine. About the way she looked at me in that sitting room, her eyes cold and empty, her voice gentle but final and I also thought about Lysander, his hand on her stomach, his gray eyes full of triumph. I think about the child they are having, the child that should have been mine, the child that would have been mine if







