Chapter Two

~~Two years ago~~

Kimberly walked in holding a bunch of documents.

"Sir, I have all the papers ready. All you need to do is sign them so demolition can begin".

If there was one thing about Kimberly, it was that she was efficient and almost never wrong which was why he had hired her immediately after she graduated.

He would admit, she was a sight for sore eyes but he would never break one of his rules and that was Never mix business with pleasure.

He nodded at her. A silent indication that she could leave.

"Kimberly", he called out.

She paused but didn't turn.

"I will be going to look at the place myself".

Ryke couldn't recall why he bought the land particularly. Oh actually he could, it was because of the restaurant standing built on it.

The place was colorful, everyone and everything around it radiated happiness. It looked like it needed someone to help down the spirits.

Some might call him sad, he didn't actually care. He was a realist and one thing he knew, "The word is a sad and dark place full of hateful people. Happiness is not real, don't let anyone deceive you". 

So technically he was doing them a favor by destroying the restaurant, maybe that would help them snap back into reality.

He got the restaurant and was met with a protest.

Typical

"Sir, do you want me to take you back?"Damon asked his driver.

"No. I want to see what this-".

He was cut short by the sound of a loud beat.

A short curvy latina girl started singing and dancing. Soon everyone else joined.

He didn't register her in time, he only saw a flash of white hair.

The white haired girl joined them in singing and destroying the machines he had asked to be put in place.

Finally their irritating song ended, then came the fireworks.

He looked up at the sky.

"STERLINGS, SORRY STEALINGS" was spelt with the fireworks.

His gaze returned to the ground level and in that moment their eyes clashed.

She gave him a dirty look, turned and walked away.

"Damon, take me home".

"Yes Sir"

He got into the car quickly, punching some keys on his phone. Kimberly picked up at the first ring.

Like he said efficient, "Cancel the whole project"

Without any form of argument, "Okay Sir"

The next day, he contacted a Private Investigator. Under an hour, he found what he was looking for.

Crystal Steele of the Steele Co-operations.

The planning began.

~~Now~~

Logan Steele as he came to discover was a man of integrity. He found no single trace of dirt on him. Only twenty eight years old, was already dominating the machinery production industry.

He needed another way in. Tasha has been perfect. Two years was all it took to get Logan to completely trust her enough to sign documents without reading them through.

One single mistake and he had found his way in.

Humans want things that are forbidden. That was the exact reason Eve took a bite of the forbidden truth ending up passing that trait down generations and beyond.

His name and company had made headlines over the years.

"Ryke Sterling, Self made billionaire: Most eligible bachelor of the year"

"Thirty years old billionaire builds another mansion"

"Sterlings, any worthy competition?".

He had lost count of the number of women that dropped their pants with just a single look from him.

Sex was an escape, the only one he could find. So it was a constant for him and the women would never mean anything more than a good fuck.

"Crystal Steele", he tasted her name on his tongue.

Hair as white as snow, silver gray eyes that pierced through him when they met him, a body that looked like it was made for sin.

She was beautiful. He couldn't quite place his finger on it. She just hit differently.

She had only been sixteen back then. Maybe he would have called it fate that everything played out two years later when she was legal if he believed in that kind of bullshit.

He got even more motivated when he found out she had been responsible for the whole thing.

The choreography, the song, the fireworks. The protest in general.

"Whenever you don't get what you want, Stomp on the people that got in your way".

The rain had turned into a drizzle. The storm had come and passed. If only he could say the same for the Steeles.

One year, that was how long he had requested 

 own her which was still an awfully long time in his books. He knew he wouldn't keep her around that long but extending the time frame just made it more interesting. Maybe the whispers were right, If only he cared.

He finished the remnants of his glass.

Life just got more interesting.

*********** 

"So Tasha was working for him all this time to get you to sign the contract. But I don't get it. Why?. The two companies aren't even related. You are not his competition and why am I being dragged into it?", Crystal finished exasperating.

"I don't know Snowflake. I don't know"

"What are we going to do?. I could go and talk to him"

"No", Logan yelled, causing her to flinch, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I don't want you going near him”.

Do you understand Snowflake?"

She kept quiet.

"Crystal, I said , do you understand?". He used her real name which meant he was extremely serious.

Reluctantly she nodded.

Sleep had refused to come a few hours ago, now she craved it as she laid in bed staring at her ceiling. She wanted nothing more than to escape her reality.

**********

"He wants Logan to do what?"Isabella screamed.

"Keep your voice down, there's an NDA if we Lo decides to sign the contract. I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it".

"I'm sorry", Bels whispered, “But is he crazy? This is the twenty-first century. He can't go about requesting to own human beings as properties and why is he requesting for only a year?".

"I don't know Bels"

"Are you considering asking Logan to sign the contract?"

Crystal went silent.

"What is Lo going to do?. Can he find a way around it?".

She remembered the hopelessness in his eyes. He couldn't fix it. Logan had always been there to catch her when she fell. It was time she returned the favor.

"Hey where are you going?", Bels asked as she stood up abruptly.

"To Sterlings. I'm going to try to fix it", Crystal answered as she was already halfway out the door.

"Hold on I'm coming with you".