The Control

"Miss Vale," he said, voice smooth and commanding. "Thank you for coming."

The words landed with quiet finality, heavier than they had any right to be. Like the door had clicked shut behind her and locked into place.

Lili smiled, a little uncertain but polite. “Thank you for the opportunity.”

The man behind the desk seemed friendlier, or at least, less openly unreadable, than the one still watching her from the window. It felt safer to focus on him.

Every movement was deliberate, every word chosen with care. His eyes held a glint that was part mischief, part calculation. The kind of look that could make a woman feel like the only person in the room, then unravel her without touching a thing. And God help her if he ever smiled for real. She had the terrifying sense it would undo her completely. Beneath it all, something darker curled, like he was deciding whether to seduce or consume.

He gestured toward the folder in her hand. “Did you bring the contract?”

“Oh—yes,” she said, blinking as if waking up. She realized she must seem a little dazed, but between the tension in the air and the two pairs of unwavering eyes fixed on her, it was hard to think clearly.

She took a quick step forward and offered the folder to the man behind the desk. He reached out, his fingers brushing hers as he took it. Warm, confident, unhurried. She stepped back into place, trying not to fidget.

There was no chair on her side. No seat offered. She was meant to stand. To be seen. The whole office felt curated for dominance. Every line, every polished surface, every shadowed corner crafted to make visitors feel smaller the moment they stepped inside.

“Did you read it?”

He opened the folder, flipped to a specific page with practiced ease and she immediately recognized the NDA. Her signature sat neatly at the bottom, exactly where she’d left it, and his eyes scanned it just long enough to verify it was there.

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.” Satisfied with her signature, he glanced up, “It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Cade Castellan. And this is my brother, Beckett.”

The words gave her an excuse to finally look toward the man by the window, but the glare that met her made her breath catch. He hadn’t moved, save for the slow rise of his glass to his mouth. The ice inside clinked softly against the glass as he took a measured sip, then lowered it again, his fingers wrapped loosely around the tumbler. The sound was delicate, almost hypnotic in the stillness. He watched her like he was deciding where to start.

The way he looked at her… like he could see straight through the bones of her. Through the cotton of her blouse, through her skin, to the fluttering tension beneath.

There was nothing soft in his expression. Just calculation. Heat. And something darker.

She flicked her attention back to Cade, his gaze slightly less daunting. His features were no less stunning, but there was something in his voice, his posture, that soothed instead of scorched. He was the one who would coax. Beckett looked like he’d take.

Her face felt warm. Her skin buzzing. What the hell was wrong with her?

She wasn’t sure which of these men needed a surrogate.

If this was for Beckett, maybe he was angry about the situation. Maybe he couldn’t have a baby with his wife, or his partner, or whoever, and this was the fallback plan. Of course he’d resent this. Resent her. The thought sent a shiver of unease down her spine.

Focus.

Cade was still watching her, his stare steady, assessing. She was almost certain he saw the blush rising to her cheeks.

“So,” he said evenly, “you’re interested in becoming a surrogate. And donating your eggs.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re comfortable doing both of those things simultaneously through insemination?”

God, this man was too otherworldly handsome to be saying words like insemination to her. It felt intimate in a way it shouldn’t. Wrong, and yet… delicious.

Surely it was unethical or something, to be attracted to the man whose child you might carry. But she needed the money. Desperately. There wasn’t room for hesitation, or for indulging in strange, inappropriate urges. She needed to say yes to whatever he said. No matter what he asked or how he made her feel.

Maybe it was for him and his gorgeous wife, probably a model who didn’t want to go through egg retrieval for some reason. That made sense. This was clinical. Practical.

“Yes,” she said again.

“Excellent.” The same word again. Repeated, deliberate. Like a mark of approval that made her feel both exposed and oddly praised.

Her knees weakened at the word. That voice. That quiet, deliberate praise. Her thighs pressed together, a nervous reaction that only made her feel warmer.

Cade’s gaze darkened, just slightly, as he flipped the folder closed.

“Do you have any questions, Miss Vale?”

Lili nodded quickly, the words bubbling up before she could filter them.

“Um, yes. A few. I just… I wanted to ask, this surrogacy—it's for one of you, right? I assume it’s for yourself?” Her voice faltered as she glanced again between the two men.

“And I saw something in the contract about ‘satisfactory behavior’? I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.”

She swallowed. “And I guess I had some questions about the process itself… Would it be done through a clinic or… I mean, if it’s easier, I don’t mind using a syringe myself.”

Cade didn’t react. Not with a twitch of his brow, not with a shift in tone.

“Miss Vale... If you’re going to carry a child for someone,” he said, calm as ever, “there should be complete trust between both parties. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Lili nodded. “Yes, absolutely.”

“To build that trust,” he continued, “we’ll begin by ensuring you can follow instructions to the letter. Simple, precise instructions. If you can do that, we proceed with insemination. Does that seem fair?”

“Yes,” she said again, trying to ignore the way her breath quickened.

“And if, at any point during the process, you can’t follow instructions—” his eyes locked on hers, unflinching “—the contract will be terminated. Also fair?”

He leaned back slightly.

She hesitated only a moment. “Yes. That seems fair.”

"This company will need an heir to inherit it. We need to produce one,” he said, almost clinically. “And rather than both of us starting families and setting up future cousins to fight over it, we’ve decided to keep it simple. One woman. One pregnancy. Both of us will inseminate you. Neither of us will know who the biological father is—but both will claim the child as our own.”

Lili’s brows lifted slightly, but she nodded, trying to understand. It was odd, but she could almost admire the logic. In a place like this, legacy was everything.

Cade’s eyes didn’t leave hers. “And to answer your final question…”

His voice remained even, almost casual, as though this were just another bullet point on a list. “There will be no need for clinics. No syringes. No sterile environments or medical intermediaries.”

He paused for the briefest second, letting the words settle.

“We'd prefer to keep this simple.”

Then, without the slightest change in expression, he added:

“We would fuck you.”