THURSDAY

The stylist arrived at two on Thursday afternoon with a rack of dresses and zero patience.

She was small, sharp-eyed, and moved like she had better places to be. She introduced herself as Cora and immediately started holding dresses against me without asking, tilting her head, making little sounds I couldn’t read.

“Arms out,” she said.

I put my arms out.

“You’re smaller through the shoulders than I expected. He said you were...” She stopped herself. “Soft.”

Soft.

The word landed like a slap. Nico had described me to the woman dressing me, and “soft” was what he chose. I filed it away next to “some of them cry” and kept my face neutral.

Cora pulled out a deep burgundy gown... floor-length, fitted through the body, thin straps. She held it against me and nodded. “This one.”

It fit perfectly. That bothered me more than it should. It meant he had given her accurate measurements without my input. I didn’t know when or how he had measured me, but the fact that he had made my skin crawl.

She added a simple necklace with a dark red stone that sat heavy at my throat like a brand.

“You’ll do,” Cora said, already packing up. It was the warmest she got.

The gala was in a hotel ballroom forty floors up... all crystal chandeliers and the specific energy of powerful people performing for each other. Nico’s hand found my lower back the second we stepped out of the car, warm and possessive, steering me through the entrance like I belonged to him.

The room was loud and glittering. I smiled when Nico introduced me, shook the right hands, said the right things. I had been performing my whole life. This was just the expensive version.

An hour in, Nico got pulled into a conversation with two men in dark suits. I drifted to the edge of the group, champagne in hand.

“You must be Aurora.”

I turned.

She was stunning. Blonde hair straight and perfect, champagne dress that fit like it was made for her. Her smile was warm, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I’m Lila,” she said, air-kissing near my cheek. “Lila Voss. My family hosts this every year. I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

“Really?” I smiled back. “Good things, I hope.”

She laughed lightly. “Of course. Nico’s been… well, we’ve known each other a long time. I just wanted to make sure his wife felt welcome.” She tilted her head, eyes moving over me. “How are you finding everything? It must be a lot.”

“It’s been… an adjustment,” I said carefully.

She nodded sympathetically. “Nico can be intense when you don’t know him yet. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m around. It’s hard being new to all this.”

Her hand squeezed mine briefly. She seemed genuinely kind.

But something about the way her eyes flicked toward Nico across the room made me file her away as dangerous.

We chatted a little longer before she drifted away with the same effortless grace.

I turned back...and found Nico watching me from across the room. His expression was unreadable. Not warm. Not cold. Something careful.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of performance. More handshakes. More names. More smiles that made my cheeks hurt.

By the time we got home, my feet were screaming and my face felt tight from holding the smile.

I was hoping for a quiet night.

I didn’t get one.

The moment we stepped into the dining room for a late supper, the atmosphere shifted.

Nico’s hand slid under the table almost immediately, resting high on my thigh. I tensed.

“Not here,” I whispered.

“Yes here,” he said calmly, fingers pushing the hem of my burgundy dress higher. “You’re here to fulfill our pleasure, Aurora. Whenever we want. However we want.”

Matteo was already seated across from us, gray eyes dark and watchful. The bond hummed the second Nico’s fingers brushed my panties.

I bit my lip hard as Nico pushed them aside and dragged two fingers through my folds.

I was already wet. Shame burned across my face. The staff was still moving around the table, clearing plates quietly, pretending not to notice.

Nico pushed two fingers inside me without warning. I gasped, gripping the edge of the table. The wet sound was faint but unmistakable. Pleasure shot through me fast and cruel.

Matteo’s jaw tightened. He felt it too. The echo made every stroke feel like four hands on me... stroking my clit, pinching my nipples, everywhere at once.

I came with a choked sob, thighs trembling, tears slipping down my cheeks while the maid continued clearing plates like nothing was happening.

My pussy clenched hard around Nico’s fingers as the orgasm tore through me. I hated how good it felt. Hated how my body betrayed me again while I was sitting at a formal dinner table like a trained pet.

Nico withdrew his fingers slowly and wiped them on his napkin like it was nothing. “Good girl.”

Matteo said nothing, but the echo of his hunger still throbbed between my legs.

I wiped my face quickly, staring at my plate, shame and unwanted heat mixing until I couldn’t breathe.

After dinner Nico disappeared into the office.

I was left alone in the hallway, the ache between my legs still pulsing, the taste of shame thick in my mouth.

I went back to my room, sat at the desk, and opened the laptop.

I didn’t dig deep tonight. I just looked...building a map in my head of the empire’s visible architecture.

But as I stared at the screen, the ache between my legs and the shame still burning on my cheeks reminded me exactly why I was here.

To fulfill their pleasure.

And while I did that, I would learn every weakness in their empire.

Because one day soon, I was going to make them regret the day they bought me.

Nico’s warning about Lila still echoed in my head as I closed the laptop.

“Stay away from Lila Voss.”

I smiled at the dark screen, small and cold.

Too late for that.