FAZER LOGINThe air inside the penthouse boardroom of the Valerius tower tasted of aged scotch, expensive cigar smoke, and poorly concealed greed. The heavy mahogany table stretched twenty feet across the room, flanked by the men who controlled the city’s underworld.I walked through the double doors twenty minutes late, offering no apologies as I took my seat at the head of the table.To my immediate left sat a man whose name was never recorded in any of our official ledgers, an unnamed billionaire who laundered our cash through his offshore real estate developments. He was currently leaning in, deep in a hushed conversation with my uncle, Marcus.Marcus sat to my right, looking entirely too comfortable. He wore a bespoke charcoal suit, his silver hair swept back with immaculate precision. He looked like a legitimate businessman, a beloved philanthropist, and a devoted family man. In reality, he was a viper who had spent the last three years plotting to steal my great-grandfather’s empire out fr
Hector stared at me for a long time. The silence in the kitchen stretched tight. He looked at the heavy handgun on his hip and then back up to my face. A harsh bark of laughter scraped from his throat. It was a dry, grating sound completely devoid of humor."You are out of your mind," Hector said. He turned his back to me and grabbed his coffee mug from the counter. He walked toward the sink to dump the remaining liquid down the drain. "Go sit on the couch, Camilla. Turn on the television. I have real security protocols to manage."I followed him across the kitchen. I stopped right behind his broad shoulder."I am completely serious, Hector," I said, keeping my voice level. "You just spent ten minutes telling me Adrian treats women like disposable flares. You told me Cortez is probably sending a hit squad to this building because of what happened last night. I refuse to sit on a couch and wait for someone to kick the door in."Hector turned around slowly. His massive frame dominated t
The heavy oak doors of the study clicked shut behind Adrian. The metallic slide of the deadbolt rang with terrifying finality through the quiet room. He was gone. For the next six hours, the most dangerous man in the city was entirely unreachable, leaving me locked inside his fortress with a man who had every reason to want to snap my neck.Hector offered no reaction. He stood perfectly still near the entrance, his massive frame blocking the only exit, his hand resting near the tactical rig strapped to his chest with casual intent. His dark eyes slowly dragged over my appearance. He took in the messy bedhead, the oversized white dress shirt slipping off my shoulder, and my bare feet gripping the polished hardwood.The silence stretched, thick and suffocating. The air conditioner hummed above us. The digital clock on Adrian’s desk flipped to 9:00 AM with a soft click."I am going to go put on some actual clothes," I said, my voice surprisingly steady despite the way my heart hammered a
The morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long, pale shadows across the tangled dark sheets. I woke up with a deep, lingering ache in my muscles and a heavy, sinking realization expanding in my chest.I rolled over, reaching my hand across the massive mattress.It was empty. The sheets on his side were already cold.I pulled the heavy duvet up to my chin, staring at the empty expanse of the bed. The scent of him—cedar, expensive cologne, and the faint, metallic trace of gunpowder—was still pressed into the pillows. A shiver ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. I squeezed my eyes shut, memories of the previous night flashing vividly behind my eyelids.The anger. The violent clash against the glass window. The way his hands had felt when they finally stopped pushing me away and pulled me under instead. I had crossed a line that could never, ever be uncrossed. I was no longer just playing a part to pay off a debt. I had
He didn't move. Not for a long, terrible moment. His cock stayed pressed against my entrance, a blunt promise he had no intention of keeping yet. The air in the room felt thick, and I could smell him — cedar and something sharper underneath, like gunpowder."Make you understand," he repeated, a low rumble that vibrated against my back. "That's what you said, isn't it?"His hand slid from my hip, fingers trailing up my spine with a feather-light touch that made me shiver. He gathered a fistful of my hair at the nape of my neck and pulled, just enough to arch my back and lift my face from the pillow."I'm going to show you. Not tell you."He pushed in then.Not hard. Not fast. Just an inexorable, stretching pressure as he sank into me inch by agonizing inch. My body fought him at first, a brief, panicked clench before something inside me gave way. A ragged breath tore from my throat. He was so goddamn thick. The feeling was too much, a fullness that bordered on pain, and my fingers twis
The glass was freezing against my bare shoulder blades, but his mouth was a brand of fire devouring my protests. Adrian kissed like he fought, without mercy, without hesitation, and with the absolute certainty of victory.My fists pounded against his chest.He didn't even flinch.I twisted my face away, gasping for air, my lips swollen and stinging. "I'm not one of them," I spat, my voice raw with fury. "You don't get to—"His hand closed around my throat.Not squeezing. Just holding. A collar of warm fingers and calloused palm resting against my pulse, which was hammering so hard I could feel it in my teeth."You're right," he said, his thumb stroking the frantic beat beneath my jaw. "You're not one of them. They never pointed a gun at me."The dark amusement in his voice sent a tremor straight through my core."They never looked at me like they wanted to carve my heart out with their bare hands." He tilted my chin up, forcing my tear-streaked face into the pale moonlight streaming t
Chapter 5The foyer was too big. That was the first thing I noticed. Marble floors that reflected the chandelier above, a staircase that curved up to a second floor I couldn't see the end of, walls hung with paintings that probably cost more than my life. Everything was polished. Everything was qui
Chapter 4"Why would I be your Doll?"The words came out before I could stop them. I was still holding the contract, still standing in my doorway with Adrian Volkov and his lawyer and his two security men filling up the narrow landing, and my sister was behind me, and I could feel her confusion tur
I woke up with the card still on the floor where I’d dropped it.The morning light was thin and gray, slipping through the blinds I’d never gotten around to replacing. For a long moment I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting the weight of last night settle back onto my chest. The dent in
He reached into his jacket.My body went rigid. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to get back in my car, to floor it and never look back. But my legs wouldn't move. I was frozen there on the empty street, watching his hand disappear into the dark fabric, waiting for something I couldn't name.H







