Se connecterOutside in the back of my car, I pull out my phone. A text from Eleanor catches my eye instantly:> Catherine sold out the entire line of perfumes!My lips curve up involuntarily. I can practically hear her breathless, bright reaction through the screen.> Me: Congratulations, love. I'll be with you soon.She isn't online anymore. I am about to tap her contact to call her when Annetta's name flashes across my screen. I answer, my tone icy."You have no reason to reach out to me, Annetta.""Carlton doesn't have your woman's contact info and refuses to hack her phone for me," Annetta replies calmly over the line. Meeting her at the club holds no candle to the venom she is. But we both had a common goal, and that's what prompted the alliance. Well, she had him drugged already, with the sex tapes, she would've trolled the wedding anyways. My help only provided her security. "He has no reason to do that?""I need her.""She has no need for you.""She does." I say nothing. One more second
"You cannot control everything,""I'm not trying to," I reply her, my voice flat. She has been my shrink for over two decades. We have practically watched each other evolve from young adults to middle-aged professionals, but right now, she frustrates me almost as much as Eleanor's constant refusal to accept my help."Your heart rate is well past normal," she observes, nodding down at the pulse oximeter wrapped around my wrist. Clipping this device onto me became standard procedure after my violent outrage against my father nearly twenty years ago. I listen to the small machine beep steadily, loud and intrusive in the quiet room, before I snap it off and set it on the side table."Mr. Banks," she prompts."I just want her to..." I stop myself. She tilts her head, waiting for me to continue, but I shut my jaw tight. If I finish that sentence, she will tell me I sound insane. But the ugly, terrifying truth is that I need Eleanor to want me, not just as an option, but as her absolute prio
BANKS POV"I sold out!" The joyous, breathless voice of my woman filters through the door the very moment my fingers reach for the handle. I pause, a slow, genuine smile spreading across my lips as I stall in the hallway, listening to her excitement."There are even more review videos being posted right now," Kayden's voice calls out. Eleanor didn't gift me any perfume and it has been two weeks. Each time we meet up, I completely forget to ask when I'm in her presence. "Where do I even start?" Eleanor laughs, her voice high and frantic. "Did they really buy all of them? What am I supposed to do now?" I lean my back against the cool wall next to the door, listening to her celebrate."Is there something up with the door, Mr. Banks?" Rooke asks, stepping up the hallway."Shh," I silence him with a quick wave of my hand, gesturing for him and Vandiver to retreat down the hall while I continue to listen to all three of them celebrating inside."This one is sold. This one, too," Zara cal
"It's over." Carlton says, though low and soft. "Yet we still want each other," she replies him, taking another step. Just one more step and she will close the gap between them entirely. "I have no one to call mine." Carlton's shoulders drop at her words. Annetta's face softens, the fierce, unyielding woman vanishing in an instant, replaced by someone who looks fragile, almost broken."Please... please be someone I can call mine," she whispers. My heart breaks for her right then. Carlton stands completely still, Annetta waits, and I find myself holding my breath alongside everyone else in the room."What's he waiting for?" Anthony questions under his breath, leaning forward in his chair."C'mon, marry her!" Elizabeth thunders from our table."Say yes, Carlton!" I add, unable to hold back. A ripple of nervous laughter breaks out among the nearby guests."Stop playing hard to get, man," Anthony chimes in.Finally, Carlton moves. A collective, rhythmic exhale echoes through the seating
Banks continues stroking my thigh."You're not saying anything," I note, he looks into my eyes. "Are you hurt?""Definitely not," I murmur."Then there's nothing to say.""Your friend is going through a full-blown life crisis, Banks," I whisper, nodding toward the altar. He glances at the bewildered priest who is practically pleading with Carlton, then shifts his gaze to Annetta, who stands there holding a wedding ring meant for an entirely different bride."He'll be fine""I don't think so," I counter, watching the tension radiate across the room."At least he won't be a slave or die," Banks remarks deeply, his fingers digging a little deeper into the curve of my thigh, squeezing with delicious possessiveness. "What does that...." "Since I'm pregnant for him, I'll marry him," Annetta announces, her voice carrying across the silent hall.Carlton moves so fast the air seems to shift with him. In a blur, he wraps a hand tightly around her neck, lifting her until her feet leave the fl
"Save my soul." "How could he?" "He's a cheater." "Such recording In a house of God! Lord have mercy, this boy is cursed to the bone." "My, my." More gasps circle the room as the image becomes crystal clear. It was unedited security footage. Carlton and Anetta are actively fucking. "This is low even for Carlton" Elizabeth sneers beside me, casually gulping her champagne. "Fucking hell, Carlton" Anthony scream, though it sounded more like a cheer. I, on the other hand, fist my dress, squirming on my seat to control the uncontrollable wave of sensation Banks is inciting in me. "Please..." I grab his wrist, but he just push deeper, leaning closer to me. "Stop me one more time," he whisper, his threat low and vibrating, "and you'll be screaming for everyone in this hall to hear." My hand falls from his wrist. I didn't believe for a second that he will actually do that in public, at a billionaire's wedding venue no less, but I can't put anything past him at this point. "You f
ELEANOR POV Fucking a man is a humiliation ritual unless he’s worth something: beauty, money, influence... or a good dick. Banks has it all and he's quite good with them. All. My request for "time to think" isn't because I’m looking for a relationship. Men like him don't do "girlfriends." But being
I just came apart without penetration. Really felt my whole body shake. “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘹𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶?” My ex-boyfriend says multiple times. I lift and look up at Banks, tears threatening to drop. “Thank…” I
ELEANOR I’m not a nun. I’m not a virgin. So when he looked at me, kissed me and said driver will pick me up- I knew I'm here to get fucked. And here I am, standing in a room that's bathed in deep red lighting. Whips, chains, and cuffs line the walls with toys I've never seen but can't wait to
BANKS POV The moment I step inside this perfume store, a sweet voice wrapped in fury greets me. She is facing off against a typical, entitled customer. "Customers are always right!" the man, maybe fifty years old and puffing with self-importance, barks. "That's a getaway mantra for retards with no o







