Chapter 5: That Man Is Obsessed With You

Harlow's POV

Kael set the coffee down in front of me. Black, no sugar. The way he drank it. Not the way I liked it.

“You did not ask what I wanted,” I said.

“You wanted me to buy you coffee. I bought you coffee.” He leaned against the back of the empty chair beside me. “You did not specify what kind.”

Sage made a noise in her throat. Iris stared at her phone like she was trying to disappear. Soleil just watched with those quiet knowing eyes.

I picked up the cup and took a sip. It was bitter. Terrible. I forced myself not to make a face.

“Thank you,” I said through gritted teeth.

His lips curved. He knew exactly what he had done.

“I should get back to work.” He straightened up. “Enjoy your coffee, Harlow.”

He walked out. The bell above the door jingled. I watched him cross the street and get into his car. Silas was in the passenger seat, shaking his head.

“What was that?” Iris asked.

“That was him being an ass.”

“No, that was him being possessive.” Sage grabbed my arm. “Harlow, he bought you coffee the way he drinks it. He is marking you. Even in something as small as that.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Soleil spoke softly. “He watched you through the window for ten minutes before you noticed. He came inside the second you texted him. That man is obsessed with you.”

My stomach flipped. “He is just playing games.”

“Men like Kael Hawthorne do not play games,” Sage said. “They play for keeps.”

I did not know what to say to that. So I drank my bitter coffee and tried not to think about the way he had looked at me. Like I was the only thing in the room that mattered.

My phone buzzed again.

Kael: The coffee was a test. You failed.

Me: What test?

Kael: You drank it anyway. You are supposed to tell me what you want, brat. Not just accept whatever I give you.

I stared at the screen.

Me: What if I do not know what I want?

Kael: Then we will figure it out together. Tonight. Ember. Eight o clock. Do not be late.

I shoved the phone into my pocket.

“What did he say?” Sage asked.

“He wants me to meet him tonight.”

“Are you going?”

I thought about the contract. About the way he held me after. About how I had never felt more seen than when I was on my knees for him.

“Yes.”

Sage sighed. Iris shook her head. Soleil just smiled.

“Be careful,” Soleil said.

I nodded. But I did not know how to be careful with someone who made me feel reckless.

---

Kael

Silas drove. I stared out the window at the Pittsburgh streets, Harlow’s face still burned into my mind.

“You are in trouble,” Silas said.

“I know.”

“She is Julian’s daughter.”

“I know.”

“If he finds out, he will destroy you. The business. Everything.”

I turned to look at my brother. “Then he does not find out.”

Silas laughed without humor. “You really think you can keep this a secret? You just walked into a coffee shop full of people who know Julian. You bought her coffee. You touched her.”

“I did not touch her.”

“You leaned close enough to breathe on her neck. That counts.”

I ran a hand through my hair. He was right. I was being reckless. Careless. But every time I was near Harlow, I lost the ability to think straight.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Stay away from her?”

“Yes.”

“I cannot.”

Silas pulled into the office parking garage and killed the engine. He turned to face me.

“Then you need to be smarter. No more public appearances. No more coffee shops. No more leaning close enough for people to notice.”

“She texts me in the middle of meetings. She sends me pictures I cannot look at without getting hard. She is trying to get me caught.”

“Or she is trying to see how far you will go for her.”

I thought about that. About Harlow’s bratty smile. The way she pushed every button I had.

“She wants me to claim her,” I said slowly. “In front of everyone.”

“Then give her that. But not where Julian can see.”

I nodded. Silas was the smart one. The one who thought before he acted. I acted first and thought later. It had served me well in business. In this, it could ruin everything.

We walked into the office together. Julian was in the conference room with Evelyn, going over something on her laptop. She looked up when I passed. Her gaze lingered on my chest.

I ignored her.

In my office, I closed the door and pulled out the contract. The one I had drafted weeks ago, before I even knew Harlow was Raquelle. Before I knew she was the woman I had been talking to online.

Full time submissive.

She had signed it without reading the fine print. She did not know what she had agreed to. Living with me. Letting me provide for her. Being mine whenever I wanted.

I should tell her. Explain what it meant.

Instead, I opened my phone and looked at the picture she had sent me yesterday. The one where she was wearing nothing but a smile and a pair of lace panties.

My cock throbbed.

I typed out a message.

Kael: Tonight, you will wear what I tell you to wear. I am sending a car for you at seven thirty. Do not argue.

Harlow: What if I want to argue?

Kael: Then I will give you a reason not to.

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Harlow: Fine.

I smiled. She was learning. Slowly. Brattily. But learning.

A knock on my door. Julian walked in.

“Evelyn and I are going to lunch,” he said. “Want to come?”

“No.”

He studied me. “You have been strange lately. Distracted.”

“Just busy.”

“With what?”

“The Q4 reports. The club. My brother’s relationship drama.” I gestured to the papers on my desk. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

Julian nodded slowly. “If you say so.”

He left. I sat back in my chair and stared at the ceiling.

Twenty years of friendship. Ten years of business partnership. All of it hanging by a thread because I could not keep my hands off his daughter.

And I did not care.

I would burn it all down for her. Every last brick.

Tonight, I would show her what it meant to be mine. No more games. No more testing each other. She would wear my marks. She would beg for my touch.

And she would love every second of it.