CHAPTER II: Sebastian’s Cage

Paperwork, neatly stacked but endlessly generating, littered the floor and scattered across the wide, mahogany expanse of my desk. My office, occupying the entire top floor of the CazoS tower, felt more like a cage of steel and glass than a workspace. I was busy, finalizing documents that secured a hostile takeover—the kind of work that demanded precision and ruthlessness.

Running a business—this empire—was the absolute last thing I wanted to do in my bachelor life, but I was bound by the Schulz name. I had two other siblings who could run this monstrosity. Payden, my younger brother, wanted nothing to do with any responsibility that might interrupt his latest pursuit of temporary fame. When Father insisted on a family dinner one night and told us about his impending retirement, Payden didn’t wait for the vote. That bastard flew across the country to be an actor, abandoning his duty and leaving me and my twin sister, Isla, to deal with the inevitable.

Isla, on the other hand, was already intensely busy with her modeling career. She’d laughed off the proposition, claiming she couldn’t bear another stressful workload that might destroy her “beautiful face” with a dreaded wrinkle. So, she declined. I was about to decline, too—hell, I was halfway out the door—but Dad gave me the only threat that ever works: he would cut off my credit cards. What my dad wants, Dad gets. What he says he will do, he does it. And I refuse to be reliant on the whims of anyone.

I pressed two fingers hard against the bridge of my nose, trying to clear the haze of annoyance and fatigue. I sighed loudly, running my fingers through my hair, just as a soft, rhythmic knock echoed against the custom oak door.

Cora.

She stepped inside my office, wearing her signature smirk, trying to look sexy in a skimpy dress that hugged her body in all the obvious places. The way women dressed like a scarlet distraction just to snag a man’s attention was a mystery to me—a fascinating, predictable mystery. I didn't complain, though; their vanity made the acquisition easy. I enjoyed the fun, the pure physical release of getting into their pants, and the sheer control it afforded me.

“Hey, babe.”

Hearing her voice grated on my nerves, but I kept my face impassive. I wouldn't tell her that, of course, because she was the easiest conquest, throwing herself at me every single time I so much as clicked my fingers.

“Not now, Cora. I’m busy,” I snapped, not looking up from the figures on the spreadsheet.

She ignored my protest, continuing her deliberate walk toward my desk, swaying her hips in a practiced choreography designed to turn me on. She stopped abruptly at the desk’s edge, planting both hands flat on the polished wood. Then she leaned forward, her chest just inches from my face, obscuring the documents I needed to read. The cheap perfume she wore was cloying, a distraction I no longer welcomed.

Seeing the frustration harden my expression only seemed to urge her on. She leaned even closer, dropping her voice to a seductive whisper designed to bypass my business sense. “How about a quick fun time? Just to clear your head, Mr. Schulz.”

Being frustrated, annoyed, and having the scent of her desire shoved in my face triggered a primal reaction. Control. I reached out, my hand rough against the back of her head, and pulled her in, smashing my mouth against hers. She was quick to welcome the violence of the kiss, opening her mouth instantly so I could enter, matching my urgency with an eager desperation. The session was brutal, brief, and utterly devoid of emotion—a pure transaction of need.

---

“Get out!” I demanded, my voice sharp enough to cut glass as I started to button my dress shirt, fixing the crisp white collar around my throat. The air still smelled of lust and the cheap perfume I despised.

Cora immediately got dressed, smoothing down her wrinkled skirt and tidying herself up to look presentable as she started her walk toward the office door, a hopeful flush still coloring her cheeks.

“Oh, and Cora?”

She turned quickly, her eyes lighting up with hope for another round, another moment of my attention. "Yes, Mr. Schulz?" she asked, dropping into a ridiculous, affected tone of professionalism.

I rolled my eyes at the sudden deference. "You don't have to come to the office starting today anymore."

Curiosity and excitement briefly envisioned in her eyes, assuming I was elevating her status, but that hope vanished instantly as she heard my next, cold sentence.

"You are fired."

---

“Sebastian Quinnel Caz Schulz! What the hell were you thinking!?”

I didn't even have to look up. The fury in the voice was my twin sister's signature sound. Isla marched toward my direction, her movements sharp, her expression a mask of pure indignation.

“What are you talking about, sis?” I asked, signing the final document of the takeover, ignoring the heat radiating off her.

“Don’t you ‘sis’ me! Why have I just been notified that you fired another person again!?”

Ah, so this was what we were going to talk about. The trivial business of personnel management. Even though Isla didn't want to be burdened by the company’s internal operations, she was left with no choice but to work as one of our brand models. Dad insisted she work as a model to boast our reputation, and Isla reluctantly agreed, demanding she also be in charge of recruiting staff for the executive suite—a way to exert her own control.

CazoS Enterprise was best known as a “family oriented” business because all of us were working for the company, even Payden occasionally, though he was mostly just a figurehead.

“So what? You can just find a replacement for her. Have your ways, sister.”

“Do you think it is easy to find a replacement, Quinnel?! It is in the middle of the year, for Christ’s sake! It is hard to find a decent woman to work for you! Why can’t you just separate your own needs and the business!?” she yelled, her voice echoing off the glass walls.

Cora, my now former secretary, was actually very good at doing her job well. That was the most frustrating part. It just sucked that she was one of those girls who would inevitably fall for my looks and my money, mistaking a transaction for a relationship. That mistake always required immediate termination. I didn't tolerate emotional clutter in my life or my office.

“I am not in a rush anyway. I can do all the work alone for a while while you are still searching for a replacement. I got it, do not worry,” I reassured her, though the thought of sorting my own calendar was irritating.

Sighing heavily, Isla leaned across the desk, her eyes narrowed. “When will you grow up, bro? You are already twenty-five, and you are still acting like a child.”

“We are not going to talk about this again, Isla. You know I do not have time to date girls. It is all about pleasure, dear sister, no commitment. And I am not going to find a woman to tie my life with.” I already knew where this was going—her endless pestering about me settling down. My sister worried that I 'whored' around too much and would never find a woman I could tie knots with. Hell no. I was enjoying my life, and no woman could take all the fun, or worse, take the control.

“Just think about it, bro. We are not going to be young forever. Someday you are going to meet the person you are destined to be with, and you do not want to hurt her by knowing that her destiny is one of a total loser.”

The word loser sparked a cold anger deep in my chest. I rose from my chair slowly, planting my hands on the desk. “I know, I know. Now stop pestering me about tying my knots with a girl and go find a replacement of Cora. Find someone efficient. Someone who understands this is an office, not a dating pool. And find them fast. I am young, and while I am still young, I am going to enjoy this life, exactly on my own terms.” I emphasized the word enjoy with a chilling finality. I needed a distraction, and until Isla delivered a new replacement, the only enjoyment I had was absolute, total control over the millions of things under my thumb.