Chapter one

*My mama raised me a Catholic, and we were taught to leave revenge for the Lord*

*But how can I leave it, when revenge practically landed right into my laps*

………………………

Raze’s pov

“You’re killing me, doll,” I murmured into the brunette’s mouth.

Her fingers press hard against me through my jeans, slowly stroking my hardening dick . The blonde on my other side drags her tongue along my naked chest, her nails scraping lightly at it.

I’m in my private room at Obsidian, the bass music vibrating through the walls, the colored lights low, the smell of liquor and smoke thick in the air just the way I like it.

I pull back just enough to breathe. “Why not take it into your mouth,” I tell the brunette with a crooked grin, “and show daddy what a dirty girl you are.”

She slides down without hesitation, her fingers working at my zipper eagerly. The metal parts and warmth replaces air.

“Fuck! Just like that.”

I brace my hand against the leather couch, my head tipping back slightly as her mouth moves, taking in my hard cock into her wet mouth while the blonde sucks on my pierced nipple.

Goddamn

Life should be like this everyday.

I vaguely hear the door swings open.

“Well,” a familiar voice drawls smoothly, “I heard you went straight, but I didn’t know they meant literally.”

My eyes opened and my head snapped back up to see Everette Carrington standing in the doorway like a ghost I had buried years ago.

He’s taller than most men in this city. Lean, but not too thin, Tailored charcoal shirt hugs his chest and narrow waist.

His ginger hair is copper fire under dim light, thick and slightly unruly at the crown. It contrasts violently with his pale skin, which had freckles faintly scattered across the bridge of his straight nose.

The heat drains from me and my erection softens instantly.

Trauma does that.

I gently push the brunette away and zip myself up without breaking eye contact. “What can I say,” I replied lazily. “An encounter with you and your family is bound to change one’s taste.”

I glance past him, at the man cowering there. “Carlos. What do I pay you for if I can’t even get discretion?”

“I’m so sorry Mr B—“

“Carlos owes me,” Everett says calmly. “And I insisted. You know how I can be when I want something."

Carlos looks like he wants to evaporate, so I nod at him and he turns quickly, shutting the door behind him.

“We will continue this later, beautiful,” I kiss the blonde on the lips and slap the ass of the brunette as they usher themselves out.

I stand and pour myself a whiskey. “You have thirty seconds, Yetti,” I say without turning around, “to tell me what you want before my fist comes crashing down on your face.”

“We agreed you'd never call me that.”.

I smiled into the glass. “We agreed on a lot of things you didn’t bother keeping when it suited you. Twenty five seconds.”

He steps further into the room, trying to look at anywhere else that isn't my naked chest. I watch him approach. To strangers, he’s the ruthless tech billionaire the tabloids built.

But I know better.

I know the awkward college kid who used to hide behind oversized hoodies and cello cases. The nerd I teased in freshman year. The boy I stepped in front of when a group of drunk idiots tried to shove him around outside a campus bar.

I know the man who used to fall asleep on my chest after coding marathons.

I know the one who betrayed me.

And I hate that I still notice how fucking beautiful he is.

Damn him.

“Alright,” he says quietly. “I’ll get straight to the point.” He glances around the room briefly before settling into the sofa across from me. “I need your help.”

I let out a laugh. “I don’t believe there’s anything I can help you with. You and your family can literally buy the moon if you wanted it.”

“It’s a PR crisis.”

“Serious enough for you to ambush me in a club?,” I ask.

“The SEC opened an inquiry on my company. The media is running insider trading narratives and my stocks are sliding. Just a bunch of regulatory investigations but it’s eroding the public’s trust in me and If it continues, It could trigger a shareholder revolt.”

“How does that concern me?” I asked.

“Your name still carries weight in tech. We were—”

“Don’t.”

He stops.

“We were nothing,” I say.

We were everything……But that died in a courtroom.

“It would be a joint appearance,” he pushes. “A collaboration announcement, just something that shows unity.”

“It will be a cold day in hell before I help you fix your image.”

His jaw physically tightens. “Fifty million for your time.”

I don’t blink. “Not interested.”

“Come on, Raze,” he says, leaning forward slightly. “I know about your new startup. We both know scaling infrastructure, hiring senior engineers, cloud capacity, burn rate. It’s expensive.”

“My company is doing just fine.”

He studies me, “Then take the money as investment. It will be a Strategic partnership.”

“You think I want to be tied to a Carrington again?”

“You’d be tied to me.”

“The same fucking thing. Your time is up.”

He stands up, “how about a hundred million.”

“A hundred million,” I counter slowly, “and me back in the company as partner.”

There was silence as something flickers in his eyes and he looks away. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Then I can’t help you.”

He exhales sharply, frustrated. “This is stupid. I told them this was stupid and you will never go for it, but I thought maybe you have matured enough for us to leave our fight aside and be reasonable. As friends”

“We’re not friends.”

“Fine. I’ll find something else.”

He turns toward the door.

“Wait.”

He stops but doesn’t look back right away. After a second, he turns. “What now?”

I don’t answer from where I’m standing. Instead I move towards him, shrugging out of my opened shirt as I walk, letting it fall somewhere behind me. I don’t rush it, I let him watch.

I see his eyes drop to my chest, to the ink that trails down my ribs and to the line of muscle I know he remembers too well. I know how hot I am and he has always been a sucker for it.

He swallows as he takes one step back, then another but I keep coming.

“What do you want, Raze?” he asks, his voice lower now and not as steady.

Got him.

I stop close enough to feel the heat off his skin. Close enough that if I leaned in, our mouths would touch.

“One hundred million,” I say slowly. “To invest in my company and a position in yours that isn't partner.”

His back hits the door with a soft thud and his breath hitches. “What position?” he asks.

His gaze drifts again, down my chest, slower this time. He doesn’t even pretend he isn’t looking.

“Strategic advisor.”

My hand comes up, resting beside his head against the wall. I lean in just enough to make him tilt his chin up. He considers it, his eyes flicking to my mouth.

“Deal.”

He extends his hand between us and I look down at it.

That hand once held my face at three in the morning and told me I was his future. That same hand that signed papers that cut me out of everything.

I don't take it, instead, I lean into him more and just when my mouth was about to touch his, “Now get out,” I tell him. “Your face is killing the mood.”

I pull away not bothering to look back at him as I go back to my chair, sit and light a cigarette as I hear the door close behind him.

“Are you planning to tell him,” a voice asks from the shadows, “that the company he plans to invest in is a ticking time bomb and you’re about to sell it?”

Dante steps into the light. My best friend and co strategist. We built Calder Dynamics on grit and audacity but right now, our liquidity ratio is hanging by a thread. We’re one bad quarter away from forced acquisition.

I blew the smoke in front of me. “No. He doesn’t need to know anything.” I look at the door again, remembering the way his green eyes glazed over when they moved over my body.

“Because when I’m done with him,” I continue, raising the cigarette to my lips. “He is going to rue the day he ever stepped in here and asked for my help.”

And if revenge is a sin, then I will have to ask for forgiveness after.