Chapter 5

The tension in the conference room at Laurent Innovations was thick enough to choke on.

Cassian sat to Sera’s right at the head of the table, playing the role of supportive husband while her executive team and lawyers dissected the proposed merger. Every few minutes, someone glanced nervously between them, sensing the undercurrent of something far more personal than business.

Meridian Tech had made a new aggressive move overnight — a public statement hinting at “serious concerns” about Vale Dynamics’ stability and “questionable past practices.” The stock was bleeding.

Sera remained calm and commanding, but Cassian could see the tightness in her jaw.

“We move forward with the capital infusion within forty-eight hours,” she announced, voice steel. “But only after Cassian signs the revised governance terms. Vale Dynamics will operate as a subsidiary of Laurent Innovations for the duration of the agreement.”

Cassian’s fingers tightened around his pen. She was stripping him of control piece by piece, and they both knew it.

After the meeting, when the room emptied, he finally spoke.

“You’re enjoying this.”

Sera closed her laptop and looked at him. “Immensely.”

She stood and walked over to him, stopping between his spread thighs where he sat in the leather chair. Her fingers trailed down his chest.

“But I’m not done with you yet today.”

Back at the estate – Late Afternoon

They barely made it past the front door.

The moment they were inside, Sera pushed him against the wall and kissed him savagely. Cassian responded with equal hunger, hands roaming down her body, gripping her ass and lifting her against him.

“Bedroom,” she gasped against his mouth. “Now.”

They didn’t make it that far.

Halfway up the grand staircase, clothes started coming off. Her blouse. His shirt. By the time they reached the top, he had her pressed against the hallway wall, her skirt bunched around her waist and his fingers buried deep inside her.

“You’re soaked,” he growled, curling his fingers just right.

“Because I’ve been thinking about punishing you all day,” she moaned, riding his hand.

He dropped to his knees right there in the hallway, hiked one of her legs over his shoulder, and devoured her with his mouth. Sera’s head fell back against the wall, fingers gripping his hair as she came hard and fast, crying out his name.

Before she could recover, Cassian stood, spun her around, and bent her over the wide marble console table. He freed his cock and thrust into her in one brutal stroke.

“Fuck!” Sera cried out, pushing back against him.

He fucked her hard — deep, possessive strokes that made the antique table creak dangerously. One hand fisted in her hair, the other gripping her hip.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he rasped. “Me. Completely at your mercy.”

“Yes—” she gasped. “And you fucking love it.”

He reached around and rubbed her clit while pounding into her. She came again with a broken scream, her walls fluttering violently around him. Cassian followed moments later, burying himself to the hilt and filling her with a low, guttural groan.

They stayed like that for several long seconds — connected, breathing hard, bodies slick with sweat.

Then Sera straightened up, turned around, and looked at him with an unreadable expression.

“Shower. Then I want you in my bed. Naked.”

Later that night

They lay in the massive bed, the city lights of Seattle glittering in the distance. Sera was on her back, staring at the ceiling. Cassian was propped on one elbow beside her, tracing lazy circles on her bare stomach.

For once, she didn’t push him away.

“Tell me about the worst night,” he said quietly. “The one you never forgave me for.”

Sera was silent for so long he thought she wouldn’t answer.

Then she spoke, voice flat.

“It was our second anniversary. You had just closed that huge defense deal. I made dinner. I tried to be… normal. A real wife.” Her throat worked. “You came home at midnight, saw the candles, and laughed. You said, ‘Did you really think this was ever going to be a real marriage, Seraphina? You’re here because you saw me kill a man. Nothing more.’”

She turned her head to look at him.

“Then you bent me over the dining table and fucked me like I was one of your whores. You didn’t even kiss me. When you finished, you left me there and went to your office. I cried for the first time since the murder. That was the night I decided I would never love you again.”

Cassian’s chest felt like it had been cracked open.

He closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

The words felt pathetic. Weak. But they were true.

Sera let out a bitter laugh. “Sorry doesn’t erase four years of being treated like property, Cassian. Sorry doesn’t fix the fact that you made me terrified of my own shadow.”

She rolled toward him, eyes blazing even in the low light.

“But you know what’s fucked up?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Even after everything… I still get wet for you. I still want you. And I hate myself for it.”

Cassian pulled her on top of him, hands sliding down her back.

“Then use me,” he said roughly. “Hate me. Fuck me. Destroy me if you need to. Just don’t shut me out completely.”

Sera straddled him, guiding his hardening cock back inside her. This time, she rode him slowly, almost tenderly — their eyes locked the entire time.

For the first time since the contract began, the sex felt different.

Raw. Painful. Real.

When they both came, it was quieter. Deeper.

Afterward, Sera curled against his chest without saying a word.

Cassian held her, one hand stroking her hair, staring at the ceiling as regret settled heavy in his bones.

He was falling for the woman he had once broken.

And this time, she held all the power to break him in return.