Compartir

CHAPTER FOUR

Autor: Swiwi
last update Fecha de publicación: 2025-12-08 05:43:04

The next morning the sound of glass shattering woke me before I even opened my eyes.

Someone was inside.

My heart jumped into my throat. I bolted upright and froze.

Footsteps. Heavy and fast. The unmistakable sound of doors being kicked in.

“Leo Carter! We’re taking what’s ours!”

Shit.

I scrambled out of bed, heart hammering, and looked around.

Within minutes, the men had thrown everything: books, clothes, electronics onto the floor. Their eyes were red and cruel. They didn’t care that I was only twenty-three, that I was broke, or that I had nowhere to go.

“Pay up!” one shouted.

“I I don’t have it!” I stammered. My voice shook. “I don’t have the money!”

They laughed, a sound that made my stomach feel sick.

“That’s not our problem,” another said. “You signed. You owe. You pay, or you leave everything behind.”

And just like that… I had nothing. No apartment, no furniture, no home. Just a pile of ruined belongings and a very real sense of panic.

I ran out the back door, barefoot, gasping in the cold morning air. My mind raced. Where the hell was I supposed to go? I couldn’t go to Max house. He lived with his crazy girlfriend. Where would I go? My mom’s stupid new husband doesn’t want to see me around his house. I don’t have any friends except Max.

The only hope I have is Grayson Knight.

The thought made my stomach sick in a mix of fear, shame, and… need. He had offered help once. I had walked away. Now… maybe I didn’t have a choice.

By the time I reached Magical the next morning, I was out of breath, shaking, and completely humiliated.

Alex was still at the front desk. She looked at me like she’d seen it all before.

“You look like hell,” she said, her tone neutral.

“You have no idea,” I muttered, ignoring the quiver in my voice.

“Here to see him again?” she asked.

I hesitated. Then nodded.

She studied my face for a moment. “Top floor.”

I didn’t wait for her to ask questions. I went straight for the elevator. Up to the top floor. To him.

Grayson Knight’s office. The place I had survived walking into just days ago.

I knocked. No answer.

I knocked again, louder this time.

“Come in.”

I pushed the door open and the moment I saw him, something inside me broke.

He was behind his desk, calm as ever, sleeves rolled up.

“You again,” he said. His voice was cool, almost amused. “Did you change your mind?”

I tried to speak.

Nothing came out.

My chest tightened, my throat burned, and suddenly I was crying. Not quiet tears. Real ones. Shaking.

“I I lost everything,” I choked. “They came this morning. They destroyed my apartment. I don’t have anything left.”

Grayson didn’t move. Didn’t interrupt.

“I don’t have money,” I continued, wiping my face with my sleeve. “I don’t have a place to sleep. I don’t have anyone. I swear I tried, I tried to fix it myself.”

He remained.

Then he stood up.

Walking towards me slowly.

“You ran,” he said calmly. “And now you’re back.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I whispered. “I don’t.”

I dropped into the chair in front of his desk, my hands shaking.

“Please,” I said, my voice breaking again. “I’ll do anything. I can’t survive like this.”

He leaned against the desk, arms crossed.

“I already told you what I offer,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”

I looked up at him, eyes red. “You mean the contract?”

“Yes.”

My stomach felt sick. “The one where you own me.”

“No,” he corrected. “The one where we both benefit.”

I laughed weakly. “That’s not how it sounded last time.”

He stepped closer. “You need money, fame and Security. Protection.”

“And you need… what?” I asked quietly.

His eyes darkened.

“You.”

I swallowed hard.

“You’d live under my rules,” he continued. “You’d stay where I tell you. Do what I ask.”

“And the rest?” I asked.

He tilted his head. “Friends with benefits.”

The words hit me like a slap.

“I don’t want a relationship,” he said flatly. “I want access.”

My hands clenched in my lap. “Sex.”

“Yes.”

“No pretending,” he added. “No feelings. No confusion.”

My chest hurt.

“And if I say no?” I whispered.

He straightened. “Then you walk out. Same as before.”

I laughed bitterly. “And go where?”

He didn’t answer.

I wiped my face again. “You’re really not going to change it.”

“No.”

I looked down. Thought of sleeping outside. Thought of those men coming back.

“I don’t want this,” I said honestly.

“I know,” he replied.

“But I need it.”

He waited.

Minutes passed.

My voice came out barely above a whisper.

“I’ll agree.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Say it clearly.”

“I’ll sign your contract,” I said, tears slipping again. “Friends with benefits. Your rules. I’ll do it.”

He studied me for a long moment.

“You’re desperate,” he said.

“Yes.”

“And you understand there’s no walking away.”

“I understand.”

He nodded once.

“Good.”

He moved back to his desk and pressed a button on his phone.

“Prepare the contract,” he said. “Same terms.”

He looked at me again.

“You start tonight.”

My heart slammed.

“Tonight?”

He smiled slightly. “Did you think desperation came with delays?”

I nodded slowly.

“Good,,” he said. “Because once you step into my world, Leo ”

He paused, eyes locking onto mine.

Continúa leyendo este libro gratis
Escanea el código para descargar la App
Comentarios (5)
goodnovel comment avatar
Strawberryboss
Wow already and so it begins Leo I hope your ready
goodnovel comment avatar
_lovecelynn
I knew Leo would end up going back to Mr Knight... I just knew it!!
goodnovel comment avatar
ESTHER AGAI JOHNES
Nice chapter. You write very well.
VER TODOS LOS COMENTARIOS

Último capítulo

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 208

    Maria Santos took her bow. I clapped until my hands hurt and watched this seventeen year old girl from Queens stand in the light After the performance she found us in the gathering outside the theatre. “Leo,” she said. She had stopped saying Mr Carter three weeks ago. “Did you see? I wasn’t nervous.” “I saw,” I said. “You were extraordinary.” “I kept thinking about what you told me,” she said. “That the most powerful thing you can do on a stage is simply be honest.” She paused. “It worked.” “It always works,” I said. She hugged me briefly and moved away into the crowd and my mother appeared at my elbow watching her go. “She’s going to be something,” my mother said. “She already is,” I said. My mother looked at me sideways. “Like someone else I know.” We stayed until the building emptied. Then the four of us … me, Grayson, my mother, Max … stood in the empty theatre in the quiet after everyone had gone. “Look at it now,” he said. Nobody added anything to that because noth

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 207

    It’s been six months since we moved into our apartment. The arts centre was full every day. Not just Maria Santos. Seventeen young people from across Queens come through those doors weekly. Acting classes. Music sessions. Writing workshops. The library Eleanor had built was growing with every passing month. I knew because my mother sent updates. On a Tuesday morning in November I sat at the kitchen counter of our Brooklyn apartment with coffee and the script for Carol’s second film and watched Grayson make breakfast. Actually properly. Eggs that weren’t burned. Toast that was timed correctly. Orange juice because Dr Osei had suggested it and Grayson had added it to the morning routine without complaint. “You can actually cook now,” I said. “I could always cook,” he said. “You could not,” I said. “I had potential,” he said seriously. “You had ambition,” I said. “Potential came later.” He set a plate in front of me. “Eat.” I ate. It was genuinely good. “Don’t s

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 206

    Moving day finally arrived, but it came with heavy rain. Max showed up at eight with Sophie and an umbrella he immediately lost somewhere between the cab and the building entrance and spent the rest of the morning pretending it wasn't bothering him. “I had an umbrella,” he said to no one in particular while carrying a box up the stairs. “You lost it immediately,” Sophie said. “It was taken,” he said. “By who?” she said. “The city,” he said. “The city takes things.” Grayson looked at me. “Does he do this often?” “Constantly,” I said. We carried boxes up four flights of stairs because the elevator was being serviced which Eleanor described as poor planning when she arrived at ten with lunch. By 4pm we were arranging. My mother arrived at five with dessert. She walked through the apartment slowly. Room by room. She stopped at the kitchen windowsill. At her photograph. She stood there for a moment looking at it. I watched her from the doorway. She reached out and straight

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 205

    Sunday breakfast at Max’s was interesting. Which was exactly what we needed the morning after the most special day of our lives. It was for this too. Eggs and toast and Max talking too much and Sophie quietly refilling everyone’s coffee without being asked. Eleanor came. She arrived twelve minutes after us with pastries and strong opinions about the eggs Max was making and within four minutes had taken over the stove completely while Max stood beside her looking. “You didn’t have to …” he started. “The heat was too high,” she said. “I like them that way,” he said. “Nobody likes them that way,” she said. My mother arrived at ten and sat beside me and accepted coffee from Sophie and looked around the table at everyone gathered in Max’s small kitchen on a Sunday morning and said nothing for a moment. “Mom,” I said quietly. “I’m counting,” she said. “Counting what?” I said. “Good things,” she said simply. “It doesn’t take long when there are this many.” I looked around the

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 204

    We stayed until the last guest left. Which was Max, as usual. He lingered at the door with his jacket on saying goodbye for approximately twenty minutes while Sophie stood beside him with the patient. “Max,” I said finally. “I’m going,” he said. “You’ve been going for twenty minutes,” I said. “I’m savouring,” he said. “This was a significant evening.” “Go savour in the cab,” Sophie said gently and steered him through the door. He pointed at me over his shoulder. “Breakfast Sunday. My place. No excuse.” “We’ll be there,” I said. The door closed. Grayson and I stood in the empty reception room. Flowers still on the tables. Candles burning low. “Hello husband,” Grayson said calmly. I looked at him. That word. “Hello husband,” I replied back. We walked through the building slowly. Turning off lights. Closing doors. We stopped on the stage. Standing where we had stood a few hours ago saying the truest things we had ever said. “How does it feel?” I asked. “Like the beg

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER 203

    The reception was exactly what we had planned. Small. Eleanor had somehow transformed the main rehearsal room into somewhere beautiful without making it feel like a venue. Round tables. White and green flowers. Candles. Max stood and gave a speech that started funny and ended with him pressing his fist to his mouth briefly and everyone pretending not to notice. “Leo Carter walked into my life broke and terrified and completely certain he was going to make it,” he said. “I believed him immediately. Not because the evidence supported it.” He paused. “Because I knew him. And knowing Leo means knowing that whatever impossible thing stands in front of him he will find the honest way through it.” He looked at Grayson. “And you.” “You were the most impossible thing. And you found the honest way through too.” He raised his glass. “To Leo and Grayson. The most complicated love story I have ever had front row seats to.” Everyone laughed. Everyone drank. Grayson leaned toward me. “Fro

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER NINETY FOUR

    The room stayed silent long after Patricia stopped speaking.Leo stood at the head of the table, the folder still open in front of him. The evidence inside felt heavier than paper should.Emails.Document logs.Forwarded files.Betrayal, neatly printed in black and white.Patricia’s shoulders had c

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER NINETY ONE

    Weeks passed, and life settled into a rhythm that Leo hadn’t known he could actually enjoy.The kids had school, the foundation had grown, and Carter Industries continued to thrive under his quiet leadership. But just when he thought he could breathe, the unexpected arrived.It was a Thursday morni

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER NINETY

    Autumn arrived slowly.The air cooled, the trees around their neighborhood turning gold and amber. Leo noticed it one morning while walking Aria to the bus stop.She held his hand loosely, her backpack bouncing with each step.“Papa,” she said suddenly.“Yes, warrior?”She squinted up at him.“Were

  • Satisfying the billionaire (mxm)   CHAPTER EIGHTY NINE

    Six months later, the house had somehow become even louder.Leo stood in the kitchen early one Saturday morning, holding a mug of coffee that had already gone cold. From the living room came the sound of arguing.Not seriously arguing.Kid arguing.“I was here first!” their son shouted.“You moved

Más capítulos
Explora y lee buenas novelas gratis
Acceso gratuito a una gran cantidad de buenas novelas en la app GoodNovel. Descarga los libros que te gusten y léelos donde y cuando quieras.
Lee libros gratis en la app
ESCANEA EL CÓDIGO PARA LEER EN LA APP
DMCA.com Protection Status