เข้าสู่ระบบPOV: DIMITRIDimitri Valentino had built his empire on control.Control over his emotions. Control over his men. Control over every territory, every business, every breath of power that flowed through the underworld of this city.But watching Eve Thorne walk away from that elevator, watching her choose him, choose submission, choose to stay....had nearly shattered that control into a thousand pieces.Seven years.Seven fucking years he'd waited for her.Since the moment she'd kissed him on the cheek at Mike's graduation party, her lips soft and innocent against his skin, her smile bright and pure and utterly destroying. She'd been eighteen. Too young. Too good. Too much Mike's baby sister for him to even consider touching.But he'd considered it anyway.Every family dinner where she'd sat across from him, laughing at Mike's jokes. Every holiday gathering where she'd hugged him goodbye, her body soft and trusting against his. Every time he'd seen her with that worthless piece of shit S
She looked behind her. The screen showed green: AUTHORIZEDHe'd unlocked it."Walk away, Eve. Get in that elevator. Go back to your perfect life, your perfect apartment, your perfect company. Pretend last night never happened. Pretend you don't want me. Pretend you don't wake up wet thinking about what it felt like when I made you come."She should go. Should run. Should get as far away from this man as possible.But her feet wouldn't move."Or," he continued, his voice dropping to that dangerous purr that made her core clench, "you stay. You honor the contract you signed. You surrender to what you've been denying yourself for God knows how long. You let me show you exactly how good it can be when you stop pretending to be something you're not.""And what am I?" She barely recognized her own voice....breathy, needy, desperate."Mine." He said it with absolute certainty. "My property. My responsibility. My pleasure and my burden. For six months, you belong to me. And I promise you, car
The reality of her situation crashed down on her like a physical weight. She was trapped. Legally trapped. Financially trapped. And he knew it.He'd planned this.All of it.Rage bubbled up through the fear, hot and vicious."You bastard," she hissed, and before she could think better of it, her hand cracked across his face.The slap echoed in the silent penthouse.Dimitri's head turned with the impact, his cheek reddening. For one breathless moment, he didn't move.Then, slowly, he turned back to face her.His eyes had gone from amused to something else entirely. Something that made her knees weak and her breath catch and some traitorous part of her core clench with need."That," he said softly, dangerously, "was a mistake."Before she could react, he had her wrists in his hands, pinning them above her head against the elevator doors. His body pressed against hers, every hard plane and muscle trapping her completely."Let me go," she demanded, trying to sound strong despite the way h
She crept down the hallway, found a massive open-plan living space....all windows and modern furniture and a kitchen that probably cost more than her car. And there, blessed salvation, the elevator.Private elevator. Of course. This was a penthouse. His penthouse.She practically ran to it, jabbed the button.Nothing happened.She hit it again. And again. Panic rising in her throat.A small screen beside the elevator glowed to life: BIOMETRIC AUTHORIZATION REQUIREDNo.She stared at it, her heart sinking. Fingerprint scanner. Probably facial recognition too. The kind of security system that cost a fortune and meant that only authorized people could come and go.She was locked in.Literally locked in."Going somewhere, cara mia?"Eve spun around, her back hitting the elevator doors.Dimitri stood in the hallway she'd just come from, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his bare chest. He wore only black silk pajama pants that hung low on his hips, revealing the cut
POV: EVEEve woke to sunlight streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows and the immediate, brutal awareness that something was very, very wrong.Her body ached. Not the pleasant soreness of a good workout, but something deeper...intimate. Her thighs trembled when she tried to move. Her core felt tender, used, claimed in ways she'd never experienced.And she was naked.Completely, utterly naked in a bed that wasn't hers, wrapped in sheets that smelled like expensive cologne and sex and something darker she couldn't name.Dimitri.The memory crashed over her like ice water: The bar. The whiskey. Climbing into his lap. Begging....oh God, she'd begged him to touch her. His fingers inside her. His mouth on her. Coming so hard she'd screamed his name.And then... nothing. Blackness. Had they...?She sat up too fast, and her head spun with the remnants of alcohol and pleasure and regret. The room came into focus slowly....masculine, massive, expensive. Dark wood and leather furniture. A doo
His fingers curled, his thumb pressed, and Eve shattered.The orgasm hit her like a tidal wave, pleasure so intense it was almost painful. She screamed his name like he'd commanded, her body convulsing, her nails digging into his shoulders through his expensive shirt.He worked her through it, prolonging it, until she collapsed against his chest, gasping and boneless."Beautiful," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. "So fucking beautiful when you let go."She couldn't respond. Could barely think. Her entire world had narrowed to the feeling of his arms around her and the aftershocks still rolling through her body."That," he said quietly, "was just the beginning."She lifted her head, confused. "Beginning?""You asked me to show you what you've been missing." His smile was dark. "We've barely started."Before she could process that, he was standing, lifting her with him like she weighed nothing. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist."Where are we going?""I have a b







