An Agreement of Ruin

~ Thea's POV

For once in my life, I had decided to be the cute, soft little girl my father always wanted me to be.

That might have been the biggest mistake I ever made.

Fix your clothes.

The words played on a loop in my head. I didn't exactly expect a kiss and a "makeup" session after he’d nearly shattered the boardroom table with my hips, but I expected... something. 

An explanation? A moment of shared humanity? 

Instead, he’d abandoned reason, spread me out like a feast, and fucked me into oblivion only to discard me like a used napkin.

And I hated how much I was right about his dick. It was as ruthless as the man himself.

I ran a hand through my hair, checking my reflection in the elevator glass. I was done being the nice girl. 

The nice girl was buried six feet under with Richard Mercer. This new version of me? She liked the way Stellan’s eyes darkened when I defied him.

When he demanded I meet him after work in his car after work, I waltzed there like I owned the damn car. He wasn't inside but the driver knew exactly where the boss wanted his asset delivered.

We arrived at his penthouse, and the moment I walked out of the elevator, Stellan knew that I had changed.

He was standing by the floor-to-ceiling glass; he'd ditched the jacket he wore, his white sleeves rolled up to reveal thick, corded forearms.

The same ones that held my wrist against the table an hour ago.

"You're moving in," he said, not even turning around. "I've terminated your lease. Your things arrive at dawn."

I dropped my bag on his leather sofa with a loud thud and crossed my arms. "Wow. No dinner? No, 'how was the rest of your day at work, Thea?' Just straight to kidnapping? You're losing your touch, Stellan. At least offer me a glass of wine."

He furrowed his brows, turning to look at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"You've changed," he noted, his voice wary.

And I scoffed, look whose talking. "You have also changed, Stellan. No man would bend his best friend's daughter over a conference table and fuck her raw."

A vein pulsed on his forehead. I'd struck a nerve. Good.

"This isn't a joke. After what happened today, you are a liability. I cannot have you out in the world where you might... smile... at someone like Ethan Hayes and make me lose my mind again." He turned his gaze back to the outside world.

I rolled my eyes. He made it sound like he was in love, but we both knew the truth. This was a game of lust, not hearts.

"So this is about your ego?" I took a step toward him, a playful spark in my eyes. "You couldn't handle a junior executive asking me for a pen, so now I'm Rapunzel? You're going to lock me in a tower because you're jealous of a guy who drinks spice lattes?"

It sounded too funny on my tongue. Did he think I was that easy to contain?

"I'm your guardian. I have the right to take care of you."

"Uh huh... You weren't managing me when you were ripping my panties in front of a Q3 project chart."

His jaw clenched so hard I heard the bone pop. He walked to his desk and slapped a piece of paper down. It looked like a legal document, but I knew better. 

"Sign this. Now."

I strolled over, leaning hip-first against the edge of his massive desk.

I picked up the paper, scanning the rules with a slow mocking hum. 

"Item one: Thea Mercer will maintain absolute silence regarding the nature of the relationship. In public, Stellan Vaughn is nothing but the guardian."

A slow smile tugged at the corners of my lips. He didn't want me dating. He didn't want me flirting. He wanted me to be his private, on-call relief whenever he went into a possessive rut. 

Stellan Vaughn had changed, alright. And I was going to enjoy uncovering every filthy reason why.

I looked at the fountain pen sitting beside the paper, then back at his stoic face. "Did you have your legal team draft 'Terms of Spanking' between mergers, Stellan? Or did you stay up late with a glass of scotch thinking of how to ruin me the right way?"

He winced at my words, and the dark satisfaction in my gut drew.

"Sign it, Thea. You know you want this. Or would you rather I put you on my private jet to London tonight?"

"London sounds lovely this time of the year," I mused, tapping the pen against my chin, enjoying the way his eyes tracked the movement. "Plenty of guys who don't have a god complex. And the accents? Fucking divine."

His throat bobbed, and his eyes glazed over in both rage and lust.

Stellan moved. In a heartbeat, he was in my space, his hand slamming onto the desk behind me, his body pinning me against the edge. I sucked in a sharp breath of surprise, but I didn't back down. I smirked.

His face was inches from mine, his breath hot and smelling of bourbon.

"Who said anything about going to London?" He whispered into my ears, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. "You're staying here. With me. Because, despite that smart mouth of yours, we both know you're already aching for the man who wrote those rules. You want to be managed, Thea. You want someone to finally draw the line for you."

I shivered and gulped. How the fuck did he know me so well? I’d only been back for a few weeks, yet he was reading my darkest needs like a blueprint.

I didn't flinch; instead, I leaned closer, my nose brushing his, my heart hammering despite my cool expression. "You're right, I do. But if I sign this, I'm not just your best friend's daughter anymore. I'm your biggest problem. I'm the secret that could pull this entire empire down. Are you sure you can handle that, Uncle Stellan?"

His jaw ticked. His fingers clamped around my neck as he pulled gently. "Sign. The. Damn. Paper. Tea."

I smirked at the nickname on his tongue, gripped the pen, and signed my name in a big, looping, defiant cursive. I tossed the pen onto the desk, and it clattered like a gauntlet hitting the floor.

"There. I'm officially your slut."

Stellan locked the paper in his top drawer, the click sounding like a trap snapping shut. He looked at me, his gaze dark and entirely focused on my painted lips.

"You think this is a game?" he rumbled, his thumb forcing my chin up.

"I think it's a match," I whispered, my hand sliding up his chest to feel the frantic, heavy thud of his heart. "And I think you've already lost, Daddy."

His hands closed around my neck again. I liked it too much. I clenched my legs together, feeling the ache intensify.

"Go to the bedroom. Strip. If I find so much as a necklace on you when I walk in, I'll remind you exactly why I'm the one who writes the rules."

I smiled, a slow curve of my lips as I stepped out of his reach. "Make me."

I turned and walked away toward the master suite, making sure to put a little extra swing in my hips, and I knew he was watching. He was dying to touch me.

This was wrong, messed up even, but all I could think of was that Daddy did a very good thing by leaving his best friend behind for my consumption.

Shall we make it worth the while?