Empire of Dominance のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

The bar Andre chose turned out to be one of those slick-but-still-homey sorts of places that Raven didn’t think still existed in the financial district. With a worn wooden bar and scuffed floors, it had the sense of someplace people had been coming to drink and unwind after high-pressure days in high-stakes businesses. There was a sense of comfort here, of settled energy. Raven felt herself exhaling deeply, letting the tension of the day out of her body.It had been a long time since she’d been in a space like this: where pints were being poured and conversations were climbing to a shouting pitch. There was a football game on the big TV above the bar, and people kept cheering wildly after each play.Andre ordered cosmos for all three of them and raised them in a cheers. “Happy after-hours!”“Cheers!” Raven and Sharon chorused, laughing.The radio was playing a vapid pop song, and the bartender slid a cup of pretzels toward the three of them. Besides, Raven had hours to kill bef

On Monday morning, along with a folder with the day’s assignment, Megan delivered Raven a summons.“Mr. Sinclair would like to see you upstairs, at your earliest convenience.”Raven could translate that into plain English: right away. Kade didn’t give a shit about anyone’s convenience, including hers.She resisted the urge to crack a joke during the awkwardly silent elevator ride with Megan to the C-suite. Megan didn’t seem the type for casual office humor.But there was something in how Megan looked at her, as the secretary took her place behind her desk and watched Raven head for the CEO’s door, that gave Raven pause. Behind her iron facade, Megan’s face gave just a hint of… What? Nervousness? Concern? She couldn’t read Megan at all, as usual. She was probably just imagining things.Stepping into the office, though, Raven felt the atmosphere change in a heartbeat. Kade was standing in front of his desk, arms folded, his cold, handsome face set in an expression of unmistaka

Raven was shocked at herself. She didn’t want to admit to herself that she knew what she’d just said, and she knew it was true. She imagined herself at graduation, getting her diploma, suddenly being able to see all those months down the line when she’d be sitting in this limo, with her shirt torn open, with the kind of bargain she was agreeing to fresh on her lips. An “asset.” College Raven would know what that meant, just as well as the Raven of the present moment. Coldly defined, laid out in the open. She was confused. With the situation, with herself, with this enigma of a man in front of her.The man who was still talking to her, saying these vastly important things she’d forgotten to listen to.She tuned back in with an effort, dragging her mind back into gear.“As long as you retain your value for me, in both categories—as an analyst and as a lover—you will have whatever you want. As long as, per your conditions, those two categories don’t impact each other.”“W

Raven’s POV Raven couldn’t wait until bright and early to look inside the folder. She ordered a car to drive her home, conscious of mitigating any risks of walking openly or riding the subway. Risk? What was she thinking? She was slipping into Kade’s paranoia. She shook her head.Getting into the file would be good for another reason. She’d barely managed to say no tonight. Even though she knew it was the right choice, her body was still buzzing in the aftermath. She held her key steady with an effort as she opened the door to her apartment.She stood shivering out the last of the tremulous, dangerous energy in the dark quiet of her apartment. She gathered herself with an effort, letting the air conditioning chill her skin.But right now, she could still be in that office, getting wrecked on the carpet of Kade’s office, testing the limits of pleasure all over again…She shook her head, hard.“Get it together, girl,” she whispered.Kade was not a good man. He wasn’t ki

Raven was exactly where she was supposed to be at 10 pm: standing at Kade’s door. She hadn’t delivered her findings at the end of the work day, but not for the same reason she hadn’t been delivering them for the past few days. She wanted to do this in Kade’s space—in his home. She’d denied him Monday. She knew she couldn’t do so again. That was outside her power. But she could demonstrate her knowledge, her capability—as if that were somehow a counterbalance to her powerlessness in… other regards.Kade buzzed her in as usual, wordlessly. When she walked into the penthouse, there was a single, absurdly red long-stemmed rose lying alone on the countertop.Something settled in her stomach. She’d been entertaining the possibility—the terrible possibility—that she’d been wrong, and the roses hadn’t been sent by Kade at all but rather by the subject of her investigation as some kind of emotional sabotage. Nothing felt impossible just now. But the sight of the single rose settled an