All Chapters of RUTHLESS TEMPTATION : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Jace had seduced Elias to get close to the file, but he had failed to retrieve it. Noah was back in the ICU, and the bills were doubling by the hour. Jace’s world was falling apart. It felt like the world was out to get him at this point. Jace had lost his bartending gig because he hadn't showed up for work for weeks due to Noah's last surgery and recovery. He had no way to pay the bills but the bills didn't care, they had to be paid or else jace would be starving, homeless or worse he could loose his younger brother. Jace had no choice. His pride was already in pieces—what was one more crack in the glass? The job he seduced Elias to get....He took it. He hated that he needed the Crane's help so much, this was not part of the plan. Now Jace had to work for the man that killed his parents. --------- Jace's official onboarding at Crane Corp was rushed but meticulous. Paperwork, confidentiality agreements, access badges—all signed and sealed within a day. His position? Office a

The ballroom glittered with gold and crystal, laughter echoing under chandeliers that sparkled like falling stars. Music drifted from a string quartet nestled in the corner, and the scent of wealth, of expensive perfume, aged wine, and polished arrogance hung thick in the air. Jace stood at Elias’s side, dressed in a sleek deep navy, Italian-cut, with subtle silk detailing along the lapels. The one Elias had gotten for him.The suit that hugged his form like sin. Yet, despite the luxury, all he could hear was one thing. “I think I’m falling for you, Jace.” Elias’s words had been a whisper against his skin, spoken in the dark while their bodies were tangled and slick with sweat. But now, under the harsh glow of society’s watchful eyes, they clung to Jace’s mind like a cruel echo. He replayed it again and again. Had he meant it? Or was it just sex talk? Elias looked as composed as ever—calm, confident, that signature Crane detachment in place like a perfectly tailored mask. Jace wa

Jace’s pulse was still racing when the heat of Elias’s lips finally left his own.For a second, he didn’t move. Couldn’t move. The kiss had been deep, hungry, possessive, and dangerous.Too dangerous.He shoved Elias away with more force than he intended, breaking the connection between them. “I can’t—” Jace muttered, his voice cracking halfway through the sentence.He didn’t wait for Elias to respond. He turned and strode to the door, every step faster than the last, until he was practically running out of the office and down the hall.His chest burned not from the speed but from something else entirely.He didn’t want it to end. That was the problem. He could still taste him, still feel the faint scrape of Elias’s stubble against his jaw. And God help him. A part of him wanted to go back.But that wasn’t the plan.Jace wasn’t supposed to be the one falling. Elias was the bullet he was planning to use to shoot Victor Crane right between the eyes. And right now, he was dangerously cl

Jace sat at his desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard but unable to focus. The words on his screen blurred into meaningless lines as his mind replayed the previous night over and over. Elias. The kiss. His confession. I love you too. How could he have said those words? Did he really mean them? Or was it just part of the plan, something he told Elias to keep the façade alive? Jace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that the feelings stirring inside him weren’t real. It had to be an act. A calculated move. He was falling into Elias’s trap, the same trap he had set. But this time, the lines between strategy and genuine emotion were dangerously blurred. The warmth of Elias’s touch haunted his skin, the intensity of their kiss echoed in his chest, and a fragile part of him wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was falling for the son of the man who had destroyed his family. The thought made him want to laugh bitterly. How ridiculous. Jace had sworn to hims

Jace nearly choked on his food, coughing into his napkin before reaching for the wine and gulping it down in one long, desperate pull. “Excuse me?” he said once his glass was empty, his voice sharp with disbelief. “I think we should date,” Elias repeated, leaning back with a casualness that didn’t match the weight of his words. “Or… what do you think?” The hum of the restaurant faded into a muted buzz. Jace stared at him, heart thudding against his ribs. The sensible part of him wanted to laugh it off, to toss the suggestion back with a sarcastic remark. Dating Elias Crane? The son of the man who’d ruined his life? That was insane. Dangerous. But the longer he sat in silence, the more dangerous it began to sound in another way, because it was tempting. Elias was magnetic, charming in that infuriatingly careless way, and despite everything, Jace liked how Elias looked at him as if he were the only person in the room. He thought about the risk. Dating Elias meant stepping deep