All Chapters of Ruin Me, Blackwood: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

AmeliaI never should’ve answered my brother’s call.The thought crossed my mind for the tenth time as I stood in the marble-clad lobby of Blackwood Enterprises, the polished floor so clean it reflected the anxious rise and fall of my chest. High above me, the company’s insignia — a minimalist black ‘B’ encased in a silver circle — gleamed against the stark white wall, daring me to turn back.I didn’t.I smoothed my palms down the sides of my dress, silently cursing myself for picking something so tight. A pale blue wrap dress that clung in all the wrong places, paired with nude heels that already made my feet ache. But it had felt like armor this morning — something polished and confident, a desperate attempt to mask the fact that inside, I was unraveling.“Miss Carter?” a clipped voice called from the reception desk.I turned, forcing a polite smile for the sharp-faced woman behind the counter. Everything about her screamed money and control — from the flawless red manicure to the w

DominicI shouldn’t have hired her.The thought circled in my head like a vulture as I stared out the window of my office, the city skyline a cold, glittering blur of lights and glass. The sun had dropped lower, painting streaks of dying orange across the horizon, but I barely noticed.I hadn’t been able to focus on a damn thing since she walked in.Amelia Carter.Nathan’s little sister.It should’ve been easy. She was supposed to be a name on a resume, a favor I did for my best friend. A temporary assistant to fill the gap until HR found someone competent enough to survive the grind here. I’d told myself that’s all it was.But the second she stepped into this office — wrapped in that soft blue dress that hugged every curve I shouldn’t have been looking at — everything in me tightened like a loaded trigger.Fuck.I gripped the edge of the desk, my jaw clenching hard enough to ache. There was no excuse for this. No room for it.I didn’t get distracted. I didn’t get tempted.Not anymore

DominicI saw her the second she walked in.The entire restaurant faded into background noise — the soft murmur of conversations, the clink of glass, the low hum of a string quartet tucked somewhere near the back. None of it mattered.Amelia Carter had a way of dragging every ounce of air from a room without even realizing it.And tonight… fuck.That dress.A mistake. A calculated, reckless, beautiful fucking mistake.It clung to her body like sin, dipping low along her back, hugging those curves I had no goddamn business noticing. And those legs — smooth, bare, long enough to wrap around me and—I gripped the glass in my hand, welcoming the sting of liquor as I downed the last of it.She didn’t belong here. In my world. In this restaurant. At my table.But she was here anyway.Because I’d put her here.And I wasn’t going to send her away.Not yet.She moved through the restaurant like she didn’t realize every set of male eyes followed her, and some of the women’s too. They didn’t see

DominicI should’ve made her take a cab.Should’ve let her walk out of that restaurant in that fucking dress, get into a cab, and disappear for the night. Away from me. Away from this… pull.But I didn’t.Because I’m weak.And I’ve been lying to myself about it for a long time.I opened the car door and let her slide in first, catching a flash of thigh that sent a bolt of heat straight through me. A better man would’ve looked away. A smarter one.I followed her inside anyway.The scent of her hit me like a punch — sweet, warm, a little floral, and completely uninvited. She took up the whole space without even trying. And for all the distance the backseat of my car offered, it might as well have been a goddamn cage.She sat too close. Or maybe I did.Didn’t matter.I could feel her.The bare skin of her shoulder brushed my sleeve and every nerve in my body lit up like a live wire. The urge to touch her, to grip her chin and tilt her face toward mine, just to see how far I could push be

Dominic’s POVI should’ve stayed at the office.Hell, I should’ve left her there.The moment I dropped her at that hotel, with her lips slightly parted, her skin flushed, and her eyes glazed over like she was seconds from falling apart in my car — I knew I’d made a mistake.And not the kind I could undo.I poured another two fingers of bourbon, the ice clinking against the glass, and stared out over the city from my penthouse window.It was nearly 4 AM, but sleep wasn’t even a consideration. Hasn’t been for years.I didn’t sleep.I worked.I built empires.I ruined men who crossed me.I fucked women whose names I forgot before they left my sheets.But I didn’t lose control.I didn’t want.Until tonight.Until her.Amelia Carter.I let out a humorless laugh, taking a slow sip, the liquor burning its way down my throat.My best friend’s little sister.The girl who used to trail after us at family barbecues, trying to keep up, her hair in tangled waves, her knees always scraped.The girl