All Chapters of Burning Desires (An Open Marriage With The Billionaire): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

SOPHIA LANCASTER It was past midnight when the black town car Ethan had arranged dropped me off at the front gates. My body felt heavy, but it was a good heaviness. I could still smell Ethan on my skin and the musk of sex. I hadn't showered before leaving his sanctuary. The house was blazing with light. I sighed, tightening my grip on my purse. I unlocked the front door and stepped into the foyer. "Where the hell have you been?"The voice boomed from the living room, I closed the door slowly, taking my time to lock it. I walked into the living room, and Daniel was pacing in front of the fireplace. His tie was undone, hanging loose around his neck. His sleeves were rolled up, his hair was a disaster, and there was a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table. Scattered across the floor were papers the Yamamoto contract I had refused to touch that morning.He stopped pacing when he saw me, his eyes wild and bloodshot. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he shouted."I have a

SOPHIA LANCASTER I felt stupid, I felt used. I felt like a hollowed-out husk of a woman.Knock. Knock.The sudden sound against the driver's side window made me scream. I jolted upright, my heart hammering against my ribs, wiping at my wet face. I expected a security guard but when I looked through the tinted glass, I saw Ethan.He was standing there, his hand pressed against the glass, I fumbled with the lock, my hands trembling so badly I missed the button twice. Finally, the lock clicked.Ethan ripped the door open.He didn't say a word. He didn't ask if I was okay he could clearly see I wasn't. He reached in, unbuckled my seatbelt, and pulled me out of the car."Ethan," I choked out, my voice broken. "I... I can't...""Hush," he commanded against my ear.He wrapped his arms around me, holding me up because my legs refused to work. He walked me over to his car and opened the passenger door."Get in," he said gently."My car," I sniffled, looking back at the Mercedes. "My purse..."

SOPHIA LANCASTERI adjusted my navy blazer," Mrs. Hawthorne?" I turned to see Greg, one of Lancaster's senior project managers, and Maya, a junior systems architect."We're ready," Greg said, clutching his tablet nervously. "Do you think Mr. Calder will be present? Usually, CEOs don't sit in on the initial integration briefs.""He'll be there," I said, "Let's go."We were escorted to the top floor, to a conference room that overlooked the entire city. Ethan was sitting at the head table flanked by three of his own engineers.He didn't stand when we entered. He watched us. His grey eyes swept over Greg and Maya before landing on me.For a heartbeat, the air left the room.I remembered the feel of his hands on my waist, the sound of his voice in the dark but his face gave away absolutely nothing."Mrs. Hawthorne," he said, nodding once. "Thank you for coming.""Mr. Calder," I replied, I took the seat directly opposite him. "This is my team. We've prepared the architectural breakdown for

SOPHIA LANCASTER "Let's see if your ghost is haunting the machine," Ethan murmured, his voice rough with sleep and sex.I sat up, pulling the sheet against my chest, watching him."Did you upload the hold?" I asked, leaning my chin on his shoulder."Connection established," Ethan confirmed. "The UDP tunnel you built is stable. We have a direct mirror of her terminal."He angled the tablet so I could see a live feed of a computer desktop. Specifically, Elena Vance's desktop at the Lancaster Innovations home office. It was strange, seeing the digital workspace I used to manage now controlled by someone else. She had rearranged my folders and changed the background."She's working late," I whispered, checking the timestamp, it was past 9:00 PM."Money doesn't sleep," Ethan said grimly. "And neither do thieves."On the screen, a secure messaging app was open.User: D_HawthorneUser: E_VanceMy stomach tightened. "Open it," I said. Ethan tapped the screen and the chat history unspooled.E_

SOPHIA LANCASTER The house was quiet, Daniel left early leaving me alone to have some peace and it is the best kind of feeling ever. I was in the library, curled up in one of the wingback chairs near the window, reviewing the thermal logs from the Calder integration on my tablet, i hummed sounds while I was engrossed in my work. The door was slightly ajar, and I heard footsteps and immediately knew Daniel was home early.I froze, my finger hovering over the screen. I instinctively dimmed the brightness, though he wouldn't understand the raw code even if he saw it."Yes, yes, I know," Daniel's voice drifted in from the hallway. He was on his phone, "I'm handling it, she's upstairs."I held my breath."Don't worry about the rule," Daniel said, a scoffing laugh escaping him. "It's my house, Elena, and besides, I've found a way around it. I'm sending her away."My blood ran cold. I sat perfectly still, "There's a Tech Summit in Napa this weekend," Daniel continued, his voice dropping to