All Chapters of Owned by the Cold CEO: His Fragile Acquisition: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The walk to the car is an exercise in pure agony. Every step Rhea takes causes the emerald silk to slither against her sensitized skin; a constant, shiver-inducing reminder of Dominic’s hand beneath the table.She can feel Marcus’s gaze on her back, a physical stain that makes her skin crawl, but Dominic’s hand on her spine is heavier. It is a silent, terrifying anchor, steering her with the lethal focus of a predator. The moment the Maybach door thuds shut, the atmosphere turns suffocating.The privacy glass is already up, encasing them in a black, leather-scented void. Dominic doesn't wait for the car to pull away. He lunges, grabbing the lapels of Rhea's trench coat and jerking her toward him until their noses brush."You liked it, didn't you?" His voice is a jagged edge, vibrating with a dark, possessive hunger."What, sir?" she whispers, her breath hitching in her throat."The way he looked at you. The way he claimed your hand." Dominic looms over her, his knee pinning hers agai

He stares at the darkened screen in his palm, his jaw set in a grim, unforgiving line. He doesn't intend to repeat the same mistake twice, the woman who destroyed him haunts the periphery of his vision, but Rhea is the penance. This time, he won't lose. This time, he will break her before the world can even try to touch her.Dominic stands at the floor-to-ceiling window, the city lights reflecting in his eyes like distant, dying stars. In his hand, Rhea’s dead phone feels like a trophy or a weapon. He glances toward the bed, where Rhea is a pale, bruised shadow amidst the black silk sheets.He should feel satisfied. He claimed her. He marked her. But the silence of the penthouse is a trigger.The silence is where the memories live.Suddenly, he isn't in a penthouse. He is in a smaller, warmer apartment. He is kneeling. Not in prayer, but at Ava’s feet. He remembers how he used to hold her with hands that were soft, hesitant, and terrified of breaking her. He had been the "good man"

The morning is a blur of static and agony.From her desk, Rhea can feel Julian’s eyes burning into the side of her head like a brand. Every time she reaches for a file or types a line into a presentation slide, he is there - a silent, grieving presence. He looks like a man watching a car crash in slow motion, frozen in the horror of the impact, unable to look away from the wreckage.Even Tessa has begun to sniff the air, her predatory gossip instincts tingling.“What is going on with you two?” Tessa asks, leaning over Rhea’s cubicle with a sharp, curious look that scans for any sign of a crack. “I thought you guys were the office 'it' couple. I was half-expecting an engagement announcement by Christmas.”Rhea forces a plastic, hollow smile that doesn't even come close to reaching her eyes. Julian doesn't even manage that much. He just stares at his monitor, his jaw tightening until the bone threatens to snap.At noon, Rhea can't take the suffocating silence anymore. She stands up and

Rhea walks back into the executive suite, every stiff, mechanical step a sharp reminder of the lace panties now tucked away in Dominic’s pocket. Her body pulses with a lingering, hollow ache - a wet, stinging heat that serves as a constant, shameful tether to what just happened in the restroom. She feels like a traitor to her own sex, a hollowed-out shell of a woman whose dignity was left on the tile floor.She has just been used like an animal, her moans smothered by his palm, while the woman who supposedly holds Dominic’s heart stood only two feet away.She knocks, her fingers trembling as she adjusts her glasses, trying to find a mask of professional neutrality."Come in," the voice calls. It is cold, level, and utterly unaffected, as if he hadn't just been breathing fire into her skin minutes ago.Dominic is sitting opposite Ava on the charcoal couch. As Rhea enters, he looks up, his gaze locking onto hers with predatory precision. He slowly traces his thumb over his lower lip,

“Remove all your underwear.”Dominic’s voice is a flat, clinical vibration in the cramped luxury of the car back seat. He doesn't look up from his phone. The blue light of the screen carves out the sharp, merciless angles of his face, making him look less like a man and more like a statue.Rhea freezes, her heart thudding against her ribs. “Here?” she whispers, her voice cracking.“Unless you’d prefer to do it on the sidewalk when we arrive,” he replies. He still doesn't glance at her. His thumb swipes across the screen; cold, methodical, and utterly detached.Rhea’s hands shake as she reaches under her skirt. The car is moving, the world outside the tinted windows blurring, but inside, the air is thick with the scent of his expensive cologne and her own rising panic. She peels the lace down her legs, feeling the sudden, biting chill of the leather against her bare skin.She fumbles with her blouse next, slipping her arms out just enough to unhook her bra. She slides it off and qui