Tempting Playboy のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

The heavy silence of the evacuated boardroom felt like a physical weight, pressing down on the polished marble table where a billionaire’s academic legacy had just been systematically dismantled.Gia sat entirely still, her eyes fixed on the empty chair at the far end of the room where Arthur Sterling had sat only minutes before. Her heart was still hammering a volatile, frantic rhythm against her ribs, the sheer rush of adrenaline leaving a metallic tang in the back of her throat. She had spent months worrying about her future, terrified that a single bad grade or a vindictive board member could snatch away her ticket out of mediocrity.And now, with a single yellowed document and a meticulously timed economic argument, she had not just protected her own footing, she had permanently altered the power balance of the entire university."You're shaking, Miss Dutta."Leo’s deep baritone broke the quiet, the gravelly rumble vibrating right through the back of her leather chair. His large

The brass handle of the heavy mahogany door began to turn.Time seemed to fracture into slow, agonizing fractions of a second. Gia’s heart slammed against her ribs with enough force to bruise. She was trapped. If Chloe opened that door and saw her brother pinning her best friend against the wood, the entire fragile architecture of their lies would instantly vaporize.Leo did not panic. He was a predator who thrived in the dark, and his reflexes were terrifying.In one fluid, violent motion, he gripped Gia’s waist and spun her away from the door. He snatched the graded midterm off the desk and shoved it flat against her chest, stepping back just as the heavy door swung inward."This is completely unacceptable, Miss Dutta."Leo’s voice cracked through the room like a physical whip. The raw, burning obsession that had been in his eyes just a microsecond ago was entirely eradicated, replaced by a sheet of impenetrable, absolute corporate ice.Chloe froze in the doorway, her hand still res

The text message from Chloe came at exactly eight o'clock on Saturday morning, just as Gia was trying to choke down a piece of dry toast in her cramped dorm room.Chloe: Pack a bag. A big one. The SUV is picking us up in twenty minutes. We are escaping to the Montauk estate for the weekend and I am not taking no for an answer.Gia stared at her phone, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. Her stomach did a slow, complicated flip.Montauk. The Vance family's oceanfront estate.Before she could even type a reply, a second message popped up. This one wasn't from Chloe. It was from an unsaved number, but the clinical, commanding tone was unmistakable.Unknown: The driver has instructions to pick you up first. Don't make him wait, Miss Dutta.Gia let out a shaky breath, dropping her phone onto the mattress. Leo had actually done it. He hadn't just suggested the weekend; he had manipulated his own sister into organizing the entire getaway, turning what Chloe thought was a supportive "girls'

The cold marble of the kitchen island bit through the thin fabric of Gia’s black dress, but the chill was instantly scorched away by the heavy, territorial weight of Leo’s body pressing flush against hers.Outside, the storm shrieked, rain lashing against the glass panels like handfuls of gravel. Inside, the only sound was the ragged, uneven rhythm of their breathing.Gia’s hands were still locked around Leo’s forearms, her knuckles aching from the sheer force of trying to hold him back—or hold him close, she couldn't even tell anymore. His dark silk shirt was warm beneath her fingers, the rapid thud of his heart hammering a frantic pace against her palms."You're going to get us caught," Gia whispered, her voice breaking as his lips traced a burning path along the sensitive line of her collarbone. She pulled her head back, forcing him to meet her eyes in the shadow-drenched kitchen. "Leo, listen to me. Ethan isn't like Sterling. He doesn't care about the rules, and he’s looking for a

The storm had passed by sunrise, leaving behind a blinding, brilliant blue sky and the rhythmic, deceptive roar of the Atlantic washing over the wet cliffs below.Gia stood in front of the vanity mirror in her guest suite, her fingers trembling slightly as she adjusted the high collar of a cream-colored silk blouse. She pulled her hair forward, carefully checking her reflection to ensure the dark, faint bruise Leo’s fingers had left on the side of her neck was completely hidden.Her body ached with a deep, liquid exhaustion. Every time she closed her eyes, she was instantly thrown back into the pitch-black pantry—the freezing wood against her spine, the explicit, relentless friction of Leo’s touch, and the terrifying, mocking weight of Ethan Thorne’s voice right through the glass.He knows. The phrase had been looping in her brain like a terminal command for the last five hours.She couldn't stay hidden in her room forever. The foundation alignment didn't stop because she was having a