Se connecter"Release me, Orland! How dare you hold me captive against my will? Is this howi raised you?" I sit back, sealing my own safety harness as the car accelerates away from the gates. "You never raised me, Mother? Cease this desperate fixation on a man who views your existence as irrelevance.""I have achieved the type of body he likes! I am exercising daily! Just allow me to present myself to him and he will love me again, Orland!""Mother! Enough!" My voice rings out with absolute authority through the reinforced cabin, and she instantly freezes, her hands dropping to her lap as the vehicle falls into a dead silence. "Are you not exhausted? You have squandered forty years of your existence modifying your identity to match a fluid aesthetic standard he created. Where is your anger?" She blinks rapidly, her lips parting, but no sound emerges."Regardless of your physical weight, his orientation toward you remains completely unchanged. He simply does not possess the capacity to care for y
The scent of sin invades my nostrils.That is the only way I can describe the air of my father's luxury mansion. It isn't just imported furnitures and expensive leather; it hosts the fragrance of accumulated, aggressive manipulations and secrets kept behind titanium-reinforced vault doors."Orland, why are you here?" my mother asks, her voice frantic as she steps away from her chair, her eyes tracking toward my father.He remains entirely motionless on a sprawling linen sofa, his attention fixed on a ultra-high-definition display showing predatory wildlife footage. As his way, he ignores her presence completely, even as she stops three feet from his position. She stands there, visibly vibrating between the desperate impulse to reach out to him and the paralyzing fear of his rejection."Let us go, Mother," I say, my footsteps heavy, deliberate, echoing off the limestone flooring as I close the distance between us. I am in the house I spent my entire adult life building a multi-billion
BANKS POVHer boutique is less expansive than the old-money heritage houses I typically frequent. It's operating instead as a highly focused, stringently controlled workspace of emerging high-end ambition. The air lacks the oppressive weight of centuries-old privilege, but it carries the sharp, clinical scent of raw textile potential and intentional luxe. "We have a selection of vintage Amarone, a limited-reserve single malt, and champagne crisping," Rita says, maintaining a precise two-step distance beside me as I scan the bespoke racks. Behind her, an assistant seamlessly presents a polished silver tray displaying the exact bottles she mentioned."I prefer a flute of the Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame," I say, a simple gesture toward the prestige cuvée."Right away, Mr. Wellington.""A highly disciplined atelier you have curated here, Rita." She smiles, her head tilting into a precise angle of corporate deference. "It is an absolute privilege to host your private consultation today
"I thought you stopped smoking," Anthony says from behind me, walking over."A man that doesn’t smoke, puffing an expensive Davidoff cigar on a rooftop at midnight, looking ahead towards his own roof with a very specific, disturbed face... It can only mean one thing."I puff the smoke out, watching it curl into the cold air. The nicotine is doing nothing to calm the roar in my head. It doesn't fade the rage of seeing my woman attacked unprotected on a public floor. It doesn't clear the vision of seeing Eleanor cozy with Dean. And it doesn't soothe the quiet fury at how disobedient she has become even after each punishment."It can only be love. Thinking about Little Thing, right?""Her name is Eleanor.""So it’s Little Thing." Anthony shrugs. He has a talent for provoking. Reacting is a waste."You must feel bad" I look at him"with all your money, owning a precise private defense operation, and your woman was attacked without a single guard present." I take a long drag. "I'm not in
I need to sweep any saved digital copies." Carlton adds, his voice tight."Get in." Carlton slides into the passenger seat, handing his phone to Rooke in the driver’s seat. The car roars out of the compound."What could be making our dear, emotion constipated Banks so angry?" Anthony sing songs, typing fast on his phone. "There it is!" He screams and I pull down my tie. "This is brutal. Little thing is quite feisty " Anthony comments, grinning at his screen. I yank his phone from him. It’s a live stream. I see Eleanor yanking another woman’s hair. I see the flash of camera phones. The sheer public spectacle is making my blood boil."Why are we not there yet Rooke?""He won't fly tiger. This is a car not superpower ""Quiet Anthony ""Always rude." "We are moving as fast as possible, sir." Rooke replies, stepping on the gas. "You rudely ignore me, Banks." My eyes turn red on the screen. Someone slaps Eleanor. The sound is a sharp crack through the tiny speaker. All the blood in my
Banks’s POV - The Hour of the Ambush> Mine: I can’t come to your office, Banks. I’ll come to the penthouse instead.> Me: Send your location, Anor, or have Vandiver bring you over now.I look at the text I sent exactly twenty seconds ago. No reply. The silence is irritating. I run my hand through my hair, the tension in my shoulders ratcheting up another notch."...Profit share has increased by another 244% since the Prince’s successful high-risk escort operation. Several other ruling families from Asia and Eastern Europe are already inquiring about our services." My Chief Operating Officer continues his presentation, pointing at the projection."Excellent." I praise them and seats shift, gazes locking on me. Eleanor still doesn't reply"When are the recruits coming?" I send more texts. Mind totally clocked out of this meeting. I need her with me. Last night was when we saw each other because I had an impromptu meeting"Thirty got stationed today " someone reply me and I nod, trying
BANKS POV"We won't be signing with you."The room goes quiet. The man across the table, Desmond Harker, who has been acting confident since he walked in, shifts in his chair.I don't wait for their brains to process the rejection; I simply stand up, buttoning my suit jacket with slow, deliberate
Two p.m It has been thirty minutes sinc I woke up. The morning light filters softly through the frosted glass of my bathroom window, cutting through the lingering dampness of the room. I spend a long time unpacking the bags that bred my punishment. I place each item down with an intentional, a
ELEANOR POVI feel Banks’s hot mouth on my breast before I am fully conscious.My brain insists it is a dream. My body knows better, there is a track record now, a pattern I have filed away, and this is not a dream.He rolls his tongue around my nipple and I moan, low and involuntary.My eyes flutt
I go completely still.Not Master. Not the word she says in the red room, the word she corrects herself to. The one meant to keep everything in its correct order, butBanks.My name. Breathless and low. Like we are more than the contract. Like I am hers...I should stop and end the contract. If her







