You'll be my toy.

Rosella's POV

“DAMMIT!” I screamed, bolting upright as cold water crashed over me.

I’d been lost in a deep slumber and It took a second for my mind to catch up as water streamed down my face and soaked through my chest. It stole my breath as my heart slammed against my ribs.

A lean man stood beside my bed, an empty glass hanging loosely from his hand. My vision was still blurred, my mind thick with fog—I couldn’t even make out his face.

“Wha… what the hell did you do that for?” I rasped, dragging a hand over my eyes and sucking in a shaky breath as I tried to focus on him.

Recognition hit me a second later.

“You?” My eyes widened as they locked onto Lucien—Blake’s guard, the one who’d served me the wine that left me in this condition.

He didn’t say a word. He just stood there with an unreadable gaze fixed on me.

I pressed my hands to my head, tilting my face downward.

“Fuck…”

The pain throbbed mercilessly, pounding through my skull. The room spun violently, and I grabbed the edge of the bed to steady myself before I toppled over.

I slowly looked around, my mind struggling to catch up.

This Isn’t Blake’s private quarters. Where the hell am I?

Everything looked too polished and perfect—the furniture beneath my fingers, expensive and refined.

“Where am I?” I demanded, my gaze snapping to Lucien before sweeping the room, struggling to force my foggy brain into focus.

And then I saw him. Panic tightened in my chest.

Blake Luca sat on a sofa across the room, two guards stationed beside him.

The air turned heavy, suffocating, as the realization hit me hard—morning light spilled through the room brightly, which means I'd slept here all night.

My gaze dropped to the table in front of him, and my stomach twisted violently.

“Crap…”

All the blackmail devices I’d brought in—the drives, the files, the sedative-filled syringes, every single piece were right there, laid out in the open, completely exposed.

I pulled the blanket tightly around myself, as if it could hide me. My fingers trembled no matter how hard I tried to control them, and I knew everyone noticed.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to hold Blake’s gaze, even as I shrank into the sheets.

“Miss Amber,” Blake scoffed, his tone dripping with ridicule. “Or should I call you Rosella? Which name do you prefer I use to make your life miserable?”

Did he just say my real name?

My stomach dropped as a cold wave of panic swept through me.

“Wha… what are you talking about, Mr. Blake?” I struggled to sit up, my voice unsteady. “Where am I? What… what did you do to me?”

Blake leaned back in his chair, his expression cold, eyes narrowed. He glanced at Lucien, and my gaze followed his’. Before I could fully register what was happening, Lucien’s hand struck my cheek in a sharp slap, snapping my head violently to the side. Pain bloomed instantly, hot and stinging, as the impact rang through my skull and stole the air from my lungs. A thin trail of blood slipped from the corner of my mouth.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Jakes hissed, his voice cold, cutting through my disoriented thoughts with no hint of emotion on his face.

He rose from the couch, my eyes tracking his every movement. He walked toward me—calm, deliberate, dangerous. I barely dared to breathe as he closed the distance, his presence pressing down on me.

“Little bird… you think I didn’t recognize you the moment you walked into my booth at Luxe Noir?”

His voice dropped to an octave. “You think you can play your game with me… and walk away unharmed?”

I stayed silent, tears threatening to spill as I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

He began pacing the room slowly, from one end to the other—five steps forward, five steps backward.

“R..o..s..e..l..l..a… R..o..s..s…”

My pulse spiked at every syllable of my name.

How the fuck does he know this much about me?

“I’m not Lyncas… or any of the others you’ve used and destroyed. I’ve been waiting for you, Rosella.” He stopped, his eyes locking onto mine—cold, unblinking, almost terrifying.

“The question is… do you want to stay alive?”

He knows Lyncas Rodrigo too?

Mag and I really did Lyncas dirty with his nudes—I can’t even begin to think straight right now. But how the hell does Blake know I was involved with him? HOW?

I swallowed hard, fighting so hard to speak, to deny everything he’d said, but my voice wouldn’t come. Fear settled in deeper instead, sharp and suffocating. Not just of him, but of what he might do next—another hot slap, or something far worse.

“Boss, this blackmailing bitch should just be wasted,” Lucien cut in, his hand buried in his pocket, posture tensed with restrained violence as if he was already deciding how to end my life.

Blake stayed silent, his eyes flicking to him. The look on his face spoke volumes—disapproval.

And somehow, beneath the fear tightening my chest, a small flicker of relief washed over me.

He glanced at the table where all my blackmail devices lay exposed, before turning his cold gaze back to me.

“You think you can use all this… all this bullshit on me? You think your fucked ass can get you the Dunes entity?”

He turned slightly, his eyes flicking briefly toward the guards by the couch.

“Light my cigar, Roman.”

The taller one moved at once, offering a lit cigar. Blake took it without a word, bringing it to his lips and drawing in a slow, controlled drag, his gaze never leaving mine.

“Lucien, talking about wasting her… mmmm… her pussy smells good, and… it tastes good too… I think there's something about her worth keeping for now.”

Lucien gave a small nod, his expression tight—clearly not comfortable with what his boss had just said.

Around the room, the others exchanged uneasy glances, subtly shifting in their positions.

Wait, did this man fuck me while I blacked out?

No... no way… but the reality sank in—I was almost completely naked under the duvet, wearing nothing but my thin silk panties.

Fuck... this man is a jerk.

He watched me closely as I stared down at myself beneath the duvet, and smiled—his first smile since I’d met him, and it was damned sinful in a way that made my stomach twist. And I hated that I felt it.

Roman stepped forward and held out an ashtray. Blake didn’t break eye contact with me as he tapped the cigar lightly against its edge, letting the ash fall away before taking another slow drag.

“Surprised I know how your pussy tastes?” he teased, exhaling smoke slowly into the air. “Isn’t that part of your mission?”

I summoned every ounce of courage I had left. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I faltered, “Wha… what do you want from–”

“Shut up!” Lucien snapped, making me shrink deeper into the duvet. He slammed his hand against the wall, his voice cutting and controlled with anger. “You don’t dare question my Boss.”

“Lucien.” Blake growled, almost amused. “Her courage is intriguing…”

Lucien straightened immediately, his jaw tightening.

Blake moved toward me again, closing the distance until I could feel the heat of his body. Then he exhaled a slow puff of smoke right into my face. I coughed lightly, but held his gaze firmly.

“Is smoking new to you? You seem like the type of girl who likes to play with fire.”

I shook my head slowly, tears welling in my eyes. I’d never smoked all my life, no matter how much of a bad bitch I’d been.

“Listen carefully,” His voice, calm but laced with threat. “I can make this very easy for you, Rosella. You just have to decide your fate.”

My breath caught in my throat.

For a brief moment, regret pierced through me—I never should’ve taken this mission. I should’ve refused, but Mag doesn’t take no for an answer. In Mag’s estate, refusal meant a death sentence.

Blake seemed to be enjoying the fear flickering in my eyes. “You choose… your life, or my game.”

What game? My thoughts went wild.

I felt his breath warm against my ear as he leaned in, making me shut my eyes instinctively.

“You’ll be my toy… you’ll follow my rules, do what I want, whenever and wherever I say. If not,” he paused, the threat hanging between us, “let’s just say your life won’t be the only thing that’s over.”

Cold fear washed over me.

I slowly opened my eyes and found him straightening up.

“You have just a minute, Rosella…” he murmured, already turning away, heading back to the sofa.

A sharp click followed—Lucien cocking a pistol beside me.

I turned my head slowly and froze in place. The barrel was aimed straight at me.

Just this morning, this same man had humiliated me with cold water, slapped me, suggested his boss waste me, and now he had a pistol aimed straight at me.

A sharp heat flared through me. Anger cut through the fear, my jaw tightening as my fingers curled into the sheets beneath me.

One minute. That was all I’d been given to decide whether I lived or died.

There’s no way Mag would let me die here just because I refused to belong to the Dunes Boss, to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

What if he demanded the unthinkable? What if he forced me into things I couldn’t even begin to imagine? Me? Rosella Ross?

I glanced up at the large, fancy clock hanging above Blake’s sofa, with a gold rim and a glass face that reflected the soft light in the room. The seconds felt louder than the silence in the room, ticking away far too fast.

One minute was almost up.

A sudden surge hit me—raw instinct, sharp and immediate. Survival. Fight. Do something before it’s too late.

I clenched my teeth, forcing myself to breathe as my gaze moved across the room—Blake, the guards beside him, the exit, before I tilted my head slightly, stealing a side glance at Lucien, my eyes barely shifting as I tried to read his next move.

Before anyone could react, I yanked the duvet off sharply, twisting my body as I kicked hard. My heel slammed into Roman’s wrist, and the gun flew from his grip, skidding across the floor.

The room exploded into motion.