“Again,” he grunted, gripping my hips harder. His eyes fluttered shut as his head arched back. I reached for my clit and rubbed hard. I was going to come again.

“Make it messy. I want to walk out of here smelling like you…”

The pounding of our bodies against the sofa grew louder in my ears, drowning out the sounds of the office around us. My orgasm barreled toward me, unstoppable and overwhelming. Dominic’s breathing was labored as he grunted out each thrust, his grip on my hips bordering on painful. The primal part of my brain took over, and all I could focus on was the building pressure between my legs.

“I’m close,” I gasped, biting down on my lip to muffle the moan that threatened to escape. “I’m going to come again.”

“Good,” Dominic growled in response, his hips bucking harder against me. “Let that pretty pussy of yours milk me.” His growl made me snap. I jolted and tensed, and he grunted as I felt warmth spreading inside me.

The climax was stronger than the first, and I couldn’t help the few whimpers and gasps that came out. My body was on fire, and I knew everyone in this building would smell the sex on me, but I didn’t care right then.

Dominic’s grip on my hips loosened as we both struggled to catch our breath. His chest heaved, his breath hot against my neck as he bent down to kiss me. I could feel his cocktwitching inside me, still hard and pulsing in aftershocks. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

“I…I think we need to stop,” I panted, my words coming out in a whispered breath. “Someone could walk in any minute.”

He groaned in response but didn’t move yet. Slowly, reluctantly, he withdrew from me, and I bit my lip to stifle a moan of loss. He didn’t even wipe himself clean, choosing to tuck his still-hard dick back into his slacks and button up. I waited, legs spread and dripping, on his couch as he got some tissues from his desk and returned to wipe me clean.

He offered me his hand and I stood, still breathless, but I didn’t push him away. Then he kissed me again—slowly this time, with the kind of deliberate tenderness that made it impossible to pretend this was meaningless. His hand settled against my cheek, thumb brushing beneath my eye as I shimmied my skirt back down around my thighs.

“Can we have that talk now,” he said, his voice low but certain, “about making this real?”

The question wasn’t what I was prepared for. It made me so uneasy, and a little nauseous. I felt the blood rush to my face as I stiffened beneath his touch. My heart knocked hard against my ribs. I couldn’t stay in this room with that hanging between us.

If I stayed, I’d have to tell him. About the twins. About the night that changed everything. About the life he didn’t know he had waiting on the other side of a truth I wasn’t ready to give.

I eased out of his arms with a small smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “I really need to get back. I have two follow-ups due by end of day, and I promised Vanessa an updated talking point list before the board review.”

It felt like I was holding everything together with invisible thread. I paused just long enough to reach into his pocket and pull my panties out. My back was straight, my chin high, but inside I was unraveling. The air felt hotter now too, as if theroom itself had absorbed his words and was blowing them back at me with fire attached.

As I walked toward the door, I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t turn around. If I did, I knew I’d waver. I’d hesitate. I might even stay. And if I stayed, we’d have the conversation he wanted—the one I couldn’t risk having yet. Not without destroying everything I had built.

The truth wasn’t something I could offer in pieces, and once I started, there would be no way to stop it.

So I opened the door and walked out, heels striking carpet with more force than necessary, each step anchoring me to the choice I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep making.

18

DOMINIC

David Bennett was ten minutes late. Not long enough to signal weakness, but just enough to prove a point—that his time was worth more than mine. He walked into the private lounge like he owned it, one hand in his pocket. His coat was still buttoned, not a trace of apology on his scowling face. I’d never known him to be like this toward me, but politics changed men.

I stayed seated, elbows on the armrests of the low leather chair, legs spread in a posture I hadn’t used since my earliest days at investor roundtables. I didn’t stand. If this was a pissing contest, I had no intention of giving him the higher ground.

“We agreed on five sharp,” I said, voice flat. “You lose your watch, David?”

His mouth twitched into something that might’ve been a smirk if there were any humor left in the man. “I thought you’d enjoy knowing what it’s like to be kept waiting for once.”

He walked to the edge of the coffee table and stood there staring at me with a tense posture. It was obvious he had a chip on his shoulder after our last encounter where I refused to back down. I wasn’t going to back down now either.

“Let’s not waste time,” he said. “This thing between you and my daughter—whatever narrative you two are spinning—it’s gone too far.”

There it was, stripped of pleasantries or pretense—a direct accusation, hurled like a stone with the intent to do damage. I kept my voice even as I replied, “You think Savannah doesn’t know what she’s doing?”

I could tell he wasn’t mincing words as he said, “I think you know exactly what you’re doing. You needed a way to make the press stop publicizing your failures, so you reached for a familiar face—a pretty one with a record clean enough to soften your image. You fed the media what they wanted and turned her into the story instead of facing your own.”

I sat back, measured my breath, and met his stare with the same stillness he offered me. In this quiet standoff, neither of us was willing to flinch first.

“She’s not a pawn, David. Not in your game, not in mine. Savannah is a beautiful woman with a mind of her own. This PR thing we’re doing will only help her career, not hurt it.” My mind was made up, but he was still angry.