The wind whips around me as I grip the metal bar and wonder what it would feel like to fly.

The moment of weightlessness. The rush of wind. The sinking gut feeling. The adrenaline pumping, the body tense in preparation.

I’ve been skydiving before, but it’s not the same as actually falling.

I take a breath and relax my hands. I don’t want to jump. I have no desire to kill myself. I only want to know…

I want to know what she felt.

I take another breath and force myself away from the edge. I’m on the roof of my building, the monument to my genius, or at least that’s what the press said when the tower was completed. It’s modern and sleek and beautiful, one of the most expensive buildings in the world.

Now though, it’s just an expensive prison. Self-imposed, but still a prison.

I haven’t left this place in three years. Before that, I barely left, until one day I decided that I didn’t need the outside world. Nothing seemed worthwhile, nothing seemed good. There’s so much horror and terror and ugliness, I might as well lock myself away inside my tower and amass my fortune.

A fortune I’ll never spend in a prison I won’t let myself leave.

It’s somewhat ironic, really. I’m one of the richest men in the world. I own and run a successful investment firm, moving billions of dollars around the world every single day, and yet I barely spend a fraction of my own wealth.

I let it sit there, rotting away.

I trudge back down the steps toward the top floor that serves as my office and my home. I push open the door and walk down a short hall. To the left is my bedroom, a place nobody ever goes. To the right is my office.

For a second, I consider going to the left. I can curl up in bed, shut my eyes, hope that the dreams don’t come.

But of course, I won’t do that. Only weak men sleep all day, and I refuse to be a weak man, despite my reclusive nature.

In the beginning, people said I was hiding from the world. People said I was a coward, I should come out, I should rejoin the world.

But I’m not hiding. I simply don’t need the world. Nothing interests me out there. I have everything in here, in my little prison.

I clench my fists. That first year was difficult. The press was relentless. Fortunately though, I’ve faded into obscurity, just another strange rich man living his life. I still hate the bastards for calling me a coward, and I was almost tempted to leave my prison just to prove a point.

Instead, I kept myself focused. That’s what I do, always staying focused.

I turn to the right and head into my office.

My mind flickers to yesterday when I met my new personal assistant. She was very pretty, too pretty actually. Straight, thick, dark hair, big blue eyes with long dark lashes, pale skin, beautiful figure, I already know there will be issues with temptation. She’s a sweet treat, ready for the feasting.

I smile to myself as I sit down at my desk. The other girls barely lasted and barely kept my attention, but I think this one is going to be different. I never took it too far with those girls, just simply pushed them too far and was too harsh, made their weaknesses clear.

This new girl, though, she doesn’t seem weak at all. Her answers made me smile, and her beauty kept my attention.

I suspect she’ll be perfect, but I don’t have high hopes anymore. I’ve been disappointed too many times in the past, and besides, I don’t get involved like that anymore.

Not since her. I don’t let myself.

Forty years old, I muse to myself, sighing. I turned forty years old a week ago. I’m still a young man, but I’ve aged so much deep down inside these past five years.

A buzz sounds, pulling me from my thoughts. I hit the button to respond. “Yes, Rogers?”

“Declan here for you, sir.”

“Send him in.”

Declan enters a moment later, swaggering across the space with a stupid smile on his face. “How’s it going, Mason?” He grins as he heads over to the little bar I have near my desk.

“Fine, Declan. Still making me money?”

“Always.” He pours himself a whiskey and sits down in the chair facing my desk. “This quarter’s shaping up very, very nicely.”

“You say that every day.”

“It keeps being true.”

I smile a little bit. “Make sure it stays that way.”

“Of course.” He grins and sips his drink. “How is it in here, boss?”

“The usual,” I say, glancing at the window.

“You think about coming to the staff meeting tomorrow?”

I give him a look. He just shrugs a little. “Gotta try,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “No, you don’t.”

“Anyway, trades are going smoothly. The Chinese guys are coming in a few days, and we’ll discuss further integration with them.”

“Good. Make sure they understand how much I wish this partnership to happen.”

“Of course.” He waves his hand, still grinning.

Declan is a good soldier, if a little too ambitious. He’s my eyes and ears outside of this room, and I rely on him to run the company in ways that I’m unable to. I keep the big picture in mind, building our overall strategy from the ground up, while Declan oversees the day-to-day operations.

I’ve known him for a long time. He was there when I took over Ward Investing from my father, and he’s been with me ever since. He’s a few years older than I am, thinning hair, paunch around the middle, but a solid performer. I know he wants to muscle me out completely, but he’s too useful just to simply remove him.

So far, we’ve struck a balance of power.

“Anything else?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “Heard you got a new girl today.”

“Rogers brought her in.”

“What do you think?”

I shrug, seeing her pretty eyes in my mind, her full lips, her beautiful hips. “She’s like the rest of them.”

He laughs at that. “Come on, boss. You gotta lighten up. Nobody’s gonna be perfect.”

“I need perfection.”

“Nah, you don’t. You just need a pretty girl that only messes up sometimes.”

I sigh, glancing at the window. “Wise as always, Declan.”

“Happy to help.” He knocks back his whiskey and stands. “Call if you need me.”

I nod and he goes to leave, but hesitates at the door.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him.

“Don’t fire this one.”

I raise my eyebrow at him. “What do you care?”

“You’re just so miserable when you fire them. Keep her around, okay?”

For a second, I think Declan might actually care.

But then I remember who I’m dealing with.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He sighs. “And come to the staff meeting.” He leaves my office, the great doors swinging shut behind him.

I stare out the window again, thinking about what he said. Maybe I have been too harsh on my assistants, but I can’t help it. I can’t abide laziness and all their pathetic excuses. Two of them quit on me, just because I’m a little demanding, and the others couldn’t hack it at all.

This one, though, I’m hopeful. I think she might be different, and maybe it’s time to find out.

I buzz Rogers, and he answers immediately. “Send her in,” I say.

Thirty seconds later, the doors open again, and Hazel steps inside. The doors swing shut behind her as she approaches my desk, hands clasped in front of her, big, pretty eyes locked on mine. She bows her head slightly and I feel my pulse thump in my chest.

She’s wearing a cream-colored blouse, tight around the breasts, tucked into tight black slacks. Her heels are short, but they still make her hips and legs look gorgeous. I take her in for a moment, inspecting her body, her makeup, her hair.

“I need you to do something for me,” I say softly.

“Yes, sir?” she asks, the perfect picture of obedience.

Yes… obedience… Let’s see how much you’ll really obey.

“I need you to bow to me.”

She blinks her pretty eyes and doesn’t move a muscle as a smile plays at my lips.