One more day.

One more day and my life would never be the same.

Titan would be mine.

Completely. Utterly. Eternally.

I’d have her when I wanted her. Fuck her exactly how I desired. And possess her in a way I never had before.

She was mine.

We hadn’t made another trip to her playroom again. When I’d walked inside, it was exactly as I’d imagined it would be. I’d been inside a BDSM club before. I wasn’t a participant in the lifestyle, but I’d been with women who were. They asked me to fuck them while they wore gas masks, a bar spreader between their legs… If a woman wanted to be fucked in a kinky way, no way in hell was I going to say no. However she wanted it, I would give it to her.

But I made a bigger exception for Titan.

I considered it to be an investment. I put in my time, accepted things I normally wouldn’t, and now I was being rewarded.

By making Titan into my woman.

I eyed the clock on my computer screen as I sat in my office. I just had two meetings, skipped lunch, and I was supposed to play golf with a potential client later. But I’d have to reschedule that.

Because, at midnight, I had plans.

When the clock struck twelve, my six weeks would begin. There would be lots of sex, lots of obedience, and lots of the kinky shit I was into. I’d paid my dues, and now it was my turn to order her to her knees.

To seize the control.

My fingers rested against each other as I stared out the window of my office, my mind slipping into my perverted fantasies of Tatum Titan. I was harder than steel, but I’d had her enough times to feel satisfied and subdued. I shouldn’t want her even more. I shouldn’t have this much blood pumping in my veins, feel this kind of adrenaline.

Not for a woman I’d already had.

But I did. I craved her like a drug. Craved her like I would never get enough.

Natalie’s voice came through the intercom. “Sir, I have Jax Hunt on the line.” Her voice suggested she knew exactly who that was—and this was a strange phone call.

I stared at the speaker where her voice came from, but I didn’t respond. I hadn’t spoken to my younger brother in over five years. I crossed paths with him once at a bar, but we pretended not to see each other. We were two men who picked two different sides, but we didn’t have any beef with one another.

It was sad.

“Sir?” Natalie caught my attention before my mind slipped away too far.

I straightened in my chair. “I’ll take it.”

“Sending the call through.”

The phone rang. I would normally put it on speakerphone because hands-free was always easier. I was only half paying attention to what someone said anyway, writing an email at the same time. But this time, all of my focus was on the conversation. I took the call and pressed the phone to my ear.

I hadn’t said a word to my brother in years. There wasn’t a single sentence I could say to reflect the chasm in our relationship. The man was practically a stranger. The only reason why I knew he was still single with no kids was because it would have been all over the news if he settled down. I said the safest words that came to mind. “Jax. How can I help you?” I didn’t know what I would be met with. Resentfulness. Rage. Indifference. No way to tell until he said something.

His voice was just as steady as mine. “Our father is pretty pissed about Megaland.”

I didn’t need his confirmation to know that.

“He’s seeing red right now.”

Redundant. “I wanted that company to the exclusion of all else. It didn’t matter who my competitor was.”

“He doesn’t see it that way.”

Jax stuck to business, which didn’t surprise me. I stuck to business too.

“You shouldn’t have crossed him, Diesel.”

“It’s just business, Jax. He knows that better than anyone.”

“That’s not how he’s taking it.”

I rested my elbows on the desk as I listened, the city silent around me even though it was thriving with constant life. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because he sees it as a declaration of war. Thought you should know the battle has begun.”

My fingers drummed on the desk. My father and I had a mutual dislike for each other, but we never went out of our way to spite one another. But this was obviously different to him. I knew it about his pride and nothing else. “I still don’t know why you’re telling me this, Jax. If you expect me to apologize, I won’t. If you expect me to bow out and give him the company, I won’t do that either.”

“No, I wasn’t expecting any of that,” he said. “I’m just…” His voice trailed away, and we both sat on the phone in silence.

I listened to the pause, waiting for words. Hoping for words.

“I just wanted to warn you.”

---

Ten minutes before midnight, my driver drove me across town until I arrived in front of her building. The fall chill was starting to creep into the air, making the windows fog. I wore a hoodie when I would normally just wear a t-shirt.

The car stopped, and I pulled my bag over my shoulder before I stepped out.

Just then, the front door to the lobby opened.

And Bruce Carol walked out. He was unmistakable with his bushy eyebrows and pouty lips. His eyebrows ridges looked like mountains. He wore a thick black jacket with the collar popped, either to hide his appearance or protect his neck from the cold.

What the fuck?

He walked to a black car parked at the curb on the other side of the street. The taillights were red, and steam was coming out of the exhaust pipe. Someone was in the driver’s seat, and as soon as Bruce was in the rear, he drove off.

I wasn’t sure what I saw.

Did he live in this building?

It was possible. The building was full of the rich elites of New York City. There were probably other people I knew who lived in the building. I just never crossed paths with them because I always went to the private elevator.

After relieving myself of my paranoia, I walked inside and got into the elevator. I didn’t tell Titan I was coming. At the stroke of midnight, I wouldn’t need permission or explanations. I could do whatever the hell I wanted—when I wanted.

I rode the elevator to the top, and the doors opened into her dark living room. Most of the lights were off, so she must already be in bed. I stepped inside and walked down the hallway. It was quiet, and the elevators doors closed with a ding.

She must know I was here.

I walked in through the open doorway of her bedroom and found her standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she stood in just a black thong. It was dark, so I could only distinguish her silhouette.

I took a moment to look at her, to enjoy the sight of her quiet reserve. I turned my wrist and watched the time.

One minute.

I set my bag down and walked farther into the room, the darkness surrounding me. I slid my hands into my pockets and kept my distance, watching her like a lost dog that’d just run away from her master.

Thirty seconds.

The lights from the city glowed like stars in the sky. She was absolutely silent as she stood there, and just as still. She didn’t cower like prey, her body tall and strong as ever. Her shoulders were back, and she held herself with endless grace. Her chest slowly rose and fell.

Fifteen seconds.

I came closer to her, my hands steady. My heart was beating slowly, like the calm before the storm. While a hurricane swirled around us, the center was quiet and still. That was how we were—for now.

Five seconds.

I came up right behind her, my face almost touching the back of her head. My hands stayed at my sides, and I resisted the urge to grab her. My knuckles ached to grip her hips, to pull her flush against me and make her mine.

Three.

Two.

One.

My watch beeped once from the timer I’d set.

It was done. She was officially mine.

“I knew you would be here…”

I pressed my lips to her ear, my hands moving to her hips. I finally got her in my grasp, felt her soft skin under my fingertips. I licked the shell of her ear before I spoke. “On. Your. Knees.”