Chapter One

Chapter OneAn upsurge of blinding pleasure tore through me as I came hard, arching off the desk, scratching at Danton’s back. Grunting into my neck, he dug his fingers harder into my thighs as he pitilessly rammed into me over and over, plunging his thick cock so damn deep it took my breath away.I felt his dick pulse and thicken inside me as his thrusts turned more erratic. He bit out a curse, his hot breath coasting over my neck. Then he slammed home and exploded.My breaths ragged, I slumped against the desk that he’d earlier planted me on. Utterly sated, I felt somewhat boneless. I was so limp that not even the anxiety I felt at what I would soon have to do could make me tense up.I closed my eyes, letting myself soak up Danton’s warmth, weight, scent, and the wash of his breath against my throat. I’d never feel any of it ever again. I’d never feel him inside me and over me like this ever again. Our arrangement was officially a thing of the past.He just didn’t know it yet.Letting my head loll to the side, I opened my eyes. This particular private room within the Vault’s basement was an executive office. And what was the Vault? An exclusive 24-hour club located in Redwater City. There were several floors, each catering to different tastes, including a Burlesque floor of all things—I went there reasonably often with my friends.The basement—which required a separate membership—held a massive appeal for those who liked … sexual freedom, for lack of a better term, with its themed private rooms and casual attitude to public raunchy activities. It was typical for members to claim others, thus entering into arrangements where each belonged to the other within the confines of the Vault.I’d entered into one with Danton just over six months ago. As such, at this point, we’d utilized pretty much every room within the basement. There were only a few we’d skipped, since they’d held no interest for us.It was in this very club that I first met Danton Quintero. I’d heard plenty about him before that and even seen him from afar a time or two. Being someone whose business dealings weren’t all above board, he was part of the same ‘world’ as my father. That alone should have been off-putting for me, but the moment Danton’s eyes had first locked with mine, a delicious shiver had raced up my spine.Personally, I didn’t think I could be blamed for that. I really didn’t. After all, he was quite a sight to behold. A tall, sensual, walking enticement. So big and broad and so very male. You couldn’t look at him and not want.His piercing, shrewd eyes were dark and bottomless as a gaping abyss, making a girl feel like she could honestly drown in them. His strong, stubborn jawline hinted at his commanding, imperious nature. Lickable light brown skin stretched over pure hard, roped muscle. His sleek, short hair the color of soot was never anything but perfectly styled, much like the man himself. I thought he might have some Spanish somewhere in his ancestry, but I wasn’t sure.I’d never seen him in anything but a suit. He always looked so impeccably neat and polished and masterful, like a man built to be served. But his elegance held a predatory edge that betrayed the danger in him.The first night we’d met, he’d recognized me instantly—I’d sensed it. So when he’d crossed straight to me, confidence in every step and exuding an arrogance that was somehow sexy, I’d expected him to ask about my father. But he hadn’t.Instead, there’d been a minimal amount of small-talk after which Danton had tossed out a question: “If I asked you to be still and quiet like a good little toy while I fucked you, would you do it?”My answer had been a simple, “Yes.”Mere minutes later, we’d ended up in a private room where he’d lavished the kind of attention on my body that no man ever had. We’d been meeting up at the Vault ever since.At first, I’d wondered if he’d merely homed in on me because he’d thought he could pump me for information about my father, Jorge. It had just seemed kind of suspicious that, knowing who I was, Danton had approached me of all people when he had his pick of women.He’d never once questioned me about my family, though. He also didn’t mention his own private business or hint at either of our ‘worlds.’ Here, we were just Cat and Danton.Not from this night onwards, however.Danton lifted his head to meet my gaze, his dark eyes all languid and warm. He palmed one side of my face as he drank in every detail of it almost greedily. “Fucking perfection,” he said in that deep, smooth-as-honey voice he always pitched low.I swallowed. He said it so matter-of-factly. Like it wasn’t so much a compliment as an observation on his part.“You good?” he asked, skimming his thumb over my cheekbone.At moments like this, I could genuinely believe I mattered to him. But that warmth in his eyes wouldn’t last. Never did.I cleared my throat. “Yup.”He slightly narrowed his eyes, skeptical. That was the thing with Danton. He was very attuned to me—it was a side product of how we liked to play, I supposed. During sex, I mostly remained still and quiet. He had to be able to read me at all times. Though he trusted I’d speak up if something was wrong, he wanted to be able to sense a potential issue himself.His gaze still holding mine, he asked, “Did I hurt you?”I snorted. “Your cock’s still attached to your body, isn’t it?”He grunted, a pinch of amusement in his eyes. He lowered his mouth to mine and took it in a soft, drugging kiss. That easily, despite that I’d minutes ago been torn apart by an orgasm that left my limbs feeling like noodles, I felt a low buzz of arousal begin to build in my blood—my body was so used to giving itself over to him that it happened reflexively.Pulling back, he pressed a lingering kiss on the valley between my breasts and then began to straighten. I let my hands fall to the desk and watched as he carefully withdrew his softening cock and took a step back. His gaze then predictably began to cool.I knew it was coming. Knew it was coming any moment now. One. Two. Three. Four—“I have to go.”And there it was.He always had to go. He never stayed for longer than the time it took to thoroughly fuck me. To say that the dude liked emotional distance would be an understatement. Danton had at some point built a moat around himself, and there was no way to cross it.He had verystrong personal boundaries, hence his insistence on having several conditions regarding our arrangement. For instance, we never met up outside the club, we never spoke of our arrangement with non-members, and we never traveled to or from the Vault together. There were plenty more rules where those came from.He was constantly on his guard. So watchful. So self-contained. So in absolute control of himself at all times. He only fucked me like an unrestrained savage because he wanted to.Watching him dispose of the condom, I sighed. During sex, he was supremely attentive. He touched me like I was a treasured possession; spoke words that could be anything from sweet to filthy. It was the only time his defenses were down around me. Afterward, those mental stone fortified walls slammed back up so fast it was dizzying, shutting me out all over again.Hey, I got why. We weren’t a couple. We weren’t building anything. This was about sex, nothing more.None of it had bothered me in the beginning. I never went looking for anything serious. It wasn’t wise when you had a father that used who and what you loved against you. But over half a year was a long time to be in an arrangement with someone if you were expected to keep your emotions out of it. Many people managed it. I no longer could.It wasn’t that I loved Danton. I didn’t know him well enough for that—he only showed me select parts of himself. But I liked what I’d seen of him. A lot, in fact. More, Danton made me feel how I wanted to feel—owned, valued, seen.Over the past few months, I’d felt myself growing increasingly attached to him. I’d ignored it at first, but I couldn’t anymore. Because it had now gotten to a point where it hurt that this was a one-way street.The problem until now was that I hadn’t been able to find the willpower to walk away from him. However, my father had recently put me in a position where I had no choice but to find that strength.Jorge Dukas was a renowned misogynist who saw no value in women—not even in his wife or daughter. We were his ‘property,’ nothing more.He rarely contacted me. Unless he wanted something. As such, when he’d summoned me to his house a few days ago I’d known in advance that I wouldn’t like the reason why. And I really hadn’t liked it.“There’ll be a gathering here on Saturday,” he’d told me. “I need you to be here.”“Why?” I’d asked, both surprised and uneasy.“I suspect that one of my men is an undercover cop, but I can’t be sure. He’s asked about you many times. When you’re at the gathering, he’ll for sure approach you. Accept his advances, agree to a date if that’s what he wants—which he likely will want, because he’ll be eager to get you alone if he’s a cop so he can try to ring you for information. And no, I’m not asking you to sleep with him. Just talk to him, feel him out, report back to me. Any questions he asks you will be very telling.”It hadn’t been a request. Jorge didn’t need to ‘ask.’ I toed the line simply because he took it out on my mother if I didn’t.Like I said, he used who and what you loved against you.Did I care if Jorge was really being investigated by the police? No. Did I believe he truly thought one of his men was a cop? Not necessarily. His intention could be to see if I told the supposed undercover cop anything interesting.Jorge occasionally pulled stunts to test the loyalty of those around him. He’d given my mother the beating of her life when I’d once said too much to an outsider, and then he’d blamed that beating on me. I’d been careful to watch out for more ‘tests’ ever since.It was his way of reminding everyone who was in charge. His way of keeping them in line, since seeing people be punished for saying too much then deterred others in his employ or family from making that same mistake.Whether or not Jorge was lying had no bearing on my situation with Danton. What did present a problem was that, due to the conditions of my arrangement with him, I couldn’t go on a single date with anyone inside or outside the Vault. The same exclusivity rule applied to him.As such, I had two choices: One, break it off with Danton once and for all. Two, tell Jorge to go to hell, for which my mother would dearly pay.I’d chosen option one.Not merely for my mother’s sake, but because ending the arrangement would be for the best.I never would have expected that I’d become a littletoo comfortable with Danton. On the surface, it didn’t seem logical that such a person would make me feel safe or at ease. But he did. Partly because if there was anyone who could protect me from my father’s machinations, it was Danton.Realistically, though, he wouldn’t care to protect me from Jorge. I was under Danton’s protection, yes—he’d made that clear. But that would apply to any club buddy he had. If I’d meant anything to him, it would have showed by now. Hence why I could be sure that he wouldn’t be bothered that the arrangement was over.Not that he’d calmly wish me well and swan out of the room. Being all about control, he would dislike that I’dmade the decision for us. And, not being a fan of change in general, he might find it inconvenient. So I didn’t doubt that he’d be surly and annoyed. But he wouldn’t care that we were parting ways. I meant about as much to him as the butter soft leather gloves he often wore.Why get new gloves when the pair he owned did their job just fine?Why get a new bedpartner when the one he had did the trick?Snapping out of my thoughts to see that he was almost fully dressed, I slipped off the desk and snatched my clothes from the floor. “Before you go, we need to talk.”He paused in fastening his tie. “Talk?” he echoed warily.Almost snorting at his unease, I pulled on my underwear. He likely worried I planned to ask him to scrap some of the limitations of our arrangement or something. “Yes. It’s important. I wanted to say this face-to-face, not over the phone.”He raised an expectant brow as he resumed fixing his tie. “So talk.”Feeling a little vulnerable at the idea of having this conversation while practically naked, I quickly slipped on my dress.“Cat, I’ve got shit to do.”Impatient fucker. Shoving my blonde hair away from my face, I tugged up the side zipper of my dress and lifted my chin. “It’s time we ended this. Our arrangement, I mean.”Danton stared at me for a long moment. And another. And another. A hardness slid into his eyes, his jaw tightened, and his brows slowly drew together.He took a fluid step toward me. “The fuck did you just say?” It was a menacing whisper that crawled its way up my spine.My skin pebbling as the atmosphere snapped taut with tension, I licked my lips. “I can’t stay in this arrangement any longer.”His anger fairly beating at me, he folded his arms. “Explain,” he demanded, as imperious as ever.“We agreed on total exclusivity. I can’t offer you that anymore.”Something very dark rippled across his face and flashed in his eyes. “Are you telling me there’s someone else?”“No, it’s … Call it a matter of family obligations.”“Jorge told you to end this?”I blinked, unused to hearing him speak of my father. “No, he has no clue about the arrangement.”“So he wants to set you up with someone? Is that what this is?”I sighed, swiping my purse off the office chair.  “Does it even matter?”Danton covered the small space between us with one step, towering over me and stealing my breath, his dark gaze glittering with danger. “You want to take from me what’s mine. So yeah. It fucking matters, Cat.”“I don’t see why it should.”“Oh, you don’t?”“No. I’m not a real part of your life. Hell, you don’t even really know me. You don’t want to know me. We’ve met up almost every weekend for a period of over six months. Not one question, Danton. In all that time, you haven’t asked me one single personal question about myself.”His brow creased. “Why would I do that when I already know plenty about you?”And then the penny dropped. “You did a background check on me.”“A very extensive one. I know what you do for a living, what car you drive, where you live, what gym you frequent, what restaurants you regularly eat at.”I probably should have expected that. My father did similar checks on anyone who stepped into his circle. “Possessing basic details about my life doesn’t mean you know me.”“Maybe not. But here’s one thing I do know: You have very little to do with your family. For that reason, I can’t imagine why you’d do Jorge any favors, let alone go along with this family obligation bullshit—and it is bullshit, Cat. You won’t be complying with his wishes this time. You make sure he knows that.”I felt my lips part. “Say what now?”“Either you tell him it’s not happening, or I’ll tell him.”I could only stare at Danton, completely befuddled.“I’m serious, Cat. I don’t know who he’s trying to push you toward, but they don’t get to touch you—nobody does but me,” he all but decreed, his voice hard, his eyes crawling with menace.“Not now that the arrangement is over.”He made a dismissive sound. “It isn’t over. Not even close. So you tell him, or I’ll tell him.”In hindsight, I should have handled this differently. I shouldn’t have mentioned Jorge or the guy I was supposed to date. It would have been better if I hadn’t mentioned my father at all, because there was only one thing I could think of that would really explain the possessive anger rippling across Danton’s face: It rankled him big time that a person he considered a rival in business wanted to take something from him—that something being me.I set a hand on my hip. “Stop being difficult, Danton. This was always going to come to an end. It was just a matter of when.”“And that ‘when’ isn’t now.”“Why, because only you get to say when we’re done?”“No, because we’re simply not done yet.” He gripped my jaw, the heat of his touch like a brand. “Hear me, Cat, because I’m not fucking around here. You’re mine. Jorge does not get to change that. Unless you’re good with him shoving you toward men of his choosing?”“Of course I’m not good with it.”“So tell him to go fuck himself,” he told me, his hand slipping away from my jaw.“It’s not that simple.”Danton went perfectly still, his eyes searching mine. “He hurts you?” he asked, his tone so flat it was eerie. “That how he gets you to dance to his tune?”“Look—”“Does he hurt you? It’s a simple fucking question, Cat. Answer it.”“Don’t get all growly with me, Quintero. I don’t like it. You shouldn’t even need to ask that question anyway. Jorge doesn’t hurt the people who cross him, remember? He hurts those they love.”Danton’s eyes narrowed slightly, pensive. “Your mother. He takes his fists to her to punish you. Does she know he holds her safety over your head and will happily whore out his own daughter?”“He didn’t ask me to sleep with anyone.”“I don’t care if all he asked you to do is hold some fucker’s hand. It isn’t going to happen.”“My mother—”“Is in a shitty situation for certain,” he finished. “But you shouldn’t be expected to pay the price to keep her safe, and I’m not going to fucking allow Jorge to make you do it.”I slanted my head. “You know, I could almost believe that you care. But you don’t. Not about me. You care that you’ll suffer the inconvenience of having to find a new club-buddy. Which is stupid. It’s not as if it’ll be a long search. There are plenty of women here who’d eagerly hop into bed with you.” The skanks.He dipped his head, going almost nose to nose with me, his eyes so damn intense my pulse flipped out. “And you’d be good with me touching another woman, Cat? Huh?”I felt my mouth tighten and my grip on my purse flex as jealousy lanced through me.“Figured you wouldn’t. So you’ll get why I’m not gonna allow another man near you.” He stepped back and shrugged into his jacket. “I’m fucking serious when I say you need to clear shit up with Jorge.”I swore beneath my breath. “You’re not listening to me.”“I listened. We talked like you wanted. Now I have to leave.”Exasperated, I flapped my arms. “Why be so determined to hold onto something that you intend to let go of at some point anyway?” I simply didn’t get it. “It’s not like I mean anything to you. I’m just a plaything in your metaphorical toybox. Easy to replace. Easy to forget about once I’m off the scene.”An emotion flared in his eyes that was there and gone so fast I didn’t get the chance to process it. He ate up my space all over again. “You, Cat, are a lot of things. Forgettable isn’t one of them. Nor is interchangeable. Plaything you might be, but that doesn’t mean you have no value to me. And I will not let Jorge take your choices from you, just as I won’t allow him to take you from me. Make things clear to him, Cat. If you don’t, I will.”I was about to argue again, but then he lowered his mouth to mine. The punchof sexual connection was immediate, and the chemistry that had hit us on day one quickly clicked into place. He took my mouth the way he always did—like it belonged to him. He licked and bit until the tension began to leach out of my spine.Backing away, he gave me a pointed look. “Tomorrow. The lounge. Usual time.”“For Christ’s sake, Danton!” But he was gone.My shoulders sagging, I plopped my ass down on the leather office chair. Okay, I’d screwed up here. I should have followed my first instinct and lied about why I wanted us to part ways; claimed that I was bored or something. But, as attuned to me as he was, he could always tell when I was lying, so I’d gone with the truth.I’d have chosen the ‘lying’ route on the off-chance that it would pay off if I’d thought he’d act like such an awkward asshole and point blank refuse to respect my decision to end the arrangement. And I had ended it. If he wanted to blow off my declaration and live in a fantasy land, that was his prerogative, but it wouldn’t change anything.And if he bombarded me with texts and calls … well, in all honesty, I wouldn’t find it simple to ignore him. Danton wasn’t a man who allowed himself to be ignored.I pulled out my phone and blocked his number. There. Problem solved.You tell him, or I’ll tell him.Or maybe not quite ‘solved.’Even if I hadn’t wanted to walk away from Danton due to becoming a little too attached to him, I wouldn’t have done as he’d asked and told Jorge about him. Nothing good could come of it.Okay, the latter wasn’t entirely true. It would enable me to get out of following through with Jorge’s most recent favor. He would back down in an instant.The problem was that Jorge wouldn’t do it purely out of a reluctance to cross Danton. No, his main motivation for backing off would be that he’d feel he could use me in a whole other way.He’d try to turn me into a mole.Yep, he’d stupidly believe that I could act as a spy and wrench information out of Danton during pillow talk—like the guy was that gullible. I’d be up for no such thing. But telling Jorge ‘no’ would mean bad things for my mother.Recalling how very sure Danton had seemed that I’d meet him at the Vault tomorrow night as usual, I shook my head in wonder. It must be fantastic to always be so extremely certain that you were in control of your world and that things would always go your way. I could actually admire it.When I didn’t show up for the meet, he would realize then that I was serious. He’d be annoyed that I hadn’t followed his dictates, but I doubted that he’d bother to act on it. Why spend time seeking me out and pushing me to do as ordered when he could instead focus his energy on finding a new and much more obedient toy from the basement’s buffet?I might have ‘value’ to him, but that didn’t mean much. Lots of things surely had value to him. His car. His home. His wallet.Possessions.That was what I was to him. One of his many possessions. And the thing with possessions was that their owners didn’t always feel a meaningful attachment toward them. Just because a person valued something didn’t mean it automatically followed that they wouldn’t eventually upgrade, give away, or sell their items. Because people tended to get bored, grow out of things, or simply want something new.As I’d told him, his search for a new toy would be a short one. He’d find a brand spanking new club-buddy in no time at all.And that idea hurt way more than it should.Fuck my life.