####Chapter four: Back to business

The next morning, Amara woke alone.

The sheets were still warm. The imprint of Dominic’s body still etched into the mattress. But the man himself?

Gone.

She sat up slowly, silk sheets slipping down her bare skin, and looked around the bedroom. The fire had burned out. His shirt still lay draped over the back of a leather chair.

No note.

No text.

No coffee.

Nothing.

Her chest tightened, but she shoved the feeling down. This wasn’t love. It wasn’t even romance. It was a power play wrapped in heat and secrecy, and she'd known exactly what she was signing up for.

Still, waking up alone stung more than she cared to admit.

Especially after the way he’d touched her. Like he was carving her into memory. Like he couldn’t get enough.

And then, just hours later, he called it a mistake.

No strings. No love. No promises.

Right. She had to remember that.

This is a game. And I can play it better than him.

---

9:03 A.M. — Kane Enterprises

Amara stepped into the elevator like she owned it.

Hair sleek. Blazer tight. Red lipstick back in full force.

If Dominic wanted to pretend nothing happened, fine. She’d beat him at his own game.

When the elevator doors opened to the executive floor, she walked through the hallway with confidence radiating from every heel-click. Coworkers looked up,some nodded, some whispered. But she didn’t flinch.

Dominic's door was closed.

She knocked once, then entered without waiting for permission.

He was at his desk, phone to his ear, sleeves rolled, tie missing, expression cool and unreadable.

He looked up the moment she walked in but didn’t say a word.

She didn’t either.

Instead, she walked to her usual chair, sat, and crossed her legs slowly.

His gaze flicked down to them just for a second.

Then he returned to his call.

“Tell the board I want the proposal on my desk by noon. No delays.” A pause. “And don’t let Stuart speak in the next meeting. He’ll just embarrass us again.”

Click.

He hung up.

Silence stretched.

Then: “You’re late.”

“It’s three minutes past nine.”

“Three minutes too many.”

“You didn’t seem to mind when I was lying under you.”

His jaw tensed. “Careful, Amara.”

She smiled sweetly. “I thought we were pretending nothing happened.”

“We’re not pretending,” he said, voice low. “We’re controlling.”

She leaned back. “So that’s what you’re doing?”

“Yes,” he said. “Because the moment I touch you again, I won’t stop.”

Her breath caught.

“I want you,” he continued. “Right here. Right now. On this desk.”

Her thighs pressed together.

“But I can’t,” he said, turning away. “Because you’re not just a distraction. You’re a liability.”

The words hit harder than she expected.

“So what?” she asked. “We pretend we’re nothing again?”

“We are nothing,” he snapped. “You’re my assistant. That’s it.”

Something inside her snapped.

She stood. Walked to his desk. Leaned over it until their faces were inches apart.

“You don’t get to do that,” she whispered.

“Do what?”

“Own me one night and erase me the next.”

His nostrils flared. “I don’t own you.”

“Then stop acting like you do.”

He stood too,so fast the chair nearly toppled.

“You have no idea what you’re playing with.”

“Then teach me.”

For a moment, the air crackled with something wild and raw.

But then, like a storm forcing itself into a cage, he stepped back.

“You’re dismissed,” he said. “Go do your job.”

Amara didn’t move.

“Don’t push me,” he warned.

She turned on her heel and left, heels clicking like gunfire.

---

Noon — Strategy Meeting

The boardroom was packed. Suits. Laptops. Polite smiles hiding backstabs.

Amara sat beside Dominic, notebook open, expression blank.

He hadn’t looked at her once since she entered.

“So, about the projection numbers…” Stuart, the finance lead, was talking again. Loudly. Badly.

Dominic’s jaw twitched.

Amara leaned close, her lips brushing his ear. “Is this the part where you pretend not to fantasize about me on this table?”

His breath hitched but he didn’t look at her.

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he murmured back.

She pulled away with a smirk. “Then maybe I like danger.”

The rest of the meeting passed in a blur.

Until Stuart said something particularly stupid, and Dominic finally snapped.

“That’s enough,” he cut in, voice ice. “You’re dismissed.”

“But I—”

“Leave.”

Stuart left, red-faced. Everyone else stared in stunned silence.

Dominic straightened his cuffs. “This company survives because I don’t tolerate incompetence. Or arrogance. Any other questions?”

No one answered.

“Good.”

Meeting adjourned.

---

After the Meeting

Amara was gathering her things when Dominic grabbed her wrist.

He said nothing and just pulled her through a side door and into an empty hallway.

The second the door closed, his hand was in her hair.

“You think you’re in control?” he growled, pressing her against the wall.

“You’re the one who lost it in front of the whole board.”

His mouth crashed into hers.

It was rough.

Hot.

A war.

His hands roamed,gripping her waist, her thighs, her ass.

She gasped into his mouth as he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“I can’t think when you’re near me,” he said between kisses.

“Then don’t,” she breathed.

But before it could go further, footsteps echoed nearby.

Dominic froze.

Carefully, he set her down.

“We can’t do this here,” he said. “Not again.”

“Then where?” she whispered, flushed and aching.

He stared at her for a long moment.

“My place. Tonight. Midnight.”

Then he was gone.

---

Midnight

Amara stood in front of his penthouse door, heart racing, wrapped in a trench coat with barely anything beneath it.

She knocked.

It opened instantly.

Dominic stood there, shirtless, pants low on his hips, eyes hungry.

Neither of them spoke.

He pulled her inside.

The coat dropped to the floor.

And she was on him.

Their mouths met like fire and gasoline. No slow burn. No hesitation.

Just need.

He pinned her against the door, hands fisting in her hair.

“You wore nothing,” he said between kisses.

“I wore heels.”

He looked down. Smirked. “Good girl.”

Then he turned her around, hands braced on her hips.

“Red, yellow, green?” he asked.

“Green,” she whispered.

“Then don’t hold back.”

---

The Second Night

Dominic didn’t take his time.

He devoured her.

Touched every inch of her like it was his to claim. Pushed her boundaries. Rewarded her surrender.

Made her scream.

Made her beg.

And when it was over, he held her tighter than he had the first night.

Neither of them spoke.

But the silence said everything.

---

3:00 A.M. — In His Arms

She lay with her head on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

“You’re not just a mistake,” he said quietly. “That’s the problem.”

She looked up. “Then what am I?”

He didn’t answer.

But his arm tightened around her.

And she let herself believe—for just one night—that maybe, she was more than a pawn.