Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 32776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Outside the dome, laughter drifted through the trees like nothing life-changing had just happened in here.
Inside, the air felt hot enough to burn.
When my breathing finally slowed, Dante carefully pulled out and adjusted his clothes before grabbing my dress from the floor.
“Here.” His voice was rougher now. Softer.
He helped slide the dress back up my body before smoothing my hair behind my shoulders.
His fingers lingered against my cheek.
“I think it’s time for us to go,” he said quietly.
“We’re going back to the party?”
A slow smile crossed his lips before he leaned down and kissed me again.
“No.” His mouth brushed mine once more. “My place so I can have you exactly how I want you.”
THE CEO
DANTE
Hours later, Chloe sighed against my chest in my rooftop hot tub.
After devouring her in my kitchen, fucking her against my windows, and gripping her hips while she rode me in the hallway, I’d lost track of how many times we’d had sex tonight.
Every moan, every kiss, everything about this woman was getting under my skin in ways I didn’t understand. And I didn’t want to go another day without experiencing all of it.
“Hmmm…” She suddenly moaned.
“Are you okay?” I brushed hair off her forehead.
“No.”
“Oh…” I gently lifted her chin with my fingertips. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to rest before we have sex again.” Her cheeks tinged pink. “I can’t feel my legs right now.”
“Okay.” I held back a laugh, looking into her eyes. “I need to ask you something.”
“Can it wait until after I nap?”
“No,” I said. “How long were you really sneaking into my places?”
“Promise you won’t get mad at me first.”
“That depends on your answer.”
“Two months.” She blatantly lied. “Maybe three.”
“Okay, I promise not to get mad at you.”
“Two and a half years.”
“Years?” I stilled. “How much longer were you planning to get away with it?”
“I honestly don’t know,” she whispered. “I never planned on getting caught.”
“Obviously.” I gently let her down onto my chest. “I’ll never admit this again, but I’m glad you did get caught.”
Her soft snores were the only sound between us for the next several hours.
THE AGENT
CHLOE
Three Months Later
By the time Dante approved full renovation plans for all of his complexes, there wasn’t a resident willing to go on camera and oppose the idea of him buying The Holden.
He still had his fair share of detractors—mainly the people in the Sweet Seasons meetup group who kicked me out for being a “fucking traitor”—but their voices were drowned out by the results of his work.
And maybe I was biased by our numerous daily rounds of sex, but I swore he wasn’t being “ruthless” these days at all.
He was being nice…
“You’re talking to yourself again.” He moved behind me, tugging at my blindfold. “I’ve only asked you to stand here for five minutes.”
“It’s been way longer than that, Dante,” I said. “Maybe I wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone.”
“Noted.” He pressed a kiss against the shell of my ear. “You didn’t take any peeks, did you?”
“No.” I assured him. “I’ve been standing in this same spot since I came over, waiting for you to reveal your secret BDSM dungeon.”
He laughed again, pressing an even harder kiss against my neck.
“If I had one, I would’ve used that to punish you the first day we met,” he said. “I needed to move this so you could give me your honest opinion.”
“What is ‘this’ exactly?”
He untied my blindfold, pulling it away from my face.
As the fabric gave way, I noticed a lifelike model of The Holden standing in front of me.
Like Dante had pulled it straight from the version of New York people swore no longer existed, the plaza resembled a mini town with a sprawling park, multiple places for locals to gather, and a design that didn’t scream “Only for the rich.”
Despite being made entirely of carved wood pieces, the model looked impossibly lifelike.
“Who the hell did this?” I asked.
“Tell me if you like it first.”
“I love it.” I nodded. “Without knowing all the details, you’ll get a yes on this in a heartbeat.”
“Because of the design or because I’m becoming more likable?”
“It’s a combination of both, but more of the latter.” I walked around to the other side, running my fingers along the row of trees that lined the rooftop. “Why did you want to buy this place so badly?”
“What do you mean?”
“There are tons of other abandoned buildings that wouldn’t come with anywhere near the resistance as this one did…”
“I’m sure.” He moved closer and picked up one of the benches. “But none of them are what I promised my mother…”
Silence settled between us for several seconds.
“I told her I’d make The Holden more than the memory of where we used to squat for months,” he said. “It’s where my dad got arrested and sent away for just trying to get us some shelter.”