Sienna Carter never wanted to be part of Damien Cross’s world. She built her life on independence, fighting to keep her struggling business afloat. But when a devastating financial blow leaves her with no options, she’s forced to make a deal with the most ruthless billionaire in the city. Damien Cross doesn’t believe in love. He believes in power, control, and getting what he wants. And right now, he wants Sienna. Their arrangement should be simple cold, transactional, without emotion. But from the moment she steps into his world, the lines begin to blur. Sienna challenges him in ways no one ever has. And the more he tries to keep his distance, the more obsessed he becomes. What starts as a deal quickly turns into something far more dangerous something neither of them are prepared for. Because in this game of power and passion, the greatest risk isn’t losing control. It’s falling in love.
View MoreThe city buzzed with noise, but inside the penthouse, it was too quiet.Damien sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees, staring down at the cryptic message Alec had posted. His phone dimmed and brightened again. Notifications were flooding in investors asking questions, journalists poking around, old acquaintances reaching out as if they had always cared.But none of that mattered.What mattered was the chill in Alec’s words.Just wait.Sienna walked in from the bathroom, her damp hair wrapped in a towel, her robe tied loosely around her waist. She saw the look in Damien’s eyes and knew instantly.He’s retaliating, she said.Not with facts. With fire. And shadows.Damien turned the screen toward her.Sienna read the words again, slowly. Her stomach twisted.This isn’t just a threat to you, Damien.I know.He’s going to come after me, she whispered.Damien stood and cupped her face in his hands.Let him try. I will bury him before he lays a single finger on you.She nodded,
The city didn’t sleep that night.Neither did Damien.Sienna had drifted off sometime after three, curled against his side in the bed they now shared more than just physically. But his mind refused to rest. The confrontation with Alec still echoed in his skull like the ringing of a distant gunshot. Sharp. Final.He stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the city pulse beneath them. Lights, traffic, endless movement and yet, a part of him felt like everything had stopped.He hadn’t just severed a friendship.He’d amputated a part of himself.Sienna stirred behind him. Her voice came soft, half-asleep.You haven’t slept.I don’t think I can.She sat up, the sheet sliding down her bare shoulder. The dim glow from the city lights danced across her skin.Come back to bed, Damien.He didn’t move.It hurts, doesn’t it? she whispered.He finally looked at her.I knew Alec for over twenty years. We built everything side by side. And now I look back, and I don’t know how much of it was
The dinner was a trap.Not the kind you walked into unknowingly but the kind you stepped into with your eyes wide open, daring the other person to flinch first.Damien reserved a private room at one of the most exclusive rooftop restaurants in Manhattan. Sienna wore red bold, dangerous, and unforgettable. Damien’s charcoal suit was pressed to perfection, but beneath the surface, he was a storm held together by sheer control.Alec arrived ten minutes late, as if he owned the place.He walked in with that easy smile, that false warmth in his eyes, and hugged Damien like they were still brothers.You look good, man, Alec said. Greece must’ve been good to you.Damien’s expression didn’t change. He nodded once and gestured to the table.Sit. We have things to celebrate.Sienna poured champagne, her smile polite, too smooth to be genuine.Celebrate what exactly? Alec asked, swirling his glass.Loyalty, Damien replied. And the people who pretend to possess it.For a moment, Alec froze. His e
The return to New York was nothing short of jarring.Gone were the ocean breezes and peaceful silences of Santorini. In their place came traffic horns, the buzz of notifications, and the suffocating weight of responsibilities waiting on their doorstep.Sienna stepped out of the black SUV, heels clicking against the pavement as the penthouse building loomed above her. Damien followed silently, jaw clenched, shoulders taut. Neither of them had said much during the ride from the airport. Not because they were upset but because they were holding on to something fragile. Something they weren’t ready to break.Reality.Inside, the penthouse was spotless. Too spotless. Like it had been cleaned to erase everything that had happened before they left.Sienna dropped her bag near the couch and stood in the middle of the living room, scanning everything. The art on the walls. The untouched bar cart. The view of the city that no longer felt comforting.Damien came up behind her, wrapping his arms
The soft hush of morning wrapped itself around them like a warm cocoon.Sienna stirred slowly, her body entangled with Damien’s beneath the light sheets. The window shutters were slightly open, and sunlight spilled through them in golden slants, painting lines across the bed. Outside, the Aegean Sea sparkled like it was made of crushed diamonds, calm and endless.Damien’s arm was slung around her waist. His breathing was deep, steady. Peaceful.She studied his face the strong jaw that always tensed when he was holding something back, the slight crease between his brows that remained even in sleep, and the shadow of stubble along his cheek. This was the Damien the world never saw. Not the ruthless billionaire. Not the scandalized heir. Just… him.Her Damien.She slipped out of bed carefully, padded barefoot across the marble floor, and stepped onto the private terrace. A breeze swept over her, carrying the scent of sea salt and sun-warmed stone. She closed her eyes, letting it wash ove
The next morning came with an unexpected gentleness.No alarms. No urgent calls. No headlines. Just the quiet hum of the city beneath them and the soft rays of sunrise spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows.Sienna stood by the edge of the bed, her suitcase open, half-packed. A pair of heels dangled from her hand, though her mind was far away. She didn’t know what surprised her more than Damien had suggested the trip, or that she’d actually agreed.It wasn’t like her to run. She’d always faced things head-on, fought through the pain, stood in the storm. But for once, she didn’t want to be strong. She didn’t want to prove anything.She just wanted to feel something other than exhaustion.Damien stepped into the room, fresh from the shower, towel around his waist, droplets gliding down his chest. He looked like something from a dream—messy, raw, real. He paused when he saw her.You’re overthinking it again, he said softly.She looked up.Maybe.He crossed the room, slowly, like h
The world outside kept moving cars humming through distant streets, horns blaring, lights flashing in dizzy rhythms but up on that balcony, everything was still.Sienna stared at Damien as his confession lingered in the air between them, heavy and raw.Every time I think I’m ready, something pulls me back. My father’s voice. The sound of my mother crying in the dark. The night I stood outside a burning house and didn’t feel anything.He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud.But now that he had, he didn’t try to take it back.Sienna’s chest tightened. The image was too vivid. Damien, cold and emotionless, standing in front of flames that devoured everything while he stood there—untouched, unshaken, unreachable.She moved closer to him.What house, Damien?He shook his head slowly, the memories chasing the color from his face.It was my aunt’s. I was thirteen. She’d taken me in for a while after things got bad at home. She was the only one who tried to save me from him. From my f
The morning sunlight slipped through the cracks in the curtain, delicate and warm, but it wasn’t the light that woke Sienna it was the soft, steady rhythm of Damien’s heartbeat beneath her ear.She lay curled against his bare chest, tangled in the sheets and in him. His arm was draped protectively around her waist, his fingers absentmindedly stroking her spine in a lazy rhythm that grounded her more than any words ever could.It felt safe.It felt real.But safety, she’d learned, was always temporary in Damien’s world.She tilted her face up to study him. His eyes were closed, lashes casting faint shadows against his cheekbones. For a moment, he looked peaceful. Vulnerable. Like the weight he carried had momentarily loosened its grip.And for the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to imagine a future. Not just fragments or fantasies but actual mornings like this. Shared coffee. Arguments over who finished the milk. Laughter in the kitchen. Maybe even Her thoughts were cut
The night had never felt so long.Sienna lay in the center of Damien’s bed, wrapped in silence and silk sheets that felt colder than usual. The air was still, but her chest was a battlefield. Her fingers clutched the fabric beneath her, knuckles white from the pressure as her mind played the events of the evening over and over like a cruel melody stuck on repeat.The way he’d looked at her.The way his voice broke.The way the door had closed behind him without a word of goodbye.She hadn’t cried. Not once. But now, with the clock ticking past midnight and no sign of him, the tears had begun to well in her eyes, hot and slow, like they were being dragged from a place too deep to reach. One slid down her cheek. Then another. And then she was shaking soundless, breathless sobs she couldn’t control anymore.She hated that he had this power over her. That loving him came with such ache, such unbearable weight. But what choice did she have? She had seen Damien the real Damien. Not the bill
Sienna Carter had never stepped foot inside a building so intimidating. The towering glass structure of Cross Industries loomed over the city skyline, a symbol of power, wealth, and everything that had always been out of her reach. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Yet, desperation had a way of making people do things they never imagined. Clutching the folder in her hands, she took a slow, measured breath before stepping past the polished marble entrance. The cool air inside the building sent a shiver down her spine, or maybe that was just her nerves. She wasn’t sure anymore. The receptionist, a woman dressed in an immaculate navy-blue suit, barely glanced up before pressing a button on her desk. “He’s expecting you,” she said, her voice smooth and efficient. Sienna swallowed hard. There was no turning back now. The elevator ride to the top floor was eerily silent, and with each passing second, she felt her pulse quicken. What kind of man agreed to a deal like this? She ha...
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