LOGINShare
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56When Ryder woke up, it was to a cold, empty space next to him and no sign of Bree.
It was almost like last night didn't happen and if he didn't still feel slightly sore from all that love making and raw passion, he might believe that it didn't after all.
His room was devoid of any trace of her, except for her lingering scent in his sheets and pillows.
It teased his nostrils and brought back vivid memories of last night, sweet memories of milky skin and fluid movement and it angered him so much that she'd bailed on him before even the rising of the sun.
It was his pride as much as his feelings that was hurt, in all his life as a man, he's never had a woman disappear from his bed in the morning after, he'd always been the one doing all the running from all of them and their commitment traps.
To have him taste the other side of that knife was hell, it made him so mad to consider the reasons she might have had.
It all sets the flaws at his feet
Related chapters
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FORTY NINE
Bree's morning was already ruined with her visit to her father, but it had taken Bernett's hard voice calling her to his office to make it considerably worse.His face had been hard as rock and his voice had been even worse.And his words had cut deep when he'd called her a whore, throwing herself cheap to score points in his firm.The filth dripping from his lips had been foreign to her ears as she had no idea what he'd been talking about.She'd had no knowledge of what Nathan Stone looked like in the flesh until this morning, and yet he made his accusations with no remorse or respect to her womanhood.He'd accused her of doing despicable things to worm her way into Nathan Stone's favor and disregarding the rules of the firm because of the man's influence.It had taken everything in her to keep mute and listen to him insult her very birth and existence.She'd taken it all because he was the boss and she needed the money he pays at th
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY
She'd had no explanations to give, nothing not even warmth or apology.Ryder understood, he'd been way in over his head and he was sorry about that.He'd been off the mark to think that this could be anything other than a deal and his revenge scheme.For her, he'd been steering from that a bit.For some reason, she'd crawled deeper into her own head and it was just like they'd never been naked and burning in each other's arms.He didn't give a fuck' what it was, she should have been decent enough to tell him what had gone wrong, but she hadn't even been able to look him in the eyes and give any reason.He took it at face value for what it was, letting the anger and disdain he felt fuel his intent and main reason for being here.She was a mistake that shouldn't have happened, at least it was what he believed and it made accepting this easier.If avoiding him was an art, in the next few days, Bree became the fucking Picasso of it
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
The attack on his company softwares was more than he'd thought and it had taken a lot more effort to control. He'd spent the rest of the day stuck in the damn task dealing with some fuckers and doing a lot of recoding. No fucker was allowed to infiltrate his company system and cause harm, he'd been breed to cut off such hoes. And if he'd been in town, he'd have turned the hella until he had them pleading underneath his heels. He cuddled thoughts of flying out, back to base and away from this life he was living here. Sometimes, it becomes like too much efforts wasted on men who've lived most of their lives, happy, while he'd drowned in the aftermath of their sins and perversion. They owed him but it was becoming too much effort to make them pay. And while stuck in the game, he'd realised he was letting himself become vulnerable, he was letting the hardness that Ryder Steele was reputable for go for a woman who didn't want him af
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
Over the next few days though, they barely ever saw each other.Bree was caught at work with the deadline beats and clamouring clients bombarding them with work, so she was barely ever at home.And Ryder had himself invested in his purpose for being back here.He planned to be done from here as soon as possible and get out before the press sees through Marrow's plan and come raging for him.He'd gone to see Roger, the lawyer guy, on hastening the liquidation process.With that cleared, he'd just have to take his strikes and finally take a break from revenge.That shit only served to drain, leaving nothing in its wake except an emptiness that can never be filled.That's why he needed to be done sooner rather than later, it'd be easier to deal with now.With what he already had in his arsenal, it just took getting his hands dirty and getting in one too many back doors to have everything he needed to see Brandon crawl.He c
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
Bree came to, in a strange, dark room that was awfully unfamiliar. And she knew of course that she wasn't in here of her own will, something had happened and she didn't believe for a second that it was any good. Without a pause, the memories of God knows how long ago came flooding back into her head. "Oh God." She gasped, of course she's been kidnapped. She remembered closing from the office a little later than the normal 5pm and that's because it's that time of the year when most of the businesses in town decides they want their accounts done and drawn in the shortest time possible. And all that achieves, is dump a lot of work load on the tables of innocent accounting firm employees and putting them under a lot of pressure, she for example. She'd spent the whole day breaking her back on her not so comfortable office chair, her eyes glued to her system and her brain racking to balance numbers for insane hours with no break. Eve
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
That was it, that was how she ended up here. It was that car, the stupid looking salon car and the even worse looking men that had come out from it, they had kidnapped her. It didn't make any sense to her that they did though, there's currently nothing to her name that'll make anyone want to kidnap her. For fucks sake she doesn't even have the basic - money! So if this whole shenanigan is for the reason of ransom, it'll be a big joke because there's basically no one who'll care enough to pay for her to live. At least not her father, or Cole and definitely not Ryder. The latter will probably see her absence as good riddance. She moved tentatively to the door, careful not to make any sounds and alert whoever else was in the house of her now consciousness. She'll be in luck if the door comes open and even better if she can make it out of here without being captured again. That one will be a difficult task seeing as
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE
It didn't make sense to Ryder that she wasn't back yet and the later it got the clearer it became that something must have happened to her. It felt like a sucker punch to his gut thinking of her being hurt and helpless. Fuck, he didn't want anything happening to her, he already blames himself for hurting her too much, to add the guilt of having her get harmed on his watch would be hell. Snatching his phone off the table, he dials Jonas as he goes to grab his key too. If there's anybody that can find her, it's that guy and currently, he's Ryder's best bet. Jonas' can find anything in the face of earth given the right information, including the idiomatic needle in haystack. His call got answered on the third ring, just as he makes it outside to his car, a groggy voice coming from the receiving end. "What do you need this time, Ry?" Jonas drawled over the line grumpily. "For your info, I was just about to have dinner. You
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
He didn't waste any time making the necessary calls, the earlier he got the guys together, the earlier they could go rescue Bree from that bastard, Brandon. He hated the idea of her being under the same roof with the man, it disgusted him to imagine the length Brandon can go to get revenge. His plan had been to round up Jonas' men and go bursting into Park's residence, making the rest up as they go, but Marco the seeming leader of the group he'd gathered wouldn't hear of it. The man was a raw strategist, a ground and fine one at that, and he took care of every detail before going into anything, Ryder came to realise. And while that was a fine asset in the business they were involved in, it wasn't what Ryder needed at the moment. With men like Brandon, every minute counted because the bastard could be as volatile as hell. He'd know from experience. He could still close his eyes and relieve the horror he'd endured at his hand, li
Latest chapter
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE- LAST CHAPTER
Her box laid open in the middle of their bed while Bree went around the room, taking anything she thought she'd need and throwing them inside it.She's procrastinated this packing for a while now but it needed to be done and as a matter of fact now that Ryder was still at the office.She didn't want him to come home and find she was the only one delaying the vacation he'd taken the whole month to plan for them.Yeah, a vacation, more like a honeymoon except the kids, Karen and Issy, the new nanny, were coming too.In the couple of years that's passed, a lot has happened, none of which she regretted one bit.Not learning how damaged how husband had been before he waltzed into her life or that his plan had been to use her as pawn in his schemes to get revenge, none of it.That last part had hit harder than the rest, knowing that she could have so easily suffered for the crimes of someone who didn't even give two piece of flying shit about her.She'd taken her time to digest that piece
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT
"You know you'll never hurt Xander, right?" She asked him quietly, and honestly, she had no idea what that did for him.He didnt know that, he's been afraid of that since he knew he was expecting a soon too and maybe, just maybe, that has affected his relationship with his baby.He wondered if she'd noticed, all the times he'd opt to hold Lexie instead of him, afraid that whatever had made his father get so awfully abusive to him might be nestled somewhere inside him.What if it was a bad trait living inside him too, waiting to grow and make him a monster too?It was the sole reason he hadn't wanted kids, ever, but Bree had come into his life and many things had changed with her presence.She'd made him want things that he had no right wanting, made him be live he deserved some good things in his life and now here they were, with two kids, one of them a boy......just like he'd been."I need you to understand this Ry, you'll never be like your father. You are a good man, one of the best
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN
Bree knew that Ryder had gone through a lot growing up, hrll she knew he had had it tough growing up and has dealt with his fair share of traumatic experience, but abuse at ten?That was a lot to digest.It must have been so difficult for him, a different kind of hell even to loose the one person that genuinely loved him and have the other person who was supposed to love him now resort to abusing and molesting him instead.She couldn't stop the tears that rolled down the sides of her face as she listened to him tell it in that voice of his that couldn't choose between indifference, anger and pain.She could imagine him, so innocent, so small, so hurt and yet do afraid of the monster he calls father.No wonder his father snd hers had gotten so along together and had even made it as close friends.They were both bad pedophilic men, cut from the same nasty cloth.".......and just when I thought it couldn't get worse, he started bringing his friends over."Her breath caught in her throat s
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX
Before he got into bed, Ryder had already made up his mind to tell Bree everything that she wanted to know about him and why he turned out the way he did.He didn't want a fight like the last time, that had been an absolute hell, and he didnt want to let his past keep winning.He wanted to get it out there, he needed to.This morning had shown him that, he might never be over those horrid incidents but it would be better to know he tried.And if he had to share it with anyone, then why not her? Why not the woman he was ready to spend the rest of his life with?Even though he hasn't popped the question, he knew that was his truth, he's been ready for that step for a while now and he'd ask her anytime from now."Baby please...."Her voice called his mind back from wandering off.He opened his mouth to, but the words weren't coming, his tongue sat heavy in his mouth, unmoving, while the forbidden images he's fought so hard to keep at bay flooded his head.His hand that held her close sque
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE
Bree didnt know which bothered her the most this night between a tantrum throwing Xander who wouldn't calm down to anything and a Ryder she'd watched all day start to recoil into himself.But she'd be damned if he thought that she'd let him do that to both of them again.Not this time around, no.It was surprising still how fast his mood had swung from after she found him in the sittingroom with the last people on earth she expected to see today.He'd been okay at first, talking with them and even playing smug with her when she'd called him out on knowing they had guests snd not mentioning.But as the discussion in the room had settled more between herself and Larry, encompassing how much things had changed back home from when she left up until now and stuff, she'd noticed the start of his withdrawal. By the time Larry had come around filling her in on what had been decided on the case of her father, Nathan and Brandon, he'd been about ready to combust.She'd noticed, and before she c
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Ryder, centered around the two new men in the house and the babies they came to visit, mostly.It was nice to see Bree around other people that wasn't him and the kids, to see her around her own crowd.She needed this, he knew, because in these past months it's been just himself, the kids and Karen in her life, which wasn'tideal for anyone really.It must have been difficult for her, not having anyone or anywhere to go, especially in the times he'd been an absolute asshole to her and she must have needed someone to vent to, but she'd endured it without complaint.He hated that she had though, she should have said something, done something, but she hadn't and he couldn't even lay the blames at her doorstep now.He'd been all that she'd had here, away from her family, biological and adopted, and he'd fucked up royally.These thoughts and accusations in his head while he watched her bloom like a flower having its first taste of sunshine in a while
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE
The memory of what happened in the bathroom stayed with Bree while she had her soak in the tub and an accompanying nice bath, making her flush every now and again.She never expected it to feel this good again, but Ryder had broken every of her doubts with how easily he'd made her body sing and how intensely he'd made her come.Her legs still felt shaky even after time had passed and she was out of the one room that now held a different memory for her.She'd worried that he didnt want her anymore since the babies came and mentally, she blamed it on her postpartum body and the scar that lined her flesh, the scar that marked her first step into motherhood.And those thoughts had almost made her hate it and herself too.But this morning, barely an hour ago, he'd shown her that she'd been worrying for nothing really.Her body ached sweetly even as she got dressed up, still humming from his sinful ministrations.The room was empty which means he'd taken the babies with him on his way out, s
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO
"Then stay."That sentence, made only of two words, in that moment, sounded more powerful than any argument Ryder could think of.He wanted to, fuck, he's dreamed of staying, like she was asking him to and doing the things she was suggesting, but the fears he'd parroted to her were real for him.He didn't want to hurt her, shes been through enough in recent times to add that to her plate and he knew he might with how rough this could easily turn.She had no idea what she did to him, to his control and without it, he could do things that both of them would only regret later....While his head turned and tossed the pros and cons of indulging their flaming desires and fantasies right now, his eyes followed her body's slow descent until she dropped to her knees before him.She looked like an angel to him, in fact to him she was one, just naughtier and more tempting to his already thin control.Her dainty fingers reached up to the waistband of the sweatpants he had on and he just watched as
THE CEO'S PAWN CHAPTER HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE
"Ryder.......please......"Bree could hardly believe the voice saying these words belonged to her.She sounded so different to her own self and that was probably because it's been a long while since she's had Ryder touch her like this.She was almost beginning to think they'd hit a drought in their sex life before this morning happened.The no sex rule made sense during her recuperation period she could understand, but even before that and then after, he'd still been reluctant to touch her in an suggestive way.It had bothered her enough to make her believe it was because she looked hideous to him now with her scars and all, but the eyes that had taken in every inch of her body just minutes ago had cleared her of worries.He wanted her snd he wasn't hiding that either.She arched her body as his fingers found her other nipple, catching it between his forefinger and his thumb and rubbing it mercilessly till she thought she'd come from the pleasure.Initially, she'd been afraid she might
