Chapter 1

Thea’s POV

If there was anything I absolutely loathed, it was asking for help.

It was something I was never particularly excellent at. I was always the 'I can handle it all by myself girl.' and I usually could. I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist as everyone seemed to think I was. I just preferred to do things a certain way. Okay, maybe I was a perfectionist but it wasn't a bad thing. It got things done most of the time, even though it meant living exclusively on caffeine and oxygen.

I was at the Capa Decal Hotel, a seven star hotel in Manhattan. I was here to do the one thing I hated the most, to ask for help. Normally I wouldn't be so bothered by it if the person I was to seek help from wasn't a renowned douchebag and asshole.

My eyes wandered around the restaurant when I reached the door and within seconds, I spotted the man I had come to see. Tyler Blackwood, the CEO of Blackwood Oil. He was sitting beside the glass wall of the restaurant. Tyler was our biggest competitor in the oil market, at least he used to be until he stole all of my father’s investors, monopolizing the oil market. Exxon Oil, my father’s company, was on the verge of bankruptcy with debts that would probably liquidate the entire company if we don’t start paying up.

I took a deep and calming breath and shoved my pride down my throat before walking up to him, remembering who I was doing this for. I cleared my throat as soon as I got to his table and he dragged his eyes away from his phone like a lazy cat to glare at who it was that had just interrupted him. His green eyes gave me a once over that made me a little uncomfortable.

"Miss Thea. Lovely to finally have you here. I've only been waiting for twenty minutes." He said, sarcastically.

He dusted an invisible lint off of his Armani charcoal black suit. His hair was artistically combed to the side.

"Apologies. I was held up in traffic." I said. It was only half a lie. I was held up in traffic, but the traffic was my inability to find anything to wear after I spilled coffee all over the clothes I had chosen to wear for the meeting.

"Maybe this meeting doesn't mean much to you."

I let out a forced laugh, "What? Of course it does. I apologize for my tardiness."

He stared at me for the longest time before he dropped his gaze.

"Sit." He said to me and that was when I realized I was still standing all this time. I took my seat across from him and forced a smile on my lips.

"Are you hungry, Thea?" He asked, looking at me through his impossibly long, thick lashes.

"No, I'm fine " I shook my head, wanting to get this over with already. Somehow, sitting here with Tyler made me feel the most uncomfortable I have felt in a while.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

"I am, thank you." I replied.

"Alright then." He waved a hand at the waiter away, and she stalked away.

"So," I began, when the waiter was out of ear shot. “We should go straight to the point. You already know why I'm here. It is in regards to the email I sent you earlier this week. I know how much you've wanted your hands on Exxon Oil, and I am willing to sell you some of my shares for this." I showed him the amount in the paperwork I drafted.

He barely glanced at the piece of paper before nodding, "Sure."

"Wait really?" I wasn't expecting him to outright say no, but I wasn't expecting it to be this easy either.

"Of course," he shrugged. He was looking at me in a way that felt too personal, like he could see right through my clothes. It intensified my discomfort.

"But?" I asked, knowing there was always a ‘but’. There had to be. I wasn't naive enough to think a man like Tyler Blackwood would easily agree to a proposal without so much as a negotiation.

His lips curved into a smirk, "Smart, but there's no but."

"Okay then." I dragged out the words, watching him for any sign that gave away his sarcasm, but there was none. Maybe he wasn’t as douchey as people believed him to be.

"However, I have a condition." He spoke up after a moment, making me roll my eyes.

“There it was, the but,” I murmured under my breath, but I was sure he heard me. "And what would this condition be?" I asked cautiously.

He smirked and leaned forward, giving me a sweeping look.

"Tell me Thea, when was the last time you were fucked on your hands and knees." He asked, his eyes settling on my chest for far too long.

"Excuse me?" I asked in an incredulous tone. I wasn't sure I had heard him right, but even as I glared up at him, I knew I had heard the exact thing he had said. If my face was any redder, I'd be mistaken for a lobster. Even as I glared fire and brimstones at him, he looked unfazed and waited for an answer.

"When was the last time you were…"

"I don't mean for you to repeat yourself,” I cut him off. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you not hear how inappropriate that sounds?" I whisper-yelled, trying to keep myself from not losing my absolute goddamn mind.

"My bad, did I make you wet by my question, is that it?” He raised a brow, taking another inappropriate sweep over my body. I clenched my thighs together irritated by the sudden throb that ran through my inner thighs because of his question.

"No, you asshole."

"You still haven't answered my question Thea. I'm a busy man, you know." He looked down at this watch, then back at me as though he was waiting for an answer to the most basic question he has ever asked.

"Fuck you. I'm not answering that you fucking asshole. This was clearly a big fucking mistake." I started to gather my things to leave. I wasn't going to let myself be disrespected by Tyler, but his voice cut through my thoughts.

"Are you sure you can afford to leave this meeting?" His deep baritone voice had a little gruff to it as he spoke.

I paused in my tracks and looked at him. He was staring at me through hooded eyes like he knew something I didn't, something that could ruin me, and I didn't like it.

"Yes." I gritted out, unwilling to give him any satisfaction. Whatever he thought he knew, I didn't care. I was not about to sit here and be sexualized by Tyler fucking Blackwood.

"Now we both know that is a lie, Thea,” He said my name in a seductive but patronizing tone. "Your father’s company is on the verge of bankruptcy, maybe even liquidation and to top it all off, your father is dying. The little company is the only thing holding him back before he dies of a heart attack or something. So, I am asking you this again, are you sure you can afford to walk away from this meeting?"

The stupid bastard. I hated his smile. It looked predatory and sick like I was his prey and I had already been caught. I felt my stomach turn at the reminder of all the troubles I was in and I sat back down on the chair knowing he was my last hope. He was right. I couldn’t afford to leave the meeting.

"How do you know any of these?” I asked, glaring at him.

"I'm a businessman, doll. It is my business to know these things. Now answer my question. When was the last time you were fucked on all fours?" He smirked.

I looked away, trying to stop myself from crying. It has been a rough couple of months, first starting with Blackwood Oil getting all of our investors and then my boyfriend breaking up with me, and leaving me for his highschool sweetheart. I have been able to go through all of that without breaking but none of those things could have prepared me for Tyler Blackwood.

"What does this have to do with this meeting?" I turned my face back to him, keeping strong eye contact.

"Well, Thea. I was sure that I didn’t have to explain where I'm going with this but if you still don't understand, I'm only going to sign off on those documents if you allow me to have you coming hard under me tonight."

My mouth nearly hit the floor, “What the hell? Why?”

"Because I find you attractive. I have for a while now." He answered. If this were a regular man, I would have stood up and punched his stupid face, but this was the man that owned the entire town.

"I'm not sleeping with you to get investors." I said firmly but even as I said I knew I didn't have any choice.

"Oh, but you will, doll. It is the only way to save your company and your father." He said in a nonchalant tone before he brought out a card from his pocket and placed it in front of me.

"Here, this is my hotel card. Meet me there by 8pm and we can save your father. Dress slutty, I want to see those curves in a red dress before I undress you." With that he stood up, gently tucked my hair behind my ears before he stalked off.