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“Don’t,” he said, and before he could stop himself he reached out and gripped the base of her throat. Held her, just so. Showing her exactly who he was. How much stronger he was. How much more powerful.

A shiver went through her petite frame. Damn. She responded. He could see it. There was fear in her eyes, yes, but more than that, yes, there was so much more than that.

“I am asking you exactly how you want to be fucked, agapi.”

“Well, I hope.”

“And that is the trouble with going to clubs like this filled with money and egos. The men who make the most often give the least, you see? They are selfish in bed. They don’t care what you want. Is that what you’re looking for? A few moments of tragic heaving while he finds his pleasure and fails to locate yours?”

“Is that an offer?” she asked, with that trademark steel threaded through her voice. This was the problem with Esme. She was sweet. In many ways. She was beautiful, and she looked angelic. But she would cut you if she had to. And just now, he could see that she was ready to have a knife fight with him.

Was she only daring him? Or was she serious?

“I am asking you now, and seriously. What is it that you expect from this endeavor?” He was leaving. What was worse, actually, leaving her to be sullied by somebody else, or going ahead and doing the defiling himself? His worry had been that Esme would have feelings for him. That being with her while they were in close quarters all the time would…

That she would fall in love with you? That’s a laugh. What is there about you to love?

Well, he knew there was nothing. But he also knew that young women often mistook sexual pleasure for feelings. And if there was one thing he did know, it was that he was very good at giving sexual pleasure.

“I thought that I would have sex,” she said.

“Is that truly the only thought that you put into it?”

“The truth is, Adonis, no man would ever come near me when I was younger because you and Alex would’ve killed them. Honestly, when I was much younger that was a gift. As I got older, it was more of a hindrance. At this point, I just want to be normal.”

“You don’t get to have normal, I fear.”

He regretted that. The truth was, he wanted normal for Esme. It was one reason he had left her untouched. And now he was…playing with the fire he had deliberately walked away from.

Though it was different now.

Alex already hated him, so that was destroyed no matter what. He had detached himself entirely from the company, so there were no lingering power dynamics.

He no longer held any of her money in his hand, and she would no longer be forced to see him every day.

Perhaps it was fate. If he believed in such things.

Or maybe it was just the bargain that a desperate man made with himself when he wanted something bad enough.

Chivalry had never been his strong suit. Morals had never been in his wheelhouse.

He was certainly proving that now.

He had attempted nobility by leaving.

He wasn’t good at it.

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“Maybe not. But you need to tell me, and convincingly, that you want this, because it needs to be something that you want, and not just something you’re trying to get rid of.”

“What does it matter?”

“Because you should be with someone who can give you what you want, and if you don’t know what that is—”

“You,” she said. The bravado slipped, just for a moment. She looked small and terrified and vulnerable then.

“Oh, Esme.”