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touched her and he
couldn’t help but smirk. He enjoyed the way she reacted to him. Her
initial confidence melted away when their eyes met, revealing her
vulnerability. She was afraid of him. As she should be. He liked
her fearful.
    Or was it something else she was afraid of?
He stared into her eyes as he held her steady, his eyes flicking
back and forth between each of her brown irises. No, she wasn’t
afraid of him; she was fearful of losing him and what he had to
offer. He had seen this look far too many times before and not just
on the faces of his Chapters, but the many women whom he had
dated.
    Her lips parted and she licked them uneasily
as he sat silently scanning her expression. When her body shivered
slightly and her eyes searched his face for approval, he
immediately pulled his hand away and intentionally shut out any
awareness of her feelings. He was disgusted, not only with Elsa,
but with himself. He hated weakness in any form, but most
especially the kind that came from sentimentality and love. Fuck
love and anything remotely like it . It was a waste of time and
effort and nothing good ever came of it.
    He swiftly redirected his focus. He would
simply learn what he could from her and move on to the next Chapter
just like he had done so many times before.
    “Well? Can you or not?” he asked,
clipped.
    When she answered, the air around them seemed
to electrify. “I can.”
    Let the games begin.
    ***
    Elsa knew she was entering
the lion’s den by agreeing to Mr. Black’s seemingly simple request
and that her resolve would be tested, but she couldn’t resist the
temptation. Nor did she want to. How could she when she saw those
entrancing eyes staring back at her? Never in her life had she met
a man like Victor Laurenzo and not once had anyone looked as
exposed as he did when he looked into her eyes. He appeared to be
afraid of the very thing she was. Or was she just deluding herself?
Maybe it was all part of the handsome yet deceiving mask he wore.
She supposed he would either make her his victim or shield her with
his life. She hoped for the latter, but she was willing to take the
risk of finding out which one it would be.
    Digging into his briefcase
again, he brought out a pen and held it out to her, but when she
reached for it, he pulled it just out of her reach.
    “Once you sign this,
there’s no going back,” his gruff voice held a note of challenge as
did the wistful expression on his face.
    Elsa knew better. The
make-shift contract in front of her was neither legal nor binding.
Surely a man of Mr. Black’s intelligence knew that. Keeping her
thoughts to herself, she nodded and attempted to take the pen from
him. As if he had read her thoughts, he held the pen at bay once
more.
    “If you think you can
simply back out of this agreement at any point, Ms. Cassidy, you
couldn’t be more wrong. Though this piece of paper may not be legal
in a court of law, I follow my own set of laws and rules, and I
will hold you to this agreement regardless.”
    She quickly lowered her
hand and placed it in her lap. There was a certainty in his voice –
the kind of certainty that told her that nothing less than her all
would be acceptable. A loud ringing in her ears blocked out all
sounds as she sat unmoving and gaping at him.
    “For how long?” the words
caught in her throat.
    His pupils flared
infinitesimally and his response came without hesitation. “Until I
say otherwise.”
    Suddenly Mr. Black’s simple
rules didn’t seem so simple.
    “Are you going to hurt me?”
she finally found the courage to ask when he sat silently
unresponsive.
    “Everything done within
these walls will be done with safety in mind. No irreparable
physical damage will be caused.”
    Mr. Black definitely had a
way with words, but he didn’t answer her question. Not directly
anyway and the secret expression on his face told her he was
holding something back. And what about her emotional well-being?
Would there be irreparable damage