Iris’s POV
I opened my mouth to shout a furious ‘No!’, my legs tensing to bolt for the door.
But then my eyes dropped back to the table, where his large hand was still resting casually over the sleek screen of my phone.
I blinked, reminding myself of how much I needed that phone.
The sheer panic of losing my only weapon against Damian made me feel a hard lump at the back of my throat as I swallowed hard.
“Fine,” I spat out, “But I have a condition of my own, Ryder.”
He leaned back, a slow dark wave of satisfaction washing over his face.
“Let’s hear it, sweetheart.”
”Nobody finds out about this,” I whispered fiercely, “about us.
To everyone else, you are just my husband’s uncle”
Ryder didn’t even react much.
“That’s easy enough.
I like keeping you to myself anyway.
But since you get a condition, I’m going to add one more to mine.”
My jaw clenched, “What now?”
The playful glint completely vanished from his face.
“I don’t want Damian to ever touch you. You won’t let it happen. Not a single kiss, not a hand on your waist, and absolutely nothing in his bed. You’re completely off-limits to him.”
A sharp, humorless laugh escaped my lips.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said, then the chilling thought came to me.
“As if I would ever let that man touch me again.”
I grabbed my phone from the table the moment he slid it towards me, and quickly uploaded every single photo of Damian’s affair straight to my private email backup.
Once the confirmation email popped up, a heavy weight lifted off my chest.
“I want you to add my number,” his deep voice made me jump, “And of course, pin me to the top of your chat list. I don’t intend to stay buried under your unread messages, sweetheart.”
I bit my lip, reluctantly typing in his private number as he called it, and pinned his chat thread to the very top, right above Ruby’s name.
“You know, you really should treat me better from now on. After all, you took my virginity last night.”
My jaw dropped.
I stared at him, my face flushing.
His virginity?
A powerful, thirty-year-old billionaire alpha Lancaster?
Ryder’s profile picture was nothing but a solid, pitch-black square.
It looked cold, the face of a ruthless businessman who crushed his rivals without a second thought—a completely different person from the man in front of me now. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
As I sat in the back of a taxi driving away from his estate, I pulled out my phone.
Having “Ryder” pinned at the very top of my screen was a big security risk.
If Damian ever glanced at my screen, he would recognize his uncle’s name instantly.
I tapped on the contact name and cleared it out, typing in a simple name: Riley.
If Damian ever asked why a ‘Riley’ was blowing up my phone at midnight, I could easily lie and say it was a needy girlfriend from college.
My phone buzzed right there in my hand, “Oh hey Ruby.” I said, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Iris! So I’ve been thinking, you need a serious distraction from all this Damian drama,” Ruby’s loud, cheerful voice blasted through the speaker.
“I’m already downtown. Let’s go shopping. The boutique is open late, and you deserve to blow some of that Lancaster money.”
A distraction with Ruby was exactly what I needed to forget about both Damian and his overwhelming uncle.
“Yeah,” I breathed out.
“Yeah, okay. I’m on my way.”
An hour later, my arms were full of shopping bags, but the heavy weight in my chest had finally started to lift.
We walked out of the boutique into the warm evening air, laughing about a ridiculous dress Ruby had tried on.
But the laughter died right in my throat.
Parked directly at the curb was the sleek, black SUV.
The heavy car door swung open, and Ryder stepped out.
He looked impossibly handsome, his tall frame dressed in a casual charcoal suit.
He didn’t even look at the crowded street; his sharp, dark eyes locked directly onto me.
Next to me, I heard Ruby gasp.
She clutched my arm so tightly her fingernails dug into my skin.
Her eyes went completely wide, her jaw practically dropping to the pavement.
I told her who that was and she exclaimed dramatically.
“Oh my god! You have an uncle-in-law this insanely handsome and you’ve never mentioned him to me?! Are you out of your mind?”
My face burned bright red.
I tried to pull her away, but she wouldn’t budge.
“Seriously, Iris,” Ruby continued, now in a whisper, her eyes still glued to Ryder as he walked toward us.
“Why the hell did you marry Damian? If I were you, I would have fallen for this man instead. He is a total 10!.”
If only she knew that I had fallen into his bed just last night.
Ryder stopped right in front of us.
A faint, knowing smile touched the corner of his lips as he looked at my red face, but he turned politely to Ruby.
“Hello.
I’m Ryder Lancaster.”
”Ruby,” my best friend said instantly, putting on her most charming smile.
“It’s so great to meet you, Mr. Lancaster.”
”I was just in the area,” Ryder murmured, his deep voice smooth as silk.
He finally shifted his intense gaze back to me, a playful spark dancing in his eyes.
“I figured you ladies must be hungry after all this shopping.
Let me take you both to dinner.”
”Oh, we would love—” Ruby started excitedly.
“No,” I interrupted quickly, my voice tight.
“No, thank you, Ryder.
We actually have other plans.
We should get going.”
”Oh, come on, Iris, we don’t have plans!” Ruby whined, completely destroying my lie.
She grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the SUV.
“We would absolutely love to go to dinner with you, Mr. Lancaster. Thank you so much!”
Before I could even shout a refusal, Ryder stepped in.
He smoothly opened the backseat door, his large hand gently but firmly gripping my elbow to guide me inside.
The heat of his touch went straight through my sleeve, making my skin tingle.
Ruby eagerly climbed in, giggling like a teenager.
The door clicked shut, trapping me beside him once again.
It hadn’t even been two hours since I left his house, and he was already back in my life.