0013 ~ Vincent ~ The sight of her hit me harder than I expected.
Torn dress, trembling hands, that wide-eyed panic.
Something dark flared low in my gut, tightening until it ached.
I didn’t give a damn if the physical evidence of my arousal was obvious through my tailored trousers.
Let her see it.
But looking at her wide, panicked eyes, it was clear she was far too consumed by terror and confusion to notice the effect she had on me.
She had a body built to wreck a man.
Even half-exposed, the curve of her spilling out of that ruined neckline was enough to send my thoughts somewhere I had no business taking them.
I wasn’t about to let her disappear into a bathroom to hide it from me.
I wanted to watch.
Cruel, maybe.
Unfair, definitely.
I didn’t care.
Empathy wasn’t a luxury I kept around.
“Strip,” I repeated, my voice dropping to a gravelly, quiet command.
“What?” She finally found her voice after staring at me in absolute disbelief, her entire face pale with a mixture of dread and discomfort.
“Stop playing dumb, Elodie.
Act as though you didn’t hear exactly what I just said,” I muttered, my eyes locking onto hers.
“I told you to strip.
Take it off.” “But…why?” she asked, her voice cautious, thin, and wavering as she clutched the silk nightwear against her chest like a shield.
“Because, darling, I possess the power to do whatever I damn well please in this room,” I told her, lifting a hand to lazily wave my fingers in her direction.
“So stop stalling and take off the dress.” “You don’t have the right to do this, Vincent,” she said, lifting her chin in a desperate, fragile attempt to sound brave and unbothered.
“I am your brother’s wife.
You aren’t supposed to see my body.
You shouldn’t be looking at me like this.” “The fact that you belong to my brother is because I say so.
You are mine, Elodie” I replied, a sharp, cold smile cutting across my face.
“Need I remind you of our hierarchy here?
I am the boss.
You take orders from me, not the other way around.” I shifted my weight, sitting up straighter on the leather cushions, leaning forward to lock my gaze onto hers with an intense, unblinking focus.
She visibly shuddered under the weight of my eyes, taking a frantic step backward until the back of her knees hit the edge of the furniture.
“Strip,” I commanded a third time, leaning back into the sofa and crossing my legs, settling in to enjoy the view.
She stared at me, chest rising and falling, eyes dropping to the floor.
Searching for a way out that didn’t exist.
The silence stretched, thick and unbearable, broken only by the soft tick of a clock somewhere on the wall.
“I’m waiting.” Something shifted in her face.
Hatred, clean and burning.
I didn’t care.
She threw the nightwear down onto the rug and reached for her zipper, hands shaking, eyes locked on mine the entire time.
The dress slid off her shoulders and pooled at her feet.
I didn’t blink.
I didn’t look away from her for a single fraction of a second.
She stood before me clad only in a delicate white bodice and a pair of matching, incredibly alluring lace lingerie.
The stark white fabric against her smooth, porcelain skin was a torturous sight.
A sudden, violent urge surged through me to leap off the couch, cross the room, and tear those fragile pieces of lace away with my bare hands.
“Continue,” I whispered, my voice thick and tight.
“I think this is entirely enough…” “I will be the sole judge of when it is enough,” I cut her off sharply, my gaze tracking the elegant line of her collarbone.
She gulped, the column of her throat moving as she reluctantly reached up to untie the thin straps of her bodice.
My focus narrowed, entirely consumed by the anticipation of seeing her completely bare, stripped of her defenses.
But right as her fingers loosened the first knot, the loud, jarring ring of my phone shattered the quiet intimacy of the room.
The sudden noise made Elodie jump, a small gasp escaping her lips as she instinctively recoiled in fright.
I cursed under my breath, ripping the device out of my pocket.
The screen flashed with Luca’s name.
“What is it, Luca?” I snapped, answering the call with a tone that could cut glass.
“Boss, I just received some critical intelligence regarding Tony Steele from Steele Industries,” Luca began, his voice crisp and professional.
Hearing the gravity in his tone, I stood up from the sofa, the dark, heated atmosphere evaporating in an instant.
As I stood, I glanced over at Elodie.
The moment my back was turned, she had scrambled to scoop her discarded dress off the floor, holding it tightly against her front to hide her magnificent, nearly bare form from my sight.
“Go on,” I encouraged Luca, turning away slightly to give her a shred of privacy, though a part of me missed the view.
“It concerns the loading docks down at the bay,” Luca explained.
“Steele wants to schedule an urgent meeting with you to finalize the security arrangements.
He wants to ensure the cargo reaches its destination without any outside interference.” “Schedule the meeting for tomorrow morning.
Ten o’clock sharp,” I instructed, running a hand through my hair.
“And remember, I’m currently staying at the Pemberton estate, so factor in the travel time.” “Understood, boss.
Consider it done,” Luca replied, and the line went dead.
When I turned back around, Elodie had already managed to slip back into her ruined dress, pulling the torn collar up as high as it would go.
I expected to feel a flash of anger at losing my entertainment, but instead, a wave of genuine amusement washed over me.
I was thoroughly enjoying the chaotic effect I had on her, the way she rushed to defend herself against me.
“You put the dress back on,” I observed dryly.
She didn’t offer a single word in response.
I took a slow, deliberate step toward her, and true to form, she immediately shrank back, her eyes wide with a renewed sense of panic.
She looked entirely terrified now, her gaze flitting toward the floor to avoid making eye contact.
“Fine.
The show is over for tonight,” I finally announced.
The moment the words left my lips, she snatched up the silk nightwear from the floor and bolted toward the en-suite bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her a second later.
I stared at the closed door, a dark smirk pulling at the corners of my mouth.
Setting my phone down on the nightstand, I began to shed my own clothes.
I unbuttoned and discarded my vest, tossing it onto a nearby chair, before rolling up the sleeves of my shirt and working on the remaining buttons.
By the time I moved to unbuckle my leather belt and lower my zipper, the bathroom door clicked open.
Elodie stepped back into the bedroom, but the instant her eyes landed on my half-dressed frame, she gasped and threw her hands over her eyes, blocking out the sight of my bare torso.
“You should have had the decency to wait until I was completely finished changing before you started doing the exact same thing,” she scolded, her voice muffled behind her palms.
A low chuckle escaped me.
“Oh, please.
It’s not as if you’ve never laid eyes on a shirtless man before, Elodie,” I murmured, casually stepping out of my trousers.
Instead of arguing, she spun around on her heel, keeping her back firmly turned toward me, entirely aware that I had no intention of stopping for her modesty.
“I have,” she mumbled, her tone dripping with quiet resentment.
“But not yours.
I have absolutely no desire to see you naked.” I paused in my movements, my interest piqued.
“And why is that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her stubborn back.
“Because I despise you,” she shot back instantly, not hesitating for a single second.
I let out a harsh scoff, stepping closer to her.
“You certainly didn’t seem to despise me back when we were in the ninth grade.” “We were foolish children,” she countered, her shoulders tightening.
“And a childhood crush doesn’t last forever.
I am incredibly grateful that my childish infatuation with you died out a long time ago.” “Oh, really?” I murmured.
A dark, competitive spark flared in my chest.
I dropped the rest of my clothes, quietly crossing the short distance between us.
Sensing my approach, she whirled around to face me, her eyes widening as she instinctively tried to step back.
But there was nowhere left to run.
I slammed my hand against the wall right beside her head, trapping her body securely beneath mine once again.
“Say that to my face one more time,” I whispered, leaning in until my lips were inches from hers, a wicked smirk playing on my mouth.
“I dare you, Elodie.” I slowly ran the tip of my tongue over my lower lip, my gaze dropping to her mouth.
Every single instinct in my body was screaming at me to lean down and taste her, to break her stubborn pride completely, and it took every ounce of my control not to succumb to the temptation.