Elara

I acted like I was exactly where I belonged.

"Mr. Sterling?" I said, my voice calm and steady. "-And Julian. Fancy meeting you somewhere so... quiet."

Julian didn't wait for his father's permission. He trotted over to me, dark curls brushing over his wide blue eyes that were locked on my reading glasses.

"The blanket?" he asked softly

I smiled. "Right here." Handing him the glasses. "Take a look. It's a whole city down there."

Arthur stepped forward, his presence looming over us like a shadow. He looked down at me, his blue eyes searching my outfit, a stark difference from the escort look I had on at the gala.

"What are you doing here, Miss Vance?" he asked. He didn't sound friendly.

He remembered my name...

"Taking the air." I said, standing up gracefully.

I didn't offer my hand this time. I knew better. "The gala was a bit... loud for my taste. I prefer the company of trees... And your son."

That was a truthful statement.

Arthur looked at Julian, who was currently mesmerized by the moss, calmly observing it in awe.

"I don't believe in coincidences." Arthur said, his eyes narrowing as he took a step into my personal space. He was so tall I had to tilt my head back, my pulse spiked but I didn't flinch.

"Neither do I." I replied, my voice a soft challenge. "I believe in results. And right now, Julian is smiling. When was the last time that happened in public?"

The hit landed. I saw the slight clench his jaw. He was a man of logic, and the logic was undeniable, his son liked me.

The silence between us was heavy, with only the distant sound of a jogger's footsteps on the gravel path. Arthur was towering over me, his presence a physical weight.

He didn't just look down at me, he looked through me, searching for a crack. "You're a professional, I saw you with Caspian Beaumont. You're an escort." He said bluntly.

A sly smile cracked on my lips, though my pulse was screaming. "I'm a woman who knows how to play a role, Mr. Sterling." I said, stepping closer.

My nostrils were invaded by the crisp scent of his laundry detergent and the underneath musk of his cologne. Not too harsh, not too soft either. It was a scent that made my lower belly clench with desire.

"But more importantly." I continued, my voice low and steady, "I'm someone who sees what others miss. Like the fact that you look like you haven't slept in forty-eight hours because you're trying to calculate how to survive a merger."

Arthur's jaw tightened. "You know too much about things that don't concern you."

"I make it my business to be concerned." I spoke softly.

"You've tried the best nannies money can buy. You've tried the high-end agencies. They all give you 'perfection' by the book, but they don't understand that your world, and Julian's."

My speech took me by surprise, I had such a way with words...

I took a half-step back, giving him his space and waited, letting everything I just said, settle.

His brows furrowed in thought before his eyes snapped to mine. "I'm not looking for another employee, Miss Vance."

Arthur didn't just reject the idea, he dismantled it. He looked at Julian, who was still crouched by the moss, then back at me with a look of profound distrust.

"Employees are liabilities. They talk. They break. And I certainly don't hire 'solutions' from the arms of men like Caspian Beaumont."

He reached down and gripped Julian's hand. Not roughly, but with a suddenness that shattered the boy's concentration.

Julian shrieked, his voice hitting a high frequency. He tried to pull back toward the tree, his small face twisting in frantic distress. "I wasn't done! miss Elara said-"

"Julian, enough. We're leaving." Arthur commanded.

His face was pale, his jaw clenching as he tried to manage the boy's escalating screams. The 'proper' tycoon was resurfacing, and he looked humiliated by the scene.

"No! No! No!" Julian began to kick at the air, a full-blown meltdown in the middle of the quiet park.

I took a step forward, my hand instinctively reaching out. "Arthur, he just needs a second to-"

"Do not." Arthur snapped, his eyes flashing with a warning so sharp it felt like a physical blow. "Do not use his name. And stay away from my son."

He hauled a sobbing, thrashing Julian into his arms.

The boy was wailing now, reaching his small hands back toward me, but Arthur didn't look back. He marched toward his waiting black SUV with the purpose of ending the humiliation.

I stood there in silence, feeling the sting of the morning mist and defeat.

The next four days were brutal...

My 'expert' plan had blown up in my face. I had miscalculated Arthur Sterling's pride. He didn't just want order, he wanted total, isolated control. By showing him that I saw his weakness, I hadn't made myself a solution, I'd made myself a threat.

"He's not biting, Sof..." I groaned, dropping my head onto the kitchen table.

Sofia walked by, tossing a stack of mail in front of me. On top was a plain white envelope. No return address. I knew what it was before opening with trembling fingers.

It was a photo of my mother sitting at a bus stop, a red circle drawn around her head in permanent marker.

"The loan sharks are getting bored, Elara."

She leaned against the counter, her curls wild from sleep. "-And bored men start breaking things. You need a win tonight, at least to send them some money to stall..."

My mind was a mess. "I can't get to him. He blocked my number from the agency list. I'm also blacklisted from the Sterling tower."

"Then stop trying to be a nanny and start being the one thing you know how to be." Sofia said, her eyes glinting.

"There's a soft opening tonight. The Gilded Cage. It's a new high-end club in the Seaport. The owner is a friend of a friend. The guest list is... heavy. All the big fish."

"I don't have the energy to hunt tonight, Sof."

Truthfully, I was tired of the same old routine of dressing sexy for the male gaze, only to stroke their ego or their small cocks, just to earn whatever they're willing to give.

"You don't have a choice." she countered, sliding a shimmering, skin-tight silver dress across the table. "Get up. We're going to let loose, get a drink, and find you a client with a large pocket."

The Gilded Cage was exactly what the name implied.

It was a masterpiece of gold-leafed bars, velvet booths, where a single bottle of champagne cost more than my monthly rent.

I was on my third drink, leaning against the bar while Sofia worked a group of tech investors across the room. I felt numb, every man who looked at me felt like a shadow compared to the cold, sharp image of Arthur Sterling in my head.

"Hey, El." Sofia whispered, appearing at my elbow, her face flushed with excitement. "Look at the VIP lounge. The owner's table."

I followed her gaze to the elevated platform overlooking the dance floor. It was barricaded by thick gold ropes and guarded by two massive security guards.

My heart stopped, breath seizing.

There, in the center of a semi-circle of boisterous, laughing businessmen, sat Arthur Sterling.

He was dressed in a dark suit, his tie removed and his top button undone, peeking what seemed to be a chest tattoo. My brows raised in surprise, interest piquing.

As usual, he was as rigid as ever. He wasn't drinking nor talking. He sat with his hands folded across his chest, eyes fixed on the condensation of a glass of water in front of him.

"What is he doing here?" I breathed.

Sofia smirked. "The owner, Leo Marcovicci seems to be Arthur's only friend." She shrugged. "He probably came here to celebrate with his friend for opening a new club."

Bullshit.

It was like I was being pulled to him.

"Elara, don't." Sofia warned as I started to move. "He told you to stay away."

"Wrong. he told the 'nanny' to stay away." I said, smoothing down the silver fabric of my dress, which left very little to the imagination.

And with a new spark of determination, I marched forward.

Elara

I walked toward the VIP stairs, my heels clicking with steady rhythm. I didn't look at the guards. I looked at the owner, a man I'd met once at a charity poker game.

"Leo." I purred as I reached the rope. "Tell me you have room for one more at this boring table."

Leo looked at me, then at the miserable Arthur in the center of his booth. He grinned, sensing a way to liven up the atmosphere. "For you, Elara? Always."

He unclipped the rope.

I stepped onto the platform, weaving through the crowd until I was standing directly in front of Arthur. The air around him felt different, colder, tenser.

He didn't look up until I sat down in the empty space right next to him. Our thighs didn't touch, but the heat of his body radiated towards me.

Arthur's head snapped toward me. When he realized who it was, his nostrils flared, and his blue eyes striking daggers into me.

"You." he rasped, his voice barely audible over the thumping music.

I didn't even get to reply, before he cut me off.

"-Leo, get her out of here." Arthur snapped.

Leo had on a shit-eating grin as leaned forward, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Relax, Artie." Leo laughed, throwing an arm over the back of the velvet booth.

He looked at me, taking in the silver dress and the way I wasn't flinching under Arthur's glare, something was stirring at the back of his head. "I'm the one who invited her over. You've been sitting here like a gargoyle for two hours."

He scratched his stubble beard, lazily. "I brought you out here to get laid, or at least remember what a woman looks like, not to calculate the ROI on my speaker system."

Arthur's gaze snapped to Leo's, shooting daggers at him. "I am leaving." he announced, starting to stand.

"You can't." Leo chuckled.

"The press is still at the front door waiting for the 'Biomedical ice King' to give his statement." He leaned forward, whispering just enough for him to hear.

"You walk out now with that shitty look on your face, and the merger headlines tomorrow are going to be 'Sterling Cracks Under Pressure.' Just sit. Breathe. Talk to the pretty lady."

Arthur sank back in defeat, eyes avoiding mine like I was medusa.

I leaned in, my nostrils wafting his intoxicating scent of crisp cologne, but this time, it had a hint of musk. His sweat. And, that just made his scent more addictive.

"Leo is right about the press." I whispered into his ear.

His jaws tightened, before he snapped his head to look at me, our faces just inches away. "I believe I made myself clear, Miss Vance." He seethed.

My heart raced from our proximity. I don't know what it was, but I loved seeing him lose this perfect control he always held. I wandered how much control he'll lose, while fucking.

"You did." I purred, leaning in close so my lips were inches from his ear.

My thighs clenched at the thought, I wasn't thinking straight after three shots. "But you look like you're about to have a panic attack, Arthur. Are you sure you don't need my help?"

His breathing was unsteady, but he glared at me.

Leo seemed to notice our situation, because he grinned and signaled for the body guard, handing him a key card. "Count yourself a lucky man Arthur, there just happens to be a private exit."

The heavy bass music of the club became muffled as we moved through the service corridor. Leo's bodyguard moved with silent efficiency, swiping the key card through a steel door.

Arthur didn't look back.

He moved with a frantic, his long legs eating up the distance that I had to practically jog to keep up, the sharp click-click-click of my silver stilettos echoing off the concrete walls.

My head was spinning, half from the three shots of tequila, half from the sheer audacity of what I was doing.

We burst out into the private parking garage. The air was bitingly cold, smelling of damp concrete and expensive tires. The silence out here was sudden and deafening.

Arthur stopped at a sleek grey Rolls Royce. Before I could even draw a breath to speak, he spun around.

The movement was so fast I didn't have time to react. He grabbed my upper arms with a firm grip and shoved me back. My back hit a concrete pillar with a dull thud, the cold seeping through the thin silver fabric of my dress.

He didn't let go.

He leaned in, caging me between the pillar and his massive frame. At 5'8, he made me feel small, but it wasn't a feeling of weakness, it was a feeling of being consumed.

"Stay the fuck away from me." he rasped.

My breath hitched.

The 'Proper Tycoon' was gone. Hearing him curse was like hearing a statue scream, it was a total breakdown of his carefully constructed personality and it lit a fire inside me.

All my nerves were tingling from the sheer sight of witnessing his control slip away.

"You think this is a game?" he seethed, his chest heaving against mine. "You think you can just show up in my park, show up at my friend's club, and play with my son to get what you want?"

My heart was hammering against my ribs, but it wasn't out of fear. It was the thrill. The expert in me knew I had him cornered, even if he was the one pinning me to a wall. He was reacting. He was feeling.

"I'm not playing, Arthur." I whispered, my voice thick. I leaned my head back against the pillar, exposing the line of my throat. "I'm offering you a good service."

His gaze dropped to my lips before snapping back to my eyes. His grip on my arms tightened just a fraction. "I want you to disappear back into whatever gutter Caspian Beaumont found you in."

The tequila fueled me with reckless bravery.

I looked him dead in the eye, my lips pulling into a slow, defiant smirk. I shifted my hips forward, feeling the heat radiating off his thighs.

"And if I don't?" I challenged.

He claimed my lips hard, taking me by surprise.

My body was vibrating with desire. This was the most turned on I've ever felt and it was for none other than the ice king tycoon.

I kissed him back harder, tongues tangling together in a sexy tango. He pressed forward, the globes of my breasts squashed between us from the tight proximity.

The kiss was not gentle.

It was wild and passionate like we'd been holding back from tearing each other's clothes off. My hands travelled to his perfectly styled hair, running my fingers through the dark curls.

A moan escaped his lips as his hands travelled down to the full globes of my ass, which was currently, partly covered by my dress.

I ground onto his hardness, wanting more. "Ngh! Oh...fuck...."

He parted from my lips, dragging his hot tongue down my exposed neck, like I was his favorite piece of candy before stopping right at the swell of my breast, nibbling on the swollen skin.

Goosebumps littered my skin. The once, stoic Arthur had turned into a beast, ready to devour me and I wasn't complaining.

"More..." I pleaded, arching my back to feel more.

His large hands squeezed my ass, slipping past the silver hem of my dress to grab my bare ass. I shivered, not caring that my bare ass was exposed to the open air.

"Ugh...Arthur..." I moaned.

Arthur sucked hard on my skin, dragging the flesh between his teeth before soothing it with his hot tongue. I was going insane, my mind could not process what was happening.

A wet patch was forming at the center of my lacy thong. I clench my thighs together, hoping to ease the throbbing.

Just as I was about to beg him for more, a loud clang of an empty can echoed through the empty parking lot. Arthur tensed immediately and pulled away as fast as possible, like had just come in contact with a toxin.

A cat meowed, its tiny feet pattering behind the rows of private cars.

Arthur's pupils were blown wide, dark curls disheveled and lips, red and swollen from the hot kiss.

We stared at each other, taking in what exactly just happened and I could see the instant shock on his face.

His chest was heaving. "M-miss Vance, I-"

I swallowed, feeling utterly ravaged as I pulled down my tiny dress that had ridden up to cover my ass. Arthur cursed low, his hands clenching into a fist at his side before he made a move to turn.

"Forget that this ever happened. It was a mistake." Before storming into his car and drifting off with screeching tires.

I leaned against the pillar, inhaling deeply because as much as I detested to admit it. That was the best makeout I've ever had in my life.

And it was from Arthur freaking Sterling.

Elara

I didn't sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, the darkness reminded me of the cool, damp shadows of that parking lot. I could still feel the rough grit of the concrete pillar against my back and the terrifying, electric heat of Arthur's hands on my bare skin.

My body felt like a live wire, humming with a low-voltage shock that no amount of cold water could wash away.

I was staring at the ceiling, tracing the cracks in the plaster, when my phone chimed on the nightstand. The blue light blinded me for a second.

Subject: Formal Inquiry - Sterling Bioworks

From: Office of the CEO

Time: 03:14 AM

Miss Vance,

You are required at Sterling Tower for a formal consultation. Your presence is expected at exactly 09:00 AM. Access credentials have been attached to your digital ID.

Do not be late.

-A. Sterling

I let the phone drop onto my chest.

Three in the morning. He wasn't sleeping either. The "Ice King" was sitting in his high-tech fortress, probably scrubbing his skin raw trying to erase the scent of me, only to give up and draft a business meeting instead.

"You're shaking." Sofia noted a few hours later.

She was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, wrapped in a silk robe, holding two mugs of coffee.

"I'm fine." I lied, reaching for a mug. My fingers trembled as they brushed the ceramic.

"Elara, you look like a woman who just touched a high-voltage fence and liked the feeling." Sofia walked over and nudged my chin up, her eyes narrowing at the faint, dark hickey blossoming just below my jawline.

"He did that?"

"He's a beast, Sofia. A beast hidden behind a three-piece suit and a billion-dollar company." I pulled a high-necked black turtleneck over my head, hiding the evidence of Arthur's total lapse in control.

"He called it a mistake. He ran away like I was a toxin."

"Good." Sofia said, though her expression was grim.

"Let him be scared. It means you have the power. Just don't forget why you're going into that office. That hickey on your neck doesn't pay the loan sharks. The signature does."

I nodded, my face hardening into the mask of the 'Expert.' "I know."

The Sterling Tower - 08:58 AM

The lobby of Sterling Bioworks was exactly as I imagined.

It was all white marble with soaring glass windows and an oppressive silence that made my heels echo like gunshots. As I rode the private elevator to the 32nd floor, I checked my reflection in the polished chrome.

I looked like a different woman.

No silver dress nor smudged lipstick. I was wearing a sharp, charcoal-grey suit pants and a white form fitting turtle neck with my hair slicked back into a bun.

The elevator doors chimed.

I walked out into the executive suite. At the far end, behind a desk made of a of black obsidian, sat Arthur.

He didn't look up. He was wearing a fresh navy suit, his hair perfectly in place, his tie knotted with precision. He looked exactly like the 'Ice King' again. If I hadn't felt the way his heart hammered against mine in the dark, I would have thought I'd dreamed the whole thing.

I walked to the center of the room and stopped. I didn't say hello. I didn't apologize for being early. I just stood there, waiting.

The silence stretched for a full minute. Finally, he spoke. His voice was cold, flat, and entirely devoid of the rasp that had sent shivers down my spine six hours ago.

"Sit, Miss Vance."

I sat in the guest chair.

Arthur finally looked up. His eyes were guarded and distant. He didn't look at my neck. He didn't look at my lips. He looked at me as if I were a fellow business partner.

He was professional.

"Regarding the... incident... last night." he began, his voice dropping low. "I am sorry for coming on to you. It was a wrong reaction to my sensory overload. Such mistake would never happen again".

I almost scoffed. "Is that what we're calling it?" I asked. "A sensory overload?"

His jaw clenched.

The mask slipped for a fraction of a second, a flash of heat in his eyes, before it disappeared. He slid a thick, leather-bound folder across the obsidian desk.

"I designed a contract." he said.

"One year. You will move into my residence in Beacon Hill. You will act as Julian's primary companion and my fiancée for all corporate and social engagements."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping low. "Specifically, you will be by my side during the L'vov merger negotiations."

I opened the folder. The first page was a payment schedule. Four million dollars, divided into four milestones.

I tried so hard not to smile from how big of a deal this was. Excitement bubbled in my chest from the fact that I would have at least a million dollars left after paying all my debts.

"There are clauses." Arthur continued. "Strict ones. You will not entertain other clients. You will not discuss the nature of our arrangement with anyone. And most importantly..."

He leaned forward, his presence filling the space between us.

"There will be no physical contact. No repetitions of the parking lot. You are here to provide the illusion of stability, Miss Vance. Not a reality."

I looked at the contract, then back at him. I saw the way his fingers were slightly gripping the edge of the desk. He was terrified of me.

"Four million is a lot of money for an illusion, Arthur." I said, picking up the heavy gold pen on his desk and signing the last page in a bold, sweeping hand.

I slid the folder back to him. "But if you want a statue instead of a woman, you should have gone to a museum."

Arthur's eyes went hard, his nostrils flaring as he snatched the folder away.

"The car will be at your apartment at noon. Don't be late."

The dismissal was crisp and final.

I stood, smoothing the front of my charcoal trousers, gently, ignoring the thrumming beneath my skin. If Arthur expected me to scurry out like a scared employee, he was mistaken.

"Understood." I said evenly.

I turned toward the floor-to-ceiling windows instead of the door, gazing into the busy street below. The silence that stretched between us felt deliberate now.

"You didn't ask any questions." Arthur's deep voice broke the silence.

My lips curled into a smirk, I glanced over my shoulder. "I'm an escort Arthur, we read contracts for a living."

His inhaled sharply, cocking his head. "That wasn't an answer."

I faced him fully.

"You're offering four million dollars for my time, my image, and my discretion. You want a fiancée who doesn't touch you." I emphasized that more carefully, enjoying the way he avoided my eyes.

"You want companion who doesn't disrupt your carefully controlled environment, and a presence that convinces powerful men you're stable."

I tilted my head. "What's to ask?"

His eyes sharpened. "Most people would negotiate."

I shrugged. "Most people aren't desperate enough to understand leverage." I replied calmly. "And before you ask- yes, I know exactly how much this costs you. Not the money. The risk."

He leaned back in his chair, studying me again, not as a threat this time, but with an interest in what I was saying.

"You'll have rules too." I continued. "Schedules. Boundaries. I'll follow them. In return, you'll protect me. Publicly and privately."

Arthur's fingers stilled on the desk. "From whom?"

My chest twisted at the thought of those loan sharks. I met his gaze without blinking. "Anyone who thinks I'm expendable."

Something in his expression shifted, so subtle it might've been imagined. But I saw it. He understood more than he let on.

"The arrangement begins today." he said after a beat. "Julian will meet you this evening."

My chest tightened, unexpectedly. "He knows?"

"He knows you're coming to stay." Arthur corrected. "Nothing more."

"Good." I said. "He deserves honesty. Just... age-appropriate honesty."

Arthur nodded once. "You'll find my household runs on precision. Deviations are... disruptive."

I smiled faintly. "So am I."

For the first time since I'd entered the room, something like amusement touched his mouth. It was gone as quickly as it came, but it was there.

"You'll be briefed by my chief of staff." he said. "Security will escort you out."

I turned toward the door, then paused. "Arthur?"

He looked up.

I pointed to the gold fountain pen on his desk. "You might want to get that pen replaced. It's leaking."

I didn't wait to see his reaction, the inevitable look of disgust at an ink-stained palm, before I stepped out into the hallway.

In one year, I would be free.

My mother would not feel like dead weight on me. The loan sharks would disappear back into the shadows they came from. But as I touched the high collar of my turtleneck, feeling the tender skin Arthur had claimed just hours before.

I realized the price of that freedom was going to be higher than I thought. This new feeling of anxiety and nerves, made me swallow thickly as I looked at myself through the chrome walls of the elevator.

"You're an expert, Elara. You play the part, not fall." I whispered to myself and the quiet in the air.