Adrian's Pov

I hated clubs.

Too loud. Too sweaty. Too full of people faking happiness.

But for some reason, Leo, my best friend since diapers, thought the best way to spend Saturday night was to drag into places I had no business being.

"Try not to look dead inside," he didn't say, but heavily implied.

So here I was, pressed between leather seats, overpriced whiskey in hand; surrounded by cologne, clout-chasers, and conversations that made my skin itch.

Every time someone approached, I pulled out my phone and stared at it like it held the cure to my boredom.

Leo slid a drink toward me I didn't ask for. "Welcome to Club 99."

"A strip club, Leo," I shook my head. "Really?"

He laughed and leaned back like a king in his booth. Unlike me, Leo didn't have the weight of a family empire on his shoulders. No board meetings. No headlines to clean up. His older brother was the heir. Leo was free to be reckless.

I wasn't.

Being spotted here was a risk in itself.

"I've been here before," He patted my back with a huge grin. His eyes were gleaming already, probably because of the alcohol he kept downing.

He shrugged, "It's not a sin to loosen up once in a while."

"I'm relaxed when I'm not surrounded by sweat and silicone," I muttered.

It felt strange that my hands weren't flipping through business reports. Instead, my fingers were scrolling through my contacts, my thumb hesitating over Drake, my driver's name. One tap and I'd be out.

He scoffed, "The only reason you are uptight is because you haven't gotten laid in months, Relax."

I scoffed, but the worst part was he wasn't wrong.

I downed the whiskey anyway. Enjoying the burn. Expensive enough to forget the noise for half a second.

"Anyhow," he smirked. "I prepared a surprise for you after the show," he wiggled his eyebrows.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like it,"

"Oh, you will," he smirked, looking smug.

The last time Leo said that, I ended up bribing two cops and paying for a wrecked Benz. So yeah, I was skeptical.

I wonder what kind of trouble his surprise would land me this time.

Before I could press him, the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the announcer's voice made me look at the stage.

"Up until now, you were able to enjoy some of our best dancers," a bunch of whistles indicated that the crowd was pleased.

"Now, it's time for the main event of the evening. Please welcome Club 99's star, Angel!"

The room erupted, whistles, cheers, bills already flying. Even Leo couldn't contain his excitement, whistling with the crowd.

I groaned and downed another drink. I didn't expect much, just another pretty girl hustling for tips and validation. The performances so far, hadn't touched me.

"I should have just stayed in my office," I muttered, exasperated.

I almost looked away. Almost.

Purple lights dimmed the stage. The music turned sultry. Then she stepped onto the stage.

Red mask. Red lingerie. Red lips like sin, the embodiment of temptation herself.

Next thing I knew, her legs wrapped the pole, they sliced the air in a perfect split, her head thrown back, hair spilling like waves.

"Holy Sh-"

The words died in my throat.

No one, no one, has ever been worth looking at twice.

Leo whistled. "Told you."

I didn't answer. Couldn't.

Because while the crowd saw hips and curves, I saw her eyes. The sadness behind them. Eyes that didn't belong here.

Something about her broke through the ice in my chest.

"Who is she?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.

"The star of the club. Worth every damn dollar."

The crowd cheered, hands reached for her and several bank notes were thrown at her. She bent and made a whole show to pick them all before disappearing behind the curtains.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "That was-"

"Fantastic," Leo finished, smirking. "How did you like your gift?"

I turned to look at him for the first time since the dance. "What gift?"

He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a golden key that gleamed under the neon lights.. "I booked her. For you,"

I stared at the key like it was a trap. "You what?" I spluttered in disbelief.

"You're welcome."

"Leo, I don't sleep with random girls. You know that." My voice was sharp enough to slice glass.

He snorted, "She wasn't so random when you were drooling over her."

"I wasn't-"

He cut me off, "Just go in there and enjoy your gift."

I glared at him, but my pulse betrayed me. Because the truth was ugly. I don't pay for sex. I don't sleep with hookers.

And yet as I stared at the vacant stage, every cell in my body was screaming want. I wanted her.

"I paid triple the price for her, try not to emotionally destroy her. You are free to, physically." He chuckled unaware of the emotional torture I was going through.

"What room?"

Leo shoved the key into my palm. "Room 90. Second floor. Don't worry about me. Enjoy the spa treatment for your libido!"

I stood slowly, downing the rest of my drink.

"I'm out of my damn mind." I murmured to myself as I walked away from the bass and bodies.

The hallway was quiet and dim compared to the chaos outside. My shoes thudded against the carpet, each step heavier than the last.

I slid the key into the lock. I turned it. Pushed the door open.

Peach. The scent hit me first. Subtle, feminine and alluring.

And then her voice, low and sweet.

"I've been waiting for you,"

Sabrina Pov

"Wait," I said, my voice tight with panic. "I can't do this."

The room Smith showed me felt like a trap disguised in silk sheets.

Smith leaned against the wall with that tired smirk he always wore when I tried to argue.

"You don't have a choice."

"I do. I'm not doing this."

"Well" He drawled, "It's already paid for. You get in the bed and be a good girl."

I clenched my jaw.

I was in a tight corner. Yet, I wasn't ready to give away something I could never get back. Not for debt. Not for safety. Not when it was the only thing I had left to call mine.

"I can't sleep with him," I said, walking towards the door.

Smith looked bored. "Then be ready to pay three grand on top of the money you owe me."

"That's unfair!"

"That's business," he said, bored, inspecting his nails. "Any other girl would kill for the chance to screw Adrian Marks."

"Any other girl would jump at the opportunity to sleep with Adrian Marks," he said with a lazy grin.

My stomach dropped in a mix of horror and disbelief.

I blinked.

"What?"

Smith chuckled. "You live under a rock? "The billionaire. CEO. Stone-cold asshole. One of his friends booked you for him. Lucky you."

My hands went cold.

Adrian Marks.

The man I'd been watching from afar. Beautiful in a way that hurts to look at for too long. The man that never looked at me.

"He doesn't know it's me," I whispered.

"Of course," Smith snorted. "You're just a stripper in a mask. He'll fuck you and be gone before morning."

That was the moment the trembling stopped.

I should have said no.

But I didn't.

Because suddenly, it didn't feel like I was giving something away. It felt like I was taking something for myself.

I sat on the edge of the bed, crossed my legs, trying to look like a woman who knew what she was doing when every nerve in my body screamed run.

All my doubts died the moment he walked into the room.

Adrian Marks. Six feet of raw power in the same charcoal suit as earlier. His presence knocked the air out of me.

"I've been waiting for you," My voice didn't sound like mine, it sounded like someone else's.

His eyes met mine. And my heart hurt.

He looked at me like he was trying to figure out what kind of woman I was.

"Take off the mask," A command, low and smooth as butter. He sounded like a man who didn't take no for an answer.

I slowly took it off, heart thundering so hard I could hear it over the silence.

His gaze skimmed my face, cool and unreadable.

There was no flicker of recognition. And that hurt more than it should have.

"How do you want me?" My voice didn't crack, though my pulse was a riot in my veins.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Voice deep, calm, careful. The kind of voice that could undo a girl.

But I wanted to.

God help me, I wanted to.

I gathered up all the courage in me and walked to him on shaky legs.

"I want you and I know you want me too." I stood on my tiptoe and kissed him first, soft and quick.

"Fuck it." His hand immediately grabbed the back of my neck, fingers sliding into my hair, He crashed his lips into mine like ice meeting fire.

His hand curled around my nape, tilting my head slightly back. Then his lips met mine like ice meeting fire. He kissed me like a man possessed, backing me against the wall. I kissed him back because I needed him.

Buzzing to the surface, souls aflame.

His hands wandered, squeezing every of my curves, my ass like he owned every inch.

I let out a gasp as he lifted me with ease.

"Wrap your legs around me," he growled.

I complied without hesitation. I could feel how hard and thick he was now pressed firmly against my soaked panties.

"Sabrina, this isn't right," I tried to remind myself over and over again. I tried to resist, but my body didn't care. It craved for more of his touch.

He slid my panties aside and pressed a finger inside of me. I gasped, body tensing, back arching from the stretch, nails digging his shoulders.

"Breathe." He whispered in my ear.

But I couldn't. It felt too foreign, too good to be true.

He thrusted his finger slowly coaxing me open, watching my reactions.

"More," I whispered, not understanding the pleasure I was feeling. "Please-" My hips chased the touch, greedy and desperate already.

He growled, obliging to my request.

He fucked me faster and deeper, scissoring, hitting that spot again and again until I was sobbing, trembling and shameless. "oh my God"

"You're doing so good," He whispered, kissing my cheek. "Just a little more, Angel. Let me open you up right."

He carried me on the bed like I weighed nothing, stripping off his shirt and pants in seconds.

I gasped as I stared at his huge glistening cock. There was no way that would fit in me but my greedy body was too blinded by pleasure to stop.

He stroked it a couple of times as he lined up with my pussy lips. "You have such a pretty cunt."

He grabbed the condom on the night stand and quickly put it on.

"You ready?" His voice like gravel.

My eyes locked onto his, breath shaking. "I've been ready since forever."

He chuckled, obviously not understanding the truth behind my words.

I tensed up as he entered me inch by inch. My scream crushed the silence in the room.

"Fucking hell, you feel" he hissed as if he were in pain. "You are impossibly tight."

He gripped my hips, jaw locked.

"Oh fuck...fuck!"

It felt like I was being ripped in half with every bone jarring thrust he gave. It was too good and too painful at the same time, knocking the breath from my lungs.

I clutched at him, nails raking his back. "That was the point, Angel... to make you scream," he growled against my neck, his teeth coming out to nip me.

My body was not under my control anymore, I wrapped my legs around him as he ground our pelvises together hitting my cervix with each thrust.

I let him take whatever he wanted. Happy, even, to give him everything even if it meant I'd be left with nothing in the end.

The bed rocked against the wall with every thrust. I was on the verge of losing my voice.

"Yes," I cried. "Yesyesyes, right there, fuck-"

He groaned low in his throat, grabbing my hips in both hands and grinding into me harder now, setting a rhythm that felt like sin.

"That's it," he rasped. "Take it. All of it."

"You're so deep-"

"You're taking it so well, Angel," he rasped. "So tight around me, fuck! look at you."

My back arched again, body writhing under every brutal, perfect roll of his hips. It was electric. Noises, skin, breath, pain, curses, moans.

"Let go," He said, right against his lips. "I got you. Let go."

I came with a sharp cry, body seizing and my thighs trembled loose around his waist.

He followed with a low, guttural moan, spilling into the condom with a final thrust that left me spineless and ruined. He collapsed next to me.

And in that haze of sex and sleep and truth too heavy to hold, I mumbled against his arm, "You are everything I don't deserve."

I lay next to him and stared at the ceiling, trying not to fall apart. Tears stung my eyes. He didn't know what he'd taken. Didn't know what it cost me to give it. I was selfish and stupid.

I moved fast, quietly. Pulled on my robe with trembling fingers, ignoring the ache between my legs, ignoring the part of me that wanted to stay.

I left in silence. Not because i wanted to. But because if I'd said goodbye, if I'd looked at his sleeping face even once, I wouldn't have been able to leave at all.

Adrian's Pov

"Fuck," I groaned as the sunlight sliced through the curtains like punishment .

The room smelled of sex and the faintest trace of something sweet, 'peach' soft and lingering against my skin.

I reached out without thinking, hand brushing the spot where she had been. My fingertips hit nothing but rumpled sheets.

My stomach dropped.

"Angel?" I sat up slowly and scanned the room. My clothes were scattered, the used condom on the floor but no Angel.

No note.

My chest tightened not with panic, not even with confusion, just something heavier.

I climbed off the bed, throwing the blanket to the floor, my back aching from her scratches.

"She left." I laughed bitterly, "I always leave, not the other way around."

Sex was just sex. That's what it had always been.

But last night?

Last night wrecked me.

There was something about the way she touched me. Like I mattered, not as a billionaire and definitely not as a one night stand.

I would've been quite keen on a good morning fuck or at least a conversation about last night.

"Get a grip on yourself, Adrian. She was just a good night fuck."

I grabbed my clothes and hurriedly put them on trying to rein in my disappointment.

A part of me, a small, dangerous part wanted to find her. "Who the hell does she think she is?"

My fingers paused mid button as my eyes fell on the bed again.

Blood.

"What the-" I strode closer to the bed, pulse quickening. The crimson stain is more visible on the sheets. My heart sank.

"Did I hurt her?"

Is that why she left?" My jaw ticked, unsettled by that thought.

Before I could process it further, the door slammed open, my eyes jerked towards it expecting her. But a pot bellied man staggered in, cigar on his lips.

"You are still here." He said with a smug grin. His eyes scanned the room. "I take it that she was a good fuck. Lucky you."

"Who the fuck are you?"

He took the cigar off his lips and wiped his hand on his shirt. "I'm Smith, the owner of this fine establishment." He stretched out his calloused hand for a handshake. I didn't take it.

"Where is she?"

He looked disappointed but covered it up with a smile. "Her shift is over. What she does after is none of my business."

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing the room like a caged animal.

"Is everything okay?"

I stopped pacing and glared at him. "I would like to know why there is blood on the sheets!"

He stared at me as if I had grown two heads before accessing the bed. I should have felt awkward but my despair was greater.

He chuckled, his whole body shaking in unrestrained amusement. "I was scared for a second."

"And?"

He shrugged, "I thought she was lying but I guess she was a virgin. Didn't you notice when you were screwing her?" He chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive way.

I guess she was a virgin.

A virgin?

The words hit me like cold water.

Then it all made sense.

The way she trembled, the way she grabbed onto me like her life depended on it. The way she looked so helpless yet determined. Her screams.

How tight she was.

Was I so blinded by pleasure that I forgot to be careful?

"You gave me a virgin," I said slowly, dangerously. "Without telling me."

He raised a brow. "So?"

My voice dropped to a growl. "So you think I'm the kind of man who buys innocence?"

Smith scoffed.

I stepped forward, and he stopped grinning. "That girl dances semi-naked for money, Mr. Marks. Don't act like you deflowered the Virgin Mary."

Rage coiled in my chest. I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall so hard his cigar dropped to the floor.

"You set me up." I yelled. "You exploited her. I should bury this club to the fucking ground."

His face paled. "W-wait. Your friend paid! I just delivered her as agreed."

He talked about her like she was a product on a shelf.

I let him go, disgust curling in my throat. He fell to the floor, fixing his crumpled collar, too shaken now to look smug.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out with one hand, still staring him down.

Sandra, my Assistant.

"Sir, I've been trying to reach you for hours. Urgent board meeting. Contract leak in London division. They need you in twenty."

I nearly laughed. Of course.

I just took advantage of a girl and now I was supposed to walk into a boardroom and pretend to give a damn about contract leaks.

I looked at Smith one last time. "If I find out you pressured her into anything. I'll make sure Club 99 is destroyed. Understand?"

He nodded too quickly, sweat glistening at his temple.

I walked past him without another word.

---

The boardroom felt like a graveyard.

The spreadsheets looked like a puzzle. The projector blurred as voices droned like flies in the room. I had never been so distracted before.

Sandra leaned close to whisper, "Sir, are you feeling alright?"

That snapped me back to reality.

I wasn't alright.

Because I kept hearing her cries, the way her nails dragged down my back. The way she just felt.

She gave me her all for What? Money? Was that all it was worth to her?

I lasted ten minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved my chair back, stood up and announced, "Meeting adjourned till further notice."

I ignored the shocked stares and dashed out of the board room and headed towards my office.

"Sir, Sir!" Sandra's voice halted me in my steps. She finally caught up to me, panting.

"What?"

"Miss Victoria is in your office."

I blinked.

Victoria!

My go to booty call. Always ready. Always willing.

She always came when I needed to let out my frustrations. She was convenient. An Acquaintance.

"Okay, you can go. Clear my schedule for the day." I said flatly.

"Yes boss."

By the time I entered my office, she was already seated in my chair, scrolling on her phone.

"Vicky,"

She looked up at the mention of her name and came over fast, always did. Red lips, green dress fitted to her skin, vanilla scent.

"You haven't called me in months." She pouted, wrapping her hands around me.

"I was busy."

"And now?"

I shrugged.

She kissed me. I let her.

She was warm, familiar, and perfect.

But I only felt dirty.

I pulled back to meet her disappointed gaze. "Not here, not right now."

She rolled her eyes and walked to the sofa at the edge of the office. "I've forgotten your rules. No sex at work."

"Go home Vicky. I will call you when I need you."

She knew better than to argue. She rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her.

I ignored her and headed for the bathroom, ripping off my tie.

Staring into the mirror, I looked like a mess. I had never been so disorganized. My hair was messy, my shirt wrinkled. I smelled like sweat and peach. No one dared to point it out.

I took a quick shower, bracing my hands against the wall. I winced every time the cold water hit my back. A reminder of her, of last night.

I fisted my cock, jerking off hard and fast to the thought of a certain dancer whose pussy had clenched so tight around me that it hurt.

As I stood and watched the cum dripping down the tiles of my shower, all I could think about was how fucked up I was.

I quickly wore my spare suit and walked back into my office. To my relief, Vicky was nowhere in sight.

I plopped on my chair feeling like a man with blood on his hands.

My phone rang twice before I gave in and picked it up.

Leo.

"How was she?" Leo's excited voice made me hiss.

So much for trying to forget.

"She was a virgin." The words ripped out of me before I could stop them.

Silence. Then a disbelieving laugh. "No shit? Damn. Guess you hit the jackpot."

"This isn't funny."

"Why not, she was worth more than the price."

"I feel like I... I violated her or something." My throat tightened. "I fucked her like a slut. I didn't even-"

"Because that's what she is, a slut."

"But-"

"She sold it, Adrian. That's what they do. You paid, she played. End of story."

I gripped the edge of my desk until my knuckles turned white.

It didn't feel like that. Not for one second.

But I didn't say that out loud.

Leo kept going, his tone exasperated. "You're overthinking it. Forget the girl."

"I can't get her out of my head!" I snapped.

"Was she that good?"

I hung up, unable to take it anymore.

He was right. She's nothing.

Just a girl in a mask who sold herself for money.

So why the hell do I feel like I'm the one who lost something?