The door creaked open.
A sharply dressed Beta greeted her, young, clean-cut, clearly the assistant. His expression was blank, professional. Just the way Bella liked them. Easy to ignore. Easier to dismiss.
"Room service for Mr. Burnes," she said, her voice soft, pleasant.
The Beta nodded, stepped aside.
She rolled the cart in smoothly, her every movement calculated. The scentless oils on her skin kept her own scent muted for now, just until she was in position. The assistant motioned for her to leave the tray near the wide balcony doors, where Michael Burnes was seated in a sleek charcoal robe, eyes half-closed behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.
He didn't even glance at her.
Good.
She played shy. Kept her eyes down. Arranged the silver tray with delicate fingers. Everything precise. Polished. Her movements danced between grace and subtle invitation.
The assistant muttered something about final auction arrangements and stepped out to take a call.
Perfect.
The moment the door clicked shut, she made her move.
A breath, barely a whisper, and her scent slipped into the air.
Warm. Sweet. Pure Omega lure.
A single drop.
She watched for a twitch. A shift. A flick of his eyes.
Nothing.
Her smile tightened. Fine.
Another breath, heavier this time. Her scent laced the space around him like perfume in bloom. She stepped closer. Uncloched the foie gras. Poured his wine. Each movement designed to carry her scent right under his nose.
Then,
A pause.
A hitch in his breath.
Bella's lips parted slightly, her pulse racing. He was panting now, lips slightly parted, eyes lowering as if dazed.
She leaned forward, voice silky. "You should eat, Mr. Burnes. You'll need the energy."
He didn't answer.
She took it as a sign.
Lowered herself gently into his lap, one leg sliding over his, arms wrapped around his shoulders like velvet rope. His scent was faint. Alpha, but controlled. Measured.
But that panting, oh, it was working.
"You can have me," she whispered, fingers tracing his chest. "No cameras. No strings."
She shifted her hips slightly, body pressed close.
And that's when she felt it.
Nothing.
He was limp. Entirely.
No arousal. No reaction. No tension in his thighs. No hunger in his hands.
Just breathless laughter.
At first low. Then louder. Sharper.
And cold.
A laugh that clawed up from somewhere deep and rotted.
Bella froze.
His chest vibrated beneath her, not with desire, but with disgust.
He lifted his eyes at last, and they weren't dazed. They were clear.
Amused.
Cruel.
"Do you think you're the first to try this, Miss... whoever you are?" His voice was smooth, yet razor-edged. "Your pheromones reek of desperation."
Bella's fingers twitched. She tried to pull away, but his hand closed around her wrist like iron.
"You want to know the real joke?" he said, smile never reaching his eyes. "You're in my hotel, at my event, on the very floor where she chose to stay."
Bella blinked. "She...?"
Michael's smile widened into something monstrous.
"Krishna."
The name landed like a punch.
And suddenly, the air smelled different.
Not of Omega lure, but of something stronger.
Unseen.
Waiting.
Watching.
Michael Burnes's laugh still echoed in the room when the door to the en suite bathroom eased open with a hiss.
Krishna stepped out.
Clapping.
Slow.
Deliberate.
She didn't rush her entrance. Every step was silent elegance wrapped in veiled malice. Robe tied loose at the waist, collarbone bare, wet strands of hair clinging to her skin like silk threads. Her eyes, dark, sharpened obsidian, were fixed on Bella.
"Oh, Bella," Krishna purred. "You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
Bella jerked, still perched on Michael's lap. But his hand had vanished from her wrist, and his body beneath her might as well have turned to stone.
"Krishna-" she stammered, eyes darting from her to the CEO. "You're here? With him?"
Krishna tilted her head. "I live here, sweetheart. I don't need to sneak past the front desk or pretend to pour orange juice to get invited in."
She walked forward, each step slow and heavy with threat.
"I have to say," she added, voice laced with mockery, "omega pheromones at breakfast? Even for you, that's desperate."
Bella's skin crawled.
Krishna's gaze flicked to Michael, who was watching the exchange with a small smirk, an entirely different look than the disgust he'd shown Bella moments ago.
"I thought you had standards," Krishna said, not looking at Bella now, but straight into Michael's eyes. "Guess I was wrong. You let her sit on your lap?"
"She climbed," he corrected. "I was just waiting to see if she'd finish the act."
That made Bella shoot up from his lap, her skirt, twisting as she moved across the suite toward Krishna.
"You bitch," Bella hissed. "You're just jealous because no one wants you in bed unless they're paid or bribed."
Krishna didn't flinch. Didn't even blink.
Instead, she smiled, and it was colder than Michael's laugh.
"Let's talk about beds, shall we?" Krishna said lightly, crossing her arms. "Starting with the one you used to get Triton's board to accept you as a potential heiress."
Bella's face lost color.
"Oh, don't look surprised. I know about Paul Han from Country I. And Mr. Niles, the CFO. Oh, and the married VP from Country Y who cried when you left him."
"You don't know anything."
Krishna laughed, this time loud and sharp. "I know you faked a rut just to trap a foreign investor from Country M into signing a merger. I know your 'scent' has been passed around more than Triton's quarterly reports."
Michael gave a low whistle. "That explains the memo I got about her being 'dangerously persuasive.' I thought it was code for clever. Not... this."
Bella lunged, hands balled, but Krishna stepped forward first, closer than close, eyes inches from hers.
"You walked into my room," Krishna whispered, voice dropping. "Tried to climb my client. Wearing your scent like perfume. And now you're standing here with your pride bleeding out on my carpet."
Bella's lip trembled.
Krishna leaned in.
"You didn't just lose today, Bella. You exposed yourself. And the board? The board loves a scandal... when it's not on their side."
Then, she turned.
Walked back to Michael.
His hand was already extended, and she slid easily into his lap like she belonged there, because she did.
The room reeked now, not just of power, but of humiliation.
Bella stared at the two of them.
Her Omega scent useless. Her weapon backfired. Her pride in tatters.
She turned.
And left without a word.