Chapter 10
Val's POV
On the desk before me, the screens flickered—CCTV footage playing frame by frame.
An intruder. My intruder.
My eyes sharpened as I watched the woman in the recording move with calculated ease, her slim fingers typing in my passkey on the very first attempt, as though she had memorized it long ago. She didn't hesitate, didn't falter. No coincidence. This was premeditated.
Leaning back in my chair, I rested my chin against my palm, staring lazily at the screen. To anyone else I might appear calm, but my mind was a storm of precision and suspicion.
The Hazel displayed in those images looked foreign to me—too calm, too bland, too insignificant. But the Hazel I had observed in person? She was the opposite. Lively, unyielding, with fire burning behind her eyes.
Which one is real?
Was she planted by an enemy? Or was I overthinking, twisting shadows into conspiracies?
I loathed uncertainty. I loathed not being in control.
"Has Luca done anything suspicious during my absence?" I asked, voice low, eyes still on the glowing screen.
"No, sir." Henry's voice was crisp, professional. Reliable.
I glanced briefly at the stack of reports on my desk. The company had run smoothly without me. Of course it had. Still, the confirmation brought me no satisfaction. My mind was elsewhere—circling around her like a predator around its prey.
My phone rang, slicing through the silence. Unknown number. I answered.
"Master, ma'am is not at home!" the voice on the other end blurted in panic.
A humorless chuckle escaped me just as an alert from my bank pinged on my screen. Swipe after swipe. Expensive charges piling up.
"So she's after money?" I muttered, clicking my tongue. "Like every other woman."
If it was money she wanted, let her have it. I had more than enough. As long as she didn't cross her boundaries, I didn't care what she spent.
"Sir, your meeting with the executives starts in less than a minute," Henry reminded dutifully. "Should I postpone or cancel?"
I rose without answering, walked to my cabinet, and retrieved a vial. Without hesitation, I injected the inhibitor into my vein. My rut was nearly over—tonight or tomorrow—but until then, I couldn't allow my pheromones to spill uncontrolled. I was no wild dog.
Minutes later, I entered the boardroom. The air shifted instantly. Silence descended. Every executive sat stiffly, their eyes avoiding mine, their breathing shallow. Only the sharp sound of my shoes echoed until I took my seat.
I ignored them. Their fear was expected. What caught my thoughts instead was the memory of a certain woman—a woman who had dared to look into my eyes without flinching, who had dared to make me coax her, to use my own lust-driven state against me. She had the audacity to control me when no one else in the world could.
Some people were too bold.
My phone rang again, disrupting the meeting. Mother. I didn't answer. But a message appeared instantly after:
"Marry her. She is the only one who can turn you up. Hurry and find your soulmate and cure to your impotency."
My jaw clenched, eyes narrowing at the words. I didn't need to guess who had fed her this nonsense. That foolish, loose-tongued doctor.
Disgusted, I stood abruptly, leaving the meeting without caring about its agenda. Billion-dollar deal or not, my patience had run dry.
"Master," Henry intercepted me outside, "madame seems to have run into some kind of problem at the bar."
I paused. Why was everyone suddenly speaking about her as if she mattered? A schemer. A gold-digger. An annoyance in my life. Having her dead would spare me the trouble of cleaning up after her mistakes.
And yet…
The memory of that night stopped me cold. Her body beneath mine. Her scent. Her fire. No matter how I painted her in my mind, my body betrayed me—yearning for only her.
A sigh escaped me. "Prepare the car," I muttered.
Henry obeyed instantly.
Checking my watch, frustration flared hot in my chest. I was abandoning a billion-dollar project because of her. The thought infuriated me. Yet I still found myself in the car, driving straight toward her.
I didn't need to ask for directions when I arrived. Her pheromones lingered thick in the air, intoxicating, pulling me straight to her.
Rubbing my temple, I followed the invisible trail until my eyes fell on her sprawled on the floor.
Her long, pale legs exposed. Her slender waist arched. The low neckline of her daring dress revealed far too much of her chest. Her beauty was raw, unhidden—so different from the sickly, listless woman she once appeared to be.
I turned my gaze to the predators surrounding her—alphas, their eyes burning with lust, their pheromones thick with desire.
My anger spiked, sharp and dangerous. A strange, almost primal urge surged inside me—to chain her, hide her, punish her until she learned to keep her beauty from the world.
I saw her stir. Weakness and fury warred in her as she staggered to her feet, trying to flee. But before she could move more than a step, I had already reached her, lifting her effortlessly and slinging her across my shoulder.
Her fists beat against me, her voice breaking with curses and protests.
"Let me go! No—no!"
Her words only made me tighten my grip. My hand came down on her backside in a sharp spank. "Behave."
She stilled instantly. Whether it was fear, exhaustion, or recognition of my voice, I didn't care.
I turned, meeting the hungry eyes of the other alphas. Without a word, they backed away, their courage dissolving in my presence.
"Don't let a single one survive," I ordered coldly.
"Yes, Master." Henry's voice was calm, already moving to obey.
I walked away with her draped over my shoulder, her scent clinging to me, her warmth searing through my control.
"A flaw," I muttered under my breath, glaring at the ground. "Such a flaw in my controlled and ordered life."
But still… I didn't put her down.