Rosella's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she registered was the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
"What?" Her brows furrowed as the realization set in. She had never slept late like that before. Never in her life.
She would be out of bed before the sun rose, getting ready for the day.
And that wasn't the only odd thing that Rosella noticed. Her body was heavy with exhaustion and she couldn't stop the groan that escaped her mouth just as she looked around the room.
Why?
Then the memory flooded back.
The stranger with the absurd commands and her body obeying without any question. The way he had entered her backside, a place she had swore to never allow anybody to enter, and she couldn't stop him...
Her face hardened immediately.
"No. That didn't happen." She mumbled under her breath, shaking her head. Instantly, a theory formed in her head:
What her mind was replaying was a dream. A ridiculous, inappropriate dream brought on by stress and too much champagne at the party. She had been working too hard, neglecting her personal life for too long.
Her subconscious had simply manufactured some elaborate fantasy because it had been months since she had gotten laid.
That had to be it.
"Yes." Rosella nodded to herself then begin to sit up on the bed, determined to dismiss the whole thing, but pain flared sharp and immediate in her lower back and backside.
She froze.
Her eyes widened as the ache registered--- it was undeniable and very real. She shifted slightly and winced. The soreness was deep, intimate, impossible to ignore.
Last night actually happened?
"No, no!" she whispered to the empty room, her voice shaky, her eyes widening.
She didn't understand why and how she, Rosella Taylor who was always in control, always three steps ahead of everyone around her, would now
submit to strangers who broke into her hotel room.
She didn't obey commands like some mindless puppet. And she certainly didn't allow a masked man she had never met to take her in ways she had never experienced before.
Her hands trembled as she pressed them against her face.
"How did I let that happen? How?" She asked as if someone else was in the position to answer her.
Her mind actually replied her, claiming that it had to be the drink at the party. Someone must have spiked her champagne. That was the only logical explanation for why she had acted so completely out of character.
Before she could spiral further into panic, her phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand.
Rosella grabbed it and she saw the multiple missed calls and messages. Her eyes, however caught the time display and her breath stopped for a second.
It was 8:47 AM.
She had never slept past six in the morning before.
The phone buzzed again and Kelly's name flashed across the screen. Her personal assistant was calling for the fifth time in ten minutes.
Rosella's stomach churned as she remembered that she had a meeting scheduled for ten o'clock.
"Shit," she hissed, throwing the covers off and scrambling out of bed.
She didn't bother answering Kelly's call. There was no time for explanations. She needed to get to the office immediately.
Rosella grabbed her clothes from the floor with a sharp and efficient movement despite how the soreness in her ass was protesting with every step.
She headed straight for the bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as she could stand it. She needed to wash last night away, scrub every trace of that stranger from her skin.
Twenty minutes later, she was looking refreshed; she had dressed in a crisp black blazer and tailored trousers, her hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail and the transformation was complete.
She looked like Rosella Taylor again. The well-known billionaire CEO who was untouchable, in control and powerful.
No one would ever know what had happened in this hotel room.
She grabbed her laptop bag from the desk and headed for the door but her hand hovered on the doorknob for a moment;
"Who is that man?" Her mind strayed but she couldn't ponder on that for too long.
~~~~~~~~~
Rosella's driver was already waiting outside the hotel when she walked out. She slid into the back seat of the black Mercedes, with her usual cold and composed expression.
"RA headquarters, fast." she said curtly.
"Yes, ma'am." Her driver, Larry, replied and firmly grabbed the steering wheel.
The drive through the city felt longer than usual for Rosella, every red light was like an insult, every slow-moving car an obstacle. The composed CEO stared out the window, her jaw tight, her mind racing.
"That man knows who I am..." Despite how desperate she wanted to take her mind off that stranger, she just couldn't help it.
At interval, she would remind herself that she needed to focus.
The investors were expecting a presentation on the new men's line. She needed to focus on that, instead. She had finished the design last night before... before everything went sideways.
A flicker of unease passed through her as the thought stirred again but she sharply pushed it aside. Everything in her laptop was password-protected so she believed.
What happened last night wouldn't interfere with her work, surely?
A few minutes later, the car pulled up in front of the sleek glass building that housed RA Brand's headquarters and Rosella stepped out.
Employees in the lobby straightened immediately when they saw her approaching.
"Good morning, Ms. Taylor," they murmured in unison, their voices polite and carefully neutral.
She didn't acknowledge them. She never did.
Her presence alone was enough to make people move faster, work harder, speak quickly but never impolitely or informally. That was exactly how she liked it.
The elevator ride to the executive floor felt endless. Rosella stared at her reflection in the polished doors, making sure every detail was perfect.
No cracks, no weakness should be detected because this was Rosella Taylor.
Kelly was waiting outside her office when Rosella stepped out of the elevator.
Rosella's stride didn't falter. She walked straight past her assistant without a word and pushed open the heavy glass door to her office.
Kelly followed quickly, closing the door behind them.
Rosella set her bag down on the desk and finally turned to face her assistant, one eyebrow raised in cool inquiry.
"What couldn't wait, Kelly? You called me five times before nine in the morning. This better be important." She said sharply.
Kelly hesitated, her fingers tightening around the tablet.
That hesitation made Rosella's instincts flare. Kelly never hesitated. She was efficient, direct, and unshakeable. If she was nervous, then something was very wrong.
"Kelly." Rosella's tone dropped, becoming dangerous. "What is going on?"
"There's... there's a problem, Ms. Taylor."
Kelly's throat worked as she swallowed.
Rosella's expression didn't change but her pulse quickened. She crossed her arms over her chest, her posture becoming rigid.
"Show me."
Kelly stepped forward, unlocking the tablet with trembling fingers. She pulled up a webpage and turned the screen toward Rosella.
It was a news article that had been freshly published less than two hours ago.
Rosella's eyes scanned the headline first, then the opening paragraph. With each word, her face went paler.
"What... What is this?" Her voice came out strangled.
Rosella's eyes stayed locked on the screen, her mind racing, her heart pounding so loud she could hear it in her ears.
This couldn't be happening, right?
Everything she had worked for wasn't just about to come crashing down, right?