Chapter 1 1

Pain drilled through Colette Barrett's temples, a sharp, rhythmic pounding that synced perfectly with the nausea rolling in her stomach. It felt as if a semi-truck had parked directly on her skull. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, afraid that letting in even a sliver of light would shatter her head completely. She tried to shift, seeking the cool side of the pillow, but her left hand brushed against something that was definitely not a pillow.

It was warm. It was hard. It was skin.

Her eyes snapped open.

The room was dim, filtered through heavy, expensive blackout curtains, but there was enough gray morning light to reveal the situation. She was in a bed the size of a small island. The sheets were high-thread-count Egyptian cotton, smooth against her naked legs. And right next to her, breathing with the slow, steady rhythm of deep sleep, was a man.

Panic clawed at her throat. She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream building in her chest.

Memories from the previous night flashed like a disjointed slide show. The torrential rain soaking her cheap coat. The dive bar where she tried to drown the sorrow of her father's latest medical bill. The sleazy guy who wouldn't take no for an answer. Running into the hotel lobby to escape the rain. The elevator. A man with cold fingers and a voice like gravel.

She looked at him. Even in the shadows, he was devastating. Sharp jawline, dark stubble, a nose that looked like it had been carved from marble. He was too perfect. Too groomed.

Her heart sank into her stomach. This wasn't a random hookup. This was The Pierre Hotel. This was a penthouse suite. And this man looked like he cost more per hour than she made in a year.

He had to be an escort. A high-end, exclusive male escort.

Colette squeezed her eyes shut again. She was broke. She was drowning in debt. And now, she had likely racked up a bill for services she couldn't even remember enjoying. If he woke up, he would demand payment. He would call security.

She had to move. Now.

She slid out from under the heavy duvet, wincing as her sore muscles protested. Her dress-a thrift store find that had seen better days-was in a heap on the carpet. She snatched it up and shimmied into it, her fingers fumbling with the zipper.

She scanned the floor for her shoes. One was near the door. The other was under the nightstand. As she reached for the second heel, her foot nudged a pair of pristine Italian leather loafers.

Thud.

The sound echoed in the silent room like a gunshot.

On the bed, the man stirred. His brow furrowed, and a low, guttural sound vibrated in his chest.

Colette froze. She stopped breathing. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard she thought he might hear it.

He didn't wake up. He just rolled over, burying his face in the pillow, his breathing evening out again.

She let out a shaky breath. She couldn't just leave. It felt wrong. It felt like theft. Even if it was a mistake, services were rendered. That was the rule of the world she lived in: you pay for what you get.

She opened her wallet. It was pathetic. A graveyard of maxed-out credit cards and crumpled receipts. Tucked in the back was a single, crisp one-hundred-dollar bill-her emergency fund. Her grocery money for the next two weeks.

She bit her lip, tasting iron. She pulled the bill out.

She crept to the nightstand. Beside a Patek Philippe watch that probably cost more than her father's life insurance policy, she placed the green bill. She knew it was an insult. A hundred dollars for a night in the Pierre penthouse with a man wearing a watch like that? It was laughable. But it was all she had. And some small, defiant part of her wanted to be the one leaving the insult, not the one receiving it. She found a hotel notepad and a pen. Her hand shook as she scribbled.

Service was acceptable. Keep the change.

It was defensive. It was petty. It was all the dignity she had left.

She grabbed her heels and tiptoed backward toward the door, the plush carpet swallowing her footsteps. She slipped into the hallway, the heavy door clicking shut with a finality that made her knees weak.

Inside the suite, the silence stretched for another hour until the biological clock of a man who never wasted a second of daylight kicked in.

August Sanders opened his eyes.

He didn't grope for an alarm clock. He was instantly awake, his mind sharpening like a blade. He reached out, expecting the warmth he had felt earlier, but the sheets were cold.

He sat up, the duvet pooling at his waist. His chest was bare, revealing a map of defined muscle. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the grit of exhaustion despite the sleep. He rarely slept this well.

His gaze drifted to the nightstand.

He froze.

There, sitting next to his watch, was a piece of paper and a piece of currency. He picked up the bill first. Benjamin Franklin stared back at him. One hundred dollars.

He picked up the note.

Service was acceptable.

August stared at the words. The ink was smudged slightly at the corner.

A vein in his temple began to throb. The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

He was August Sanders. CEO of Sanders Media. He controlled a four-billion-dollar empire. He could buy this hotel with the change in his couch cushions.

And some woman had just tipped him a hundred bucks and rated his performance as "acceptable."

He crushed the bill in his fist, his knuckles turning white.

He grabbed the landline, his voice rough with sleep and fury. "Preston. Pull the security footage from the penthouse floor. I want to know who she is. You have ten minutes."