Chapter 5

Christian walked to the center of the suite and unceremoniously dropped Jacqueline onto the massive leather sofa.

He didn't linger. He turned his back to her, walked straight to the crystal decanters on the wet bar, and poured three fingers of neat whiskey. He threw his head back and swallowed it in one violent gulp, as if trying to burn away whatever dark energy was crawling under his skin.

He pointed a long finger toward a frosted glass door on the right side of the room.

"There's a lounge in there. The club keeps spare clothes for female guests," Christian said, his back still to her. "Go put something on. I can't stand looking at that torn rag."

Jacqueline didn't argue. She clutched his heavy suit jacket tightly around her chest, pushed herself off the sofa, and limped toward the frosted door. She slipped inside and immediately threw the deadbolt.

The click of the lock sounded incredibly loud. She leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door, her chest heaving as she dragged oxygen into her lungs. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like a hummingbird trapped in her ribs.

She forced herself to move. She stripped off the ruined white dress, shivering as the cold air hit her skin. She found a wardrobe in the corner and pulled out the most conservative thing she could find: a pair of black trousers and a long-sleeved, black silk button-down shirt. The clothes were clearly tailored for someone taller and lingering with the faint, powdery scent of another woman's expensive perfume. She had to roll the silk sleeves up twice past her wrists just to free her hands, and the trousers pooled slightly around her bare ankles, a stark reminder that she was wearing borrowed armor.

She dressed quickly, buttoning the silk shirt all the way to her collarbone. She walked over to the mirror, ran wet fingers through her messy hair to smooth it down, and stared at her own pale reflection.

You are a professional. Do not let him see you bleed.

Fifteen minutes later, Jacqueline unlocked the door and stepped back into the main suite. In her hand, she held a fresh business card and a single-page client prospectus she had meticulously prepared.

Christian was sitting on the sofa, a fresh cigar burning between his fingers. He looked up as she walked in. Seeing her wrapped in black silk, completely covered from neck to ankle, the mockery in his eyes faded into a sharp, calculating stare.

Jacqueline stopped six feet away from him-a safe, professional distance. She placed the fresh business card and the crisp client prospectus onto the marble coffee table, right next to his whiskey glass.

"Let me formally introduce myself," Jacqueline said, her voice stripped of all emotion, cold and clinical. "I am Jacqueline Blackburn. I am the senior academic advisor sent by Apex Educators. I am not, nor have I ever been, an escort."

Christian exhaled a slow stream of smoke. He leaned forward, picked up the crisp prospectus folder, and scanned it. His dark eyebrows twitched slightly when he read the double Master's degrees in Mathematics and Physics from an Ivy League university.

He dropped the paper back onto the table.

"Double Ivy League master's," Christian mused, his voice a low rumble. He leaned back, spreading his arms across the back of the sofa, looking at her like a predator analyzing a puzzle. "If you're such a genius, Miss Blackburn, why have the last eight wealthy families in this city fired you within a week?"

Jacqueline held his gaze. She didn't flinch.

"Because those families didn't want an educator," she stated flatly. "They wanted a highly-paid babysitter to write their children's college admission essays and cheat on their exams. I don't forge grades. I teach."

A flicker of genuine amusement sparked in Christian's black eyes. He liked the absolute arrogance in her tone. But his face remained a mask of cold stone.

"Noble," he mocked. "But useless. You're out of your depth."

"Your nephew, Kevin, is out of his depth," Jacqueline fired back, her professional mask slipping just enough to show her teeth. "His transcripts are a disaster. If you keep throwing money at tutors who are terrified of you, he won't even get into a community college, let alone an Ivy."

The air in the room instantly turned to ice. Christian slowly reached over and crushed the burning cherry of his cigar into the crystal ashtray. The silence was deafening.

Jacqueline held her breath, her stomach clenching. She had pushed too far.

Christian opened a drawer in the coffee table and pulled out a thick manila folder. He tossed it onto the marble surface. It slid and stopped exactly in front of her.

"A three-month probationary contract," Christian said, his voice deadly quiet. "The terms are non-negotiable. You have exactly ninety days to pull Kevin's grades out of the gutter. If he fails his midterms..." He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto hers. "...I will personally ensure you never work in the education sector of this country again. You will cease to exist in my city."

Jacqueline looked down at the folder. It was a lifeline, but it felt like a leash. She didn't pick up the pen. She wasn't ready to surrender her last shred of dignity to a man who had just mistaken her for an escort.

"I will review the terms," she said, her voice like ice as she pushed the folder back toward him, unsigned. "Goodnight, Mr. Montgomery."

She turned to leave.

Christian looked at her feet. She was still wearing the heels, one of which was completely snapped off, making her stand awkwardly crooked.

He picked up the landline phone on the table. "Bring the car to the back alley," he ordered, then hung up. He looked at Jacqueline. "My driver will take you home. It's pouring rain outside. You'll break your neck walking in those."

Jacqueline stopped. She turned her head, looking at him over her shoulder.

"I can call an Uber," she said firmly. "I don't need your car."

Christian's face darkened. He wasn't used to being told no. He stood up, his massive frame radiating dominance. He closed the distance between them in two long strides, stopping just inches from her. The heat of his body was suffocating.

"Don't play games with me," he growled, looking down at her. "Get in the damn car."

Jacqueline tilted her head up. Her blue eyes were blazing with a fierce, unyielding light.

"Mr. Montgomery," she said, her voice steady and sharp as glass. "If I sell you my brain for the next three months, I will not sell you my soul, and I certainly won't sell you my body. Keep your car."

She turned the handle, pulled the heavy door open, and walked out into the hallway.

Christian stood frozen in the center of the room. He watched the door close, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "You'll sign it, Jacqueline," he murmured to the empty room. "By tomorrow night, you'll realize you have no other choice." He turned and viciously kicked the heavy marble coffee table. The crystal glasses shattered across the floor.

Jacqueline rode the elevator down to the ground floor. The moment she pushed open the back exit doors, a wall of freezing, torrential rain hit her.

She didn't pull out her phone. She reached down, unbuckled the straps of her ruined high heels, and tossed them into a nearby trash can.

Barefoot, she stepped out onto the freezing, wet asphalt. The icy rain soaked through her black silk shirt in seconds, washing away the lingering scent of Cuban cigars and whiskey that had clung to her skin.

Half a block away, parked in the deep shadows of an alley, a black Maybach sat with its engine purring. The tinted rear window rolled down exactly two inches.

Christian sat in the darkness of the backseat. His dark eyes were fixed on the fragile, soaking wet figure walking barefoot through the storm. He watched her until she disappeared into the rain, his fingers drumming a slow, predatory rhythm against the leather armrest.