Behind me, I hear Elsa ask him about the truce her father and I agreed to when she and Aiden started officially going out a year ago.

We did that to score an important deal with a duke’s family business, but Ethan and I both know there’ll never be a truce between us. We’ll be ninety years old and in wheelchairs, and we’ll still fight to see who gets to own the world.

We’ve been like that since university. Due to our competitive nature, we clashed in everything. Then after we graduated and embarked in the world of business, our rivalry grew. It started with a simple chess game about who got to own a yacht then extended to gambling subsidiaries and net profit numbers.

We rivalled each other in everything, including how to start a family. Since we were bored with the easy pussy we got, we made a bet to marry mentally unstable women. It wasn’t a necessity or even forced. It was by choice.

I found Alicia and he found his late wife, Abigail.

Since then, everything has gone downhill.

That’s when I realised the monstrosity of human greed. If nothing satiates you, you’ll slowly but surely deteriorate to a worse state of mind, and eventually to your downfall.

That’s what happened with Alicia. Her condition wasn’t that serious when we first got married and had Aiden. But over the years, her mental state declined and nothing could’ve saved her.

Aiden thinks I could’ve. But Aiden doesn’t know everything.

And it’ll remain that way. For his sake.

I head to the entrance and opt to leave or, more accurately, follow Aurora.

Harris will bitch at me all night about the late-night meeting with the Chinese. But Harris is always displeased in one way or another.

“Johnny!”

I summon the patience I don’t have as I stop and turn around to face Aurora’s weird friend.

“Call me by my actual name and I might grant you permission to talk to me.”

“Relax. You’re too uptight. Has anyone told you that?”

Your friend. All the fucking time.

“Do you need something, Miss Hussaini? Because you just wasted a minute of my time.”

She rolls her eyes and shoves a pink bag at me. “Aurora left this behind. Her keys are in there.”

I take it from her and turn to leave.

“Treat her well!” she calls after me. “Remember, black belt karate.”

No idea how a quiet woman like Aurora came in contact with this bizarre existence. They’re dissimilar personality-wise, but perhaps their differences are how they grew H&H’s capital in a considerably short time.

I stare at the bag in my hand. The fact that she left it and her keys means she didn’t go to her car.

Where could she have gone this late at night?

I stop at the entrance and search the car park area. She couldn’t have left in a taxi, considering her money is in here. Did she leave on foot?

The problem with Aurora is that I can’t tell what she’ll do next, and because of that, I can’t exactly plot something for her. And if I do, she thwarts it.

Which is both fascinating yet infuriating.

She might share physical traits with Alicia, but all the similarities end there.

Her older sister was demure and predictable. She was the type who told me her schedule for the entire week and never did anything that she thought might upset me.

Where Alicia was soft, Aurora is rebellious.

Maybe that’s why she’s driving me insane when Alicia never did.

It’s unfair to even compare both women. Alicia was the mother of my son and the woman who felt too much, then stopped feeling altogether.

Aurora is…different.

There’s no obligation keeping me glued to her. If anything, it’s the other way around. I’ve been trapping her so she doesn’t slip between my fingers.

It’s the first time in my life that I want to keep something instead of destroying it to pieces.

The first time that I’ve looked forward to going home instead of spending all-nighters at the office.

The defiance in that woman makes me both insane and keeps me driven.

The more she slips away from me, the harder I cage her in. The more challenging she becomes, the more ruthless my reaction turns.

It’s an everyday game. One I can’t seem to shake off. But I’ll have to one day. I’ll have to go back to my usual balance and peace.

However, that day isn’t today.

I spot Moses in front of my car, but he’s not smoking. That’s the only reason he’d step outside since he usually stays inside with Harris.

Unless Harris isn’t alone.

I start towards my car and don’t bother to ask Moses if she’s in there. I know she is. Another one of the infuriating habits I’ve developed — sensing Aurora’s presence a mile away.

The front windows are open, so I catch a hint of the heated conversation coming from the inside.

“…you need to look down your nose sometimes. Why is it always stuck in the sky?” Aurora’s voice.

“There’s no other better place to be.”

“You need help, Harris, okay? I’ll forward your details on to my psychotherapist so that he can teach you how to be less arrogant and how to deal with other issues. While you’re at it, take Jonathan with you.”

My lips twitch in a smile. That woman is… I have no words. I, in fact, have no words.

That’s a first.

She left the charity to come bicker with Harris, who, by the way, makes it his mission on earth to win every argument possible. It doesn’t matter what you fight him on, he comes with different ways to prove you wrong — even when you’re right. He doesn’t dare try that tactic with me, though, because he’s smart enough to recognise his limits.

I open the back door and Aurora jolts in her seat, eyes widening to a dark blue that matches the colour of her dress. The way she pushes back against the leather suggests that she was expecting her worst nightmare.

Fascinating.

Her lips fall apart, begging for my dick between them. Blood rushes to my groin at the memory of fucking her from behind until she shattered all around me. I place a hand in my pocket, feeling the evidence of her arousal on her underwear.

I can’t believe that I not only fucked her without a condom – for the second time in a row – but I also came inside her. There was a voice reminding me that I forgot something, but when I’m inside her, I lose all focus on anything that isn’t her.

Needless to say, that’s not good, but fuck me if I can find a way to put an end to it.

Aurora releases a long breath. “Oh. It’s you.”

I narrow my eyes. “Who were you expecting?”

“No one.” She stares at her pink-painted nails.

She’s lying. No idea why, but I’ll find out. Maybe she left the dinner table for some other reason than the tension brought by Ethan.

‘Is she part of the game now?’

A wave of possessiveness slams into me like the first clash in a battle. The need to own her all over again grabs me by the balls, demanding release.

Knowing she’s not wearing any underwear beneath her dress makes the idea more plausible.

Before I can think of a way to kick Harris and Moses out — or send them away — she reaches for her bag in my hand.

“I’m going back to the house.”