XXX - 145 Enslave: The Taming of the Beast by Cathy Yardley Page A

this to you? Some game?” she snarled. “What do you want from me?”
“At the moment, nothing,” he said, and that amusement was in his voice again, derisive. Corrosive. “Beauty is all well and good, but power…now, that is truly alluring. Something I’ve never been able to turn away from.”
She crossed her arms in front of her open blouse. “If I had power,” she said slowly, “you would help me.”
He made a little gesture. “Perhaps.”
She started to button up again, her fingers shaking slightly from both adrenaline and nerves.
If I had power, I wouldn’t need you .
“And how do you define power, exactly?” she finally asked. “What would it take to prove that I have it?”
Now his smile was catlike. “There aren’t any hard and fast rules to power. You know it when you see it.” He gestured around. “Take me, for example. You knew I was powerful.”
“You’re rich,” she said, trying not to let fury color her voice too much. “Well connected.”
He shrugged. “That’s part of it.”
“I’m rich, too.”
“No,” he corrected. “Your husband is rich. Once he’s gone, how rich will you be?”
She felt a wave of ice wash over her. Isn’t that what you were just thinking about?
He nodded, seeing that his point was made. “Power is more than money, Jelena. It’s will. Determination.” His eyes glittered like diamonds, bright and cold. “A willingness to do what others will not.”
She gritted her teeth. She had lived her life doing whatever was required of her. Did he really think she was so weak that she would simply cry when asked to do something unpleasant?
“Maybe it’s time to stop playing the good girl, Jelena. Time to take control of your own fate.”
She closed her eyes. It was like he was reading her mind. She didn’t like it, but felt strangely compelled by it as well.
He walked behind her, and whispered at her again. “The marriage is trapping you. Being a good girl has done you no good at all. Perhaps it’s time to break some rules to get what you want.”
She shivered. She couldn’t help it. She leaned back against him, felt his body, hard as granite behind her. He stroked her arms.
Then he nudged her away from him. “I’ve got another appointment,” he murmured. “But please, feel free to get in contact with me if you feel your situation has, ah, changed.”
She blinked. Just like that, she’d been dismissed.
She picked up her purse, feeling bereft—no. Horrified. She stepped out of the office, her heels clicking on the parquet floors.
The red-haired assistant was leading a different woman down the hallway. A tall, stunning woman, with jet black hair. She looked predatory, and the closer Jelena looked, the more unnatural the beauty appeared.
The woman glanced over at Jelena, sending a sneering appraisal with a curl of her plump lips. “What are you looking at?” she said sharply.
Ordinarily, Jelena would have apologized for rudeness. Now she felt anger leap to the fore. She glared at the woman.
The woman took a step away from her, then quickly followed the assistant.
Maybe that was it , Jelena thought as she got back in her car. She had gone to the devil, expecting him to be merciful, to help her in her time of need. Instead, she had no one to rely on but herself.
Well, she was tired of waiting to be saved. She was tired of being a pawn, and watching her sisters get played on the same chessboard she stood on. It is time to be queened , she thought. Have the power to do whatever she wanted.
For that, you’re going to need money .
Her husband had money. He’d cut her off without a cent, given the chance.
She started the engine, her mind starting to work furiously.
The answer: get money before he gets the chance .

Chapter Four

“Nadia. Come with me.”
She nodded at Dominic’s cold words, following him naked into the hallway. He looked like the Angel of Death. No, not an angel. An angel would be beautiful. He looked powerful, and fearsome, and unforgiving.