He was on his way to another interminable meeting. He scowled and thought about his burdens in life. Some would think he had the perfect life. He was articulate and intelligent, feared and respected in the business world for his aggressive nature and acumen. He owned properties and had several employees with a net turn over that made his industry colleagues jealous. He was married to a woman with an acceptable background. A social animal, he was slowly becoming just like his father, and his father before him, respectable pillars of the society. Nickolas Stern was a man who had it all. But he wanted more. He wanted Tatalee Hobson.

He had studied Tatalee Hobson for weeks and now finally he had completed his assessment. This would be the time to make the move. All indications were that she was not only young, desperate and naive but also in a very fragile state emotionally. 

Perfect, he thought to himself as a smile slid across his lips. Anyone watching him would have thought his smile was predatory. His thoughts circled back again to his unsuspecting prey. She needed a job and he needed the distraction from his mundane life. He knew she was troubled from the first day he saw her, but she would have to do. He was calculating and took the time to find out her weaknesses and twisted them to his advantage. She liked power and he gave it to her. Her bright eyes had caught his attention from the day she walked into the bank.

    Of course, her body had stirred him too. It had instantly taken notice of her with an intensity that he had never felt before. From that first moment he was determined that she had to be his, so he could feed his own needs. She had ceased to be a person to him, she became a prize, something he had to win at all costs. Like a duck to water she rose, feisty and sassy, her tail was in her back just as his stifled libido. She wasn't an extremely pretty girl but she was going to be a sweet lay.  The only thing she needed was confidence and he was the perfect con man. It was the classic scheme that he had seen his father use and it worked every time. Find a fluttering flounder, promise her an ocean for herself, a dash of responsibility and authority, and with encouragement her strength will grow. Then when he slowly and systematically put obstacles in her path and point to others that were stunting his development, she would become empathetic and sympathetic to his struggles. 

These struggles had caused him grief in life and he just needed a little comfort. The person who could have shown her the horizons or that he had her in a small tank, was carefully being alienated by the lies that he had been busy fabricating. In only a matter of time, she would be unable to tell left from right. The trap had indeed been set.

Her gentle touch and her voice over the time she had been working with him, had become soothing to his ears and to his skin. He allowed her to explore his mind and he reciprocated. She was suckered as she gently licked his self-inflicted wounds. She became blind as he isolated her from her source of strength. Her moral compass had been damaged because of the last battle and she was desperate to regain the heights that she once had. Power, money and influence had once kissed her tenderly, then were snatched from her grasp. She was an easy picking and a low hanging fruit. Her confidence had been shattered by the mines he planted in other people's minds about her and subsequently they had questioned her thoughts and processes while he remained silent and seemingly oblivious. 

It was then that he would strike and take her to the mountain top and promise her the world but slowly that world would slip from beneath her feet. He knew that he would get what he wanted, he would play with her mind, body and she would have nothing to show for it. A taste of the high life and all it took was isolation and promises to a desperate soul. Then he would have the task of letting her down softly. Nickolas had planned it for weeks and needed to find an excuse that she would believe if it included just enough truth. 

What if she was as smart as she had behaved and saw him for what he really was and told his wife everything? Would she do it even if it was too late for her? No. He had the upper hand. He had her on a tether. Slowly Nickolas would convince her that the past was never good enough for her and the tablespoons of honey that he fed her would be devoured and even relished, blinding her from seeing the sour lime behind his back. 

He was so confused, his thoughts whirled desperately, he could not think straight for a few moments. He tightened his jaw and a muscle jumped. He was not the same as his father. He had moments when the anxiety of what he was doing with Tatalee seemed overwhelming, and his desperation became a living breathing thing that threatened to overwhelm him. He was afraid to lose the hold he had on her. Every chance he got he noticed that he held on to her clothes in the event that he lost the next hustle. He hoped that she did not wake up from the trance that he had carefully conjured and placed upon her. They had been hidden in plain sight in the hope that others were not able see the diamond that he had discovered. Even though there were whispers in the howling wind he chose to ignore them because she had sunk herself deep into him with her sweet savoury words which sustained and abated his inner turmoil.

The need for money was great to satisfy the beast that he had created around himself. How else could he sustain the cravings for more but to create another hustle? Unfortunately, she had become a tool in his biggest hustle to date.  How would he deal with her eventually when she learned of his deeds? For now, he would try to appease the hurricane with the winds that howled at his neck for more cash. The more he hurled at it the quieter it grew giving him time for just another hustle, to buy himself more smoke to cover the mirror before his prey found the mirror and saw him for what he really was. 

Nick looked in the mirror in the bathroom of the luxury bus. He wondered out loud, "Am I am falling in love with her?" 

He shook his head a little as if to clear his thoughts. They never spoke about love, but she showed appreciation for the little things he did for her and his little gifts. Every day they grew closer. He was living one day at a time waiting for his time to pounce. 

Her demands were almost non-existent and that had piqued his curiosity. In all his time being married and interacting with women she simply did not conform to what he had been accustomed. At nights, he had to drag himself home from the comforts of their verbal and physical interactions. She was always able to flick a switch and become docile and innocent purring like a cat, it made him want to turn right back around and find solace in her arms. 

"Slowly I find myself falling into her web. I must be going crazy," he muttered. 

He reached up and wiped his face. The sudden lurch of the vehicle caused him to sway slightly and he grabbed the sink. As he did so he thought of a new place he wanted to try out being with Tatalee. All his doubts were firmly shoved aside in a deep corner of his mind. He would not lose sight of his goals. She was not the one who had him, he was the one who had caught her in his snare. He would never let her go until he was done playing with his newly acquired toy. There was much fun he could have with her before he cut her loose. His vision wavered in the mirror as the steam from the hot water in the sink created a misty effect. He used his finger to write one word on the mirror. MINE