She called.
Faster than I expected, but not unexpected at all.
I leaned back in my leather chair, the skyline of the city stretching endlessly beyond my floor-to-ceiling windows. The office was dark, save for the soft glow of my whiskey glass catching the light.
I swirled the amber liquid slowly, thinking about her.
Ivanna Sterling.
A name that carried weight. Influence. A legacy carefully crafted by her family's wealth and reputation. A woman who had been born into power and had never known what it was like to be beneath anyone.
Yet, for the first time, she had stepped into my world.
And she didn't even realize it.
I had seen it the moment she walked into the gala—she was untouchable. Not because of her family name, not because of the diamonds draped across her delicate wrist, but because of the way she carried herself.
Controlled. Measured. A woman who knew her worth.
And yet, when she stood in front of me, all of that careful composure wavered—just slightly.
It was in the way her breath hitched when I got too close. The way she tilted her chin, as if challenging me, even though we both knew she was waiting for me to make the next move.
I had played the game before.
Countless times.
But this—this wasn't just a game.
This was a woman who had never been pursued the way I intended to pursue her.
And that made her dangerous.
Because the moment she looked at me with those sharp, intelligent eyes—the moment she questioned me, resisted me—I felt it.
The thrill of the hunt.
The quiet hum of desire, coiling in my chest like a slow-burning fuse.
Ivanna Sterling was a temptation I shouldn't entertain.
But I would.
Because she had already stepped into my world.
And I had no intention of letting her leave it.