I put the cognac bottle on the table and rise up to my feet, barely holding myself in place. "You once told me that my wife has a lover," I speak huskily into the phone.

"And you nearly killed me, boss. I haven't said a word to anyone about it.” He sounds like a pathetic namby-pamby, and as much as I like it when they cower in my authority, I also despise it when they're weak.

"The bastard who’s been sleeping with my wife… Who is it?” I ask through gritted teeth even though I still can’t accept it.

Ever since Mia walked out of our house, I knew that she was fucking another man. I felt it to my deepest core when she recoiled when I tried to have sex with her and all I wanted to do was torture and kill whoever dared to touch her.

But I didn't pursue the truth because I feared I'd kill her instead. The thought of strangling or shooting her to death terrified me more than the pain of her betrayal because she was too precious to me.

She was the purest thing in my world. I fucked her first and made her mine and that's how it was supposed to be until the day she dies. But she chose to dirty herself and so she must pay alongside her lover.

"Um, uh... I'm not sure, boss, but I can find out in no time if you want me to," Jess, one of the few competent field boys I have, replies with mild confidence at last.

But I want more. I want the truth with evidence or else he's as good as dead. I want that mother fucker in three days and that's precisely what I order Jess to do before I make another urgent call with new orders.

Grabbing the cognac from the table, I watch the old lady walking in with a horrorstruck look on her haggard face. The whole dining room is a mess, all the stuff broken to the likes of me, and I hate her sight right now.

"Are you alright, Mr. King—" She stammers when I shoot her a shut-up glare while chugging the whiskey straight from the bottle.

"Tell Bastien to bring the car," I snap and she leaves before I even finish. Back on the phone, I say, "I have a job for you. Name your price. I want my wife's business ruined in a blink of an eye. I want her left with nothing, absolutely nothing, and I don't care how you do it."

I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget, butterfly. I'll show you who made you the woman you are today.

I swallow the burning liquid thickly but it's not even close to the fire of rage blazing in my heart. I loom around the house and all I see is her. My whole body shakes imagining that she's no longer my wife just because a fucking piece of paper suggests so.

Slowly amusement builds from within me and in a second I'm bursting with laughter. Fists on the dining table, my head falls back as I laugh and laugh, loudly, until only tears fill my eyes, and sheer rage makes me throw the cognac straight on the window and my chest tightens.

"You'll come back to me, butterfly, so just enjoy your freedom while you still can," I rumble breathlessly, and it doesn't take long until I grab my jacket and leave.

I need to unwind.

In half an hour I'm in the penthouse I once lived in before marrying Mia. I use it for unofficial meetings but today I want nothing but to pull someone's hair in this place and fuck her until she begs me to stop and maybe I'll forget the one I badly want.

I drop the keys on the table and eye the whiskey flask. But If I have another drink it'd blast with a stamina pill I just took, so I refrain from the urge by drinking a glass of water and wait for some Anne, Elena, or any other cheap target because I know none of them will be Mia.

And when the doorbell rings, a tall brunette in a tight red dress walks in, her breasts almost poking out of the V-neck line, begging to be touched. Judging from the hourglass figure and suntanned skin, she's probably another Latina.

Wonderful! Now all I think of is my Spanish butterfly, and immediately I go hard.

Without a word, I reach for the brunette’s nape and fist onto her long, straight hair that falls up to her shoulders. She lets out a gasp, but it's the excitement that I read in her black eyes when I pull her hair so she looks up at me obediaently.

“I was told no talking, but I didn't know you'd be this impatient," she breathes, her body already quivering with need like a slut she is.

"And it appears you don't know how to shut your mouth, do you?" I groan, panting heavily while studying her neckline, the protruding vein that bulges speedily as she cranes her neck to give me access.

She laughs whorishly, fully aware that it's her defiance that may turn me on. But she doesn't know that it's exactly what I need to ravage her for my pleasure until I make up for the big cheque she'll get when I'm done.

It's the game only my butterfly knew how to play. I loved and enjoyed how she tamed me during sex, and to her, I was ready to be anything she wanted me to be. She loved it rough, and I needed no Viagra to make her sexual fantasies come wildly true.

It's been different with other women. They always do what I tell them to do as long as they get to be paid. This Latina will be no exception, I'm sure of it. It won't be as fun as how Mia made it feel, but I'm here to fuck and nothing more so I don't care.

"You won't even ask my name?" she asks, expelling her minty breath that mingles with her cheap perfume.

"Mia. Your name will be Mia tonight," I reply.

Again, she looks excited saying, "As you wish. I'm your Mia, daddy. Command me."

I flip her back against me and whisper harshly into her ear, “You’re to call me no name. You’re going to shut up until I say otherwise—are we clear?” 

“Crystal clear.” She pants, my hand on her big breast turning her breath short.

I feel nothing but anger, yet I’m fully erect. 

My eyes are wide open when I kiss her neck, drawing a moan out of her. Using my other hand, I lift her tight dress and slip my fingers between her warm thighs that part instantly. I only think of my butterfly as I rub her cunt over the seam of her panties and her moaning increases.

But soon I snap into her ear, "Kneel," and like a trained puppy, she drops on the rug and sits on her heels.

I don't tell her what to do next, for she knows exactly what to do.

And just as I predicted, she does everything I tell her until I come into her little dirty mouth. I fuck her every hole of pleasure, on the couch, on the wall, on the floor, on th balcony, just anywhere, and she cries like crazy for more than an hour until she pleads me to stop with tears in her eyes.

And yet I don't stop, for all I see is Mia getting fucked by another man and the beast inside me runs on a rampage.

I realize I've been lost in a deep slumber for more than an hour. Maybe it's the week's worth of orgasm Red’s given me after the hectic few days I've had, or simply the body fatigue, but I do not wish to move from this bed with his strong arks wrapped around me so protectively.

I glance up at him, and his smoldering eyes are trained on me with a smile on his face. Coyly, I drop my head back on his bare chest, my favorite pillow, and lay it there along with my hand that wanders over his sternum and I feel like I'm on the beach with a gentle breeze.

"You hungry?" He kisses my hair.

I hum a wordless yes, but my mind is divided between this moment and the unknown future as a result of the dangerous stunt I've pulled today.

"I'm sure there's something to cook I'm the fridge." Red runs a soft caress on my arm sing the same hand snaked around me. "If not, I'll have to go out and get us dinner, which means you're staying right here until I return.”

"No, I’m staying here alone," I let out a bratty whisper. "Who house is this anyway?" Propping my head, I once again force my eyes toward his relaxed facial features. 

"It's just a safe house. Who owns it is inconsequential. Tell me, what's your next step after what you did tonight? You're aware that your crazy ex-husband won't let this slide, are you?" Not a trace of humor and much less romance in his voice.

I heave a breath, letting my head fall back to his chest. "I know Patrick will strike back. He even told me so. My guess… it’s my business that will be his first target because he believes it's what gives me the power to go against him and even chose to walk away from him. In other words, I'm at a big risk of losing MK, Red,” I say in a normal tone of voice, for I’m too numb inside to freak out about it.

Red doesn't respond right away but I feel his muscles stiffening against my skin as we're both lying naked under the light duvet with an electric fan roaring above us.

“You may be right,” he finally utters, sounding thoughtful.

I've known that all along, even though I won't just sit and watch him rip off the reward of my hard work either. But then again, what's left of MK if everyone I know has turned out to be a traitor? I don't even feel that spark anymore. All I want is to finish this collection and finally forget all about it.

"I'm going to sell MK," I tell Red, the decision already made now that I'm positive that I'm not going to stay in Portland for too long. "I want this collection to be a success so I can leave with dignity."

"Sell it? Does that mean you're going to quit being a designer?" I feel Red's hardened gaze on me, and a warm breath retreats through my nostrils.

"I don't know, Red." I don't think I know anything about my tainted future at this point. Instinctively, I press a hand on my stomach and say, "All that matters to me is our baby's safety. But even if Patrick goes for MK, or my properties just to make me suffer, I still need to be prepared and make sure I save enough to raise our baby—”

"As long as I'm alive, you and our baby will lack nothing, Mia," Red cuts in, his voice a bit harsh with agitation. "And even if I die, you won’t—"

"Red, I don't want to hear about anyone dying, you hear me?" I sit up abruptly, paying no attention to my nudity that's no longer new in his eyes. "You're not going to leave us! You must stay alive no matter what, promise me!"

A sudden wave of fear washes over me and tears well up in my eyes. I don't want to lose him. God, I can't fight this battle alone; I'm only strong because he's been beside me all this time and I never wish for that to change.

"Hey." He slowly props himself on his elbows and glances evenly at me. "Mia, I'm just—"

"No, Rayden Hunter! I want you to promise me right now that you'll stay alive for me. For us. Swear to your son or daughter that you'll never let yourself get killed and that you'll be there when I give birth to him or her. Swear to us!" Long tears seep through my eyes and every fiber in my body jolts awake in terror.

I'm petrified by the thought of him getting killed by Patrick. For the first time, I'm so scared that what I did today may bring big chaos in my life and all I want is to run away.

With a wrinkled forehead, Red sets his firm torso upright and rears himself against the pillow on the wooden headboard of the King-size bed. Sighing, he gently takes mg trembling hand and draws me toward him until I'm closer to him.

He sets his hand on my stomach and looks me in the eyes. "I swear I'll stay alive no matter what. I promise I'll protect you both with everything I have," he says, and I can't stop crying because he is, without a doubt, the love greatest love of my life.

"I love you." I wrap my arms around his neck, and his lips fall upon mine so passionately that I forget all of my fears.

"I love you, too, Mia Vera," he whispers between my lips, drawing closer and tighter toward him.

"Then let's leave this place, Red." I tremble in his arms, panting heavily against his lips. "I don't care where we'll go as long as we're together.” 

"We'll leave, I promise," he replies. "I just need two weeks to accomplish the job that brought me here and then we'll go as far away as possible."

I don't argue. I know I've been an impediment in his mission and I can't bring myself to stop him from fulfilling his duty, either.

Two weeks. I can wait that long. I can use that time to launch the last MK collection despite the odds. It's only fair that we both fight our own battle to the end no matter how scary the situation has turned out to be.

"Okay," I acquiesce, giving him a faint smile that he returns with another long kiss.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat," he urges me as I try to lay back. I purse my lips are him and he laughs gently. "What? You don't want to leave this bed?" He rolls aside so our bodies are facing each other evenly.

"No!" I place my leg across his and prop my whole body. "Food can wait, Mr. Bodyguard. I have another plan in mind." Saying this, I straddle his lap, wedging him between my bare thighs.

"Oh?" Enticed, Red crosses his arms behind his head and rests his whole body like the stoic man he usually is.

"I'm all yours, Madam," he tells me challengingly, and my inner slut flips her hair with a sly grin.