Chapter 1

“Goddamit! No, Gina!” As he clamped the phone tighter, Aiden’s eyes narrowed. Thunder rattled his floor-to-ceiling windows. In the afterglow of a lightning bolt, a darkened cityscape still flickered. “Not just ‘no,’ but ‘Hell, no.’ Theres no fucking way that’s gonna happen.”

Another rippling blaze of white shot across the low-slung dark clouds.

“How appropriate,” he muttered.

While taking a long sip of bourbon, he scanned the stacks of boxes scattered around the penthouse apartment. Besides the lingering scent of fresh paint, the aroma of plastic-wrapped furnishings filled the enormous main room. A lengthy sigh slipped from him as he glanced towards the gourmet kitchen he’d most likely never use. Well, other than the microwave and a burner to heat something from a can.

“Master.”

At the single soft word, Aiden shifted to the screen and swallowed. Even after all these years, Gina Davis was still as gorgeous as ever. As she reclined across fluffy white pillows atop her bed, Aiden’s core heated. Highlighted with shimmering chestnut, swirling dark hair framed the familiar features of her face. That soul-melting deep brown, her eyes pierced him. At a low groan, his gaze flicked from her to a painting on the wall above him.

Behind the canvas of a sailboat, slicing through frothy, gray-tinted dark waves before a rocky shore, it lay. Inside a safe. Despite that, he could see it. Its circular form, wreathed in flickering flames. The ring had ignited as soon as she’d called. Before, in fact.

After returning to Gina, he focused on the gleaming silver ring in the shiny leather collar around her neck. She’d worn it on purpose. His slut. And more. So much more. And with every glimpse of her twinkling, dark pools, he was reminded of the unique bond they both recognized.

“Master. She said she was sorry.” When she paused, Gina’s waves of fear sliced through him. Yet, she decided to continue. “Dan’s forgiven her. And your ... Your daughter misses you, master.”

After falling silent, her eyes remained fixed on him. More passed between them. Unleashed, his sadness flowed. Despair. Profound. As his lips pursed, hers trembled.

“I get it, master. We all wish Kim ... Well, we wish she was still with us. With you, Aiden.” At his hitching breath, she swallowed and added in a lower voice. “Yes, even Catherine, master. And you realize that.”

“Fuck cancer,” he mumbled before taking a slow gulp of whiskey. “Kim was supposed to...”

With his chest taut as a drum, Aiden became quiet and stood, staring at the storm. The first counselor had said to let Kim go. That it’d been long enough. Time to move forward. So had the second. In a howling breeze, heavy raindrops blasted sideways across his broad terrace to slap against the glass.

“Yes, master. And it’s good you’ve found a decent—”

When his gaze whipped to her, the soft words ended. Aiden’s brows were knitted so tight, his vision blurred. Not wholly unbidden, fury raced through his core. The booze was not calming him anymore.

“Yeah. A great fucking job. New damned city. Far away from”—with his lips curled in a snarl, Aiden returned to the storm right as another wave of rippling white tendrils skittered across the black clouds. The deluge intensified—”that whoring little bitch,” slipped from him in an icy, hard tone.

And his beloved wife; six feet under cold, hard dirt and again-pristine, manicured grass.

But also his daughter. A growl built in his chest. She was with his best friend, Dan. And the whore.

With the phone shaking in his clenched fist, Aiden turned away to collapse on a plastic-covered couch. While Gina remained in a smaller frame, he pulled up an image on his phone. Long sable hair. Straight. Such intelligence in the little girl’s glimmering dark eyes. Dan had sent the photo. Of Dan’s daughter, Cindy. Except...

“She was supposed to...” His voice faded when a powerful surge of compassion flowed from Gina.

Despite her anxious sucking on those full, red lips, his eyebrows furled tighter. Catherine, that fuming piece of shit, cunt. A curt gasp shot from Gina. Catherine had told Aiden the baby was his and not her husband’s.

Another wave of anxiety rippled from Gina as his heart—cooled. Considering how much more often Aiden fucked her than Dan, he’d little reason not to believe her. Especially since that was long before she’d fucking lied and...

“Failed me,” he whispered. The couch’s plastic film squeaked as he trembled with anger.

“It was one mistake, master.”

Crimson tinged his vision as he focused on Gina. “We had a pact. She’d stay with me. Keep the secret. Stay loyal to Dan. And me.”

“And she was, master. Except...” Though her words tapered off, Aiden sensed the rest.

“Oh, it’s my fault, is it? My fucking wife died, Gina! Died. And I was expected to do what? Simply continue playing with Catherine. She couldn’t fucking wait. It was barely a month.” Aiden fell silent, letting another long peal of thunder rumble through before adding in a lower voice. “She was my light, Gina. Kim was my everything. You know that.”

“And Catherine realizes that too, master.” Her eyes watery, Gina nodded. “We all loved her. And miss her, Aiden.”

“Gina, for fuck’s sake.” Aiden’s growled. He took another long gulp of whiskey. “When Dan found his wife. At that party. She wasn’t even ... Jesus, she was sliding between two guys. Two, Gina.”

“And they went to counseling, master. And he’s—”

“—fucking weak, Gina. Weak. He believed her. Again. How many other times did she fuck somebody else? Huh? The deal was me alone. I’d keep her satisfied, and loyal. Give her what she wanted. Now, I don’t know. Was it all bullshit? Is she simply a lying cunt?”

“No. And Dan’s tried to explain.”

“Yeah. Explain. Meanwhile, he’s still addicted to my dick. Conflict of interest, maybe? No, Gina. I’ve had enough of both. They’re made for each other. She can fuck whoever she wants. As if that isn’t the case already. And he can find somebody else’s cock to slurp.”

At the sharpness in his tone, Gina’s eyes widened, then narrowed. Before the question left her lips, Aiden nodded.

“Yes, of course, I’ll support Cindy. She’s my daughter. But them...” A hiss slipped free, and he watched another flickering display of bright white. “Fuck them both. Good riddance.”

As he withstood the distant waves from Gina, he stood silent amid the thunder and his own pounding heart. With a growl, he tilted the tumbler to down the last of the booze. It was smooth, but not smooth enough. Pain and anger vied within him as the world blurred.

“Why God? Why her, Gina?” Aiden’s voice wavered as images of Kim shoved away those of the others. With a tear sliding down his cheek, Aiden swirled the empty glass in his hand. “She was my light. My soul. She’d known everything. The ring. You. Catherine—that bitch. And she’d loved ... All of it. And me. She’d loved me, Gina. That first night...”

“I understand, master,” Gina whispered. A halting sob escaped her. “We all understand.”

Flames flared. Engulfing. Roaring. Somewhere. A box. With a louder growl, Aiden flung his gaze to the sailboat. Then bored deeper. The ring—shuddered.

“You knew,” Aiden’s voice rumbled in his chest. “You knew and said nothing.” Though silent, the ring’s fires guttered. “Of course you did.”

“Even if it did, master, it doesn’t matter. She was a light in your life. She gave so much. To all of us. You’ll find—”

With his lips curled into a snarl, Aiden spun back to Gina so fast her eyes flicked wide.

“No! Don’t. There’s no other like her. Nobody. Not even...” At the hurt pulsating from Gina, air caught in Aiden’s throat. After a low sigh, he continued in a softer voice. “Sorry, Gina, but...”

“Yes, master. Kendra, Tim, and I are fortunate to share you. We all care for you. You do understand that? The ring ... It guarantees you perceive that, at least, correct?”