Hannah's Chance
Copyright© 2025 by jackmarlowe
Chapter 8
Hannah stepped into a room which was a stark contrast to the opulent club: minimalist, dominated by a polished ebony desk, a single leather chair and a small leather sofa. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city’s glittering skyline, the glass so clear it felt like standing on the edge of the void.
For a moment, Steiner looked out over the city. Then he gestured to the sofa. “Sit down.” But he remained standing, silhouetted against the skyline, his domino mask making him look carved from ice. “Shirley understood that persuasion requires more than words. She offered tangible proof of commitment. A gesture.”
Hannah remained standing, facing him, her back straight. “My model is tangible. My exposure of Reddy is tangible. Tanaka’s survival is tangible.”
Steiner removed his domino mask, prompting Hannah to remove her mask too. “Survival is a baseline. Shirley offered more.” He stepped closer, the scent of his cologne sharpening. “She understood that trust requires vulnerability. A shared secret. An act that binds.”
Hannah didn’t retreat. “Name it.” Her voice stayed low, stripped of tremor.
Steiner’s sharp eyes raked over her body. “I saw your dance earlier.”
Hannah didn’t flinch. “And?”
“It was entrancing. I could have watched you all night. My only disappointment was that you didn’t take your dress off, like the woman who danced before you.”
Hannah’s fingers tightened at her sides. She understood the price Steiner demanded - the same currency Shirley traded in. The city lights reflected in his eyes like chips of broken glass. “And if I finish what she started? What do I get?”
“Reddy neutralized. Chen’s faction secured.” Steiner’s voice remained glacial. “My vote for your restructuring plan. Tanaka’s board under your control.” He stepped closer, invading her space. “But first, prove your commitment isn’t ... theoretical.”
Hannah’s gaze didn’t waver. Shirley’s shadow loomed large - the unspoken pact sealed in rooms like this. She reached behind her neck, fingers finding the zipper of her dress. The sound was loud in the silence - a metallic whisper that echoed her resolve. The fabric parted slowly, deliberately, pooling at her feet like shed armor. She stood before him in only her lingerie, the city’s lights etching her silhouette against the void-like window. “No more disappointment, Mr. Steiner.”
Steiner’s sharp eyes darkened with predatory approval and they moved slowly and unhurriedly over her scantily-clad form. The silence stretched as he savored the moment and it took him some time to speak again. “A promising start.” He began to circle her, moving slowly, his appraisal clinical. “But Shirley understood nuance. She knew persuasion requires ... reciprocity.” He completed his circle and stopped before her, close enough that she felt the chill of his presence. “Remove the rest. I want you naked.”
Hannah’s breath hitched. The air hummed with the weight of the city beyond the glass. This was the threshold Shirley had crossed - the point where ambition bled into surrender. She met Steiner’s gaze, her own hardening into flint. Survival, she reminded herself. Leverage. Her fingers moved to the clasp of her bra and unhooked it.
After her bra had been discarded, her panties slid away too, pooling with the dress at her ankles. Cool air kissed her skin. Steiner’s stare was a physical thing, tracing the lines of her body as if appraising an asset. She stood there, completely naked and motionless, a statue carved from defiance. “Satisfied?” The words were ice.
“Observation isn’t satisfaction, Ms. Hartwell.” His voice remained detached, but his eyes lingered on her breasts. He remained quiet for a moment, continuing to appraise her naked form. “Shirley understood that persuasion is a dialogue.” He stepped closer, invading the space between them. “She didn’t merely strip. She revealed.” His hand rose, not touching, but hovering near her collarbone. “She bared her soul as well as her body.”
Hannah’s skin prickled. This wasn’t about seduction, it was about domination. Submission as collateral. She forced her chin higher. “My weakness is Tanaka’s collapse. My secret is knowing how to prevent it. That’s what makes me valuable to you.”
Steiner’s hand didn’t waver. “Vulnerability, Ms. Hartwell. Not value. Shirley knelt.”
The command hung in the air like a blade. Hannah’s muscles locked. Kneeling wasn’t submission, it was capitulation. The city lights blurred beyond the glass. She thought of Clare’s sceptical eyes, Reddy’s sneer, the owl’s challenge: “Prove you can do some heavy lifting.” Shirley’s footprints washed away. Tanaka’s future. Her escape.
She didn’t kneel.
Not yet.
Her gaze didn’t drop. She held Steiner’s glacial stare, her voice a blade in the silence. “Shirley knelt. I don’t.”
“That’s a shame. We were getting on so well. We could have had a little romance here tonight, something which would have benefited us both.”
Hannah didn’t move. “Romance requires mutual interest. You want obedience.”
“I want something precious. Something rare. Something you’ve never given to anyone before.”
Hannah’s heart hammered against her ribs. The city lights painted Steiner’s face in cold blues and whites. “You have Tanaka’s survival. My reputation. My body. What else could possibly matter?”
“Trust matters. Trust is everything. When you show someone obedience you’re giving that person your trust.”
Hannah weighed his words carefully before replying. “Trust requires reciprocity. You haven’t given me anything.”
Steiner’s lips curved in a glacial smile. He moved to the ebony desk, opened a drawer, and slid a document across the polished surface. “Tanaka’s directors. All seventeen of them. How they lined up on every vote held in the last three years. Information that the public never sees.”
Hannah didn’t touch the papers. “What makes you think I don’t have this information already?”
Steiner’s smile sharpened. “Of course you have it. But not in this much detail. With this precise information, you’ll know whether assumptions you’ve been making about certain directors are actually reflected in their voting patterns. You can replace speculation with stone cold facts.”
Hannah approached the desk, her heels clicking on the marble floor, as the one thing she still had on were her shoes. She scanned the top page, which was a breakdown of board votes cast by Chen. The second page detailed the votes cast by a director called Qiang. She turned to the third page, her pulse quickening. She could see this information was well worth having, as it would provide clear and valuable insight into the factional dynamics on Tanaka’s board.
Steiner watched her intently. “I trust you’ll use this information wisely.” He paused as she continued to read. “And I hope you appreciate just how much trust I’ve placed in you, as this information could redraw the battlefield.” He paused again and then tapped the document. “This is trust made tangible. Now show me yours.”
Hannah lifted her gaze from the papers. The quickness of her pulse had made her feel warm, but her resolve burned even hotter. She moved away from the desk, her steps deliberate. “You want obedience?” Her voice was low, controlled. “I’ll give you more than Shirley ever did.” She walked to the center of the room, directly beneath the city’s cold glow. Slowly, deliberately, she lowered herself to her knees. The marble bit into her skin, but she held her posture rigid, spine straight, chin high.
Steiner’s breath hitched almost imperceptibly. Hannah was a very attractive young woman. She was completely naked. She was kneeling before him. Even promising to give him more than Shirley. It was an exhilarating mixture.
He circled her again, very slowly this time, the predatory gleam intensifying. “More than Shirley?”
“Yes.” Hannah kept her gaze fixed on the skyline, declining to look at him. “I’m not living in Shirley’s shadow, trying to emulate her. I’m making waves of my own”
Steiner completed his circle and for a few moments there was silence in the room, save for the hum of the city below. Then he began his motion again and moved behind her, his shadow falling across her bare skin.
“Shirley,” he murmured, his voice closer now, “would have begged by this point.” His fingers brushed the nape of her neck, feather-light, testing. “She understood the power of desperation.”
Hannah didn’t flinch. The cold marble beneath her knees anchored her. “Desperation makes you predictable. I’m offering you something sharper.” She tilted her head slightly, exposing the line of her throat. “Control.”
Steiner’s fingers tightened, not painfully, but possessively. His breath warmed her skin. “Explain.”
Hannah kept her voice steady, each word deliberate. “I’m sure Shirley played her role well, but I’m made of stronger stuff. I’m giving you command. My obedience doesn’t take the form of pleas, it takes the form of duty. Use it as you will.” She remained motionless, her submission radiating defiance. The city’s lights glinted off her shoulders, turning her into a sculpture of surrender and strength. Steiner traced her spine with a fingertip, his touch clinical yet charged.
“Interesting,” he murmured. His hand withdrew. “Stand.” Hannah rose fluidly, facing him. Steiner gestured toward the leather sofa. “Sit.” She complied, the cool leather against her skin heightening her awareness. He didn’t join her. Instead, he leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. “Shirley was quite an analyst. What’s your hallmark?”
“My resolve,” Hannah stated. She kept her legs together, posture rigid. “I won’t vanish like Shirley. Or hesitate over Tanaka like some of the players involved. I’ll see it through to the end.”
Steiner’s gaze sharpened. “Resolve is admirable. But resolve alone doesn’t move markets.” He pushed off the desk and paced slowly before her. “Shirley’s hallmark was her intuition. She anticipated moves before they happened. Reddy’s power grab? She flagged it last year.” He paused, turning abruptly. “What do - you - anticipate happening now?”
Hannah’s mind raced. The voting patterns Steiner had shown her flashed through her thoughts. “I have a good idea, but when I’ve studied that document you’ve given me I’ll have a much better one.”
Steiner’s expression remained unreadable. “Speculate.”
Hannah held his gaze, having forgotten she was naked during the tactical chess match which had unfolded. “I speculate that the restructuring plan will go ahead. Your vote helps secure it.”
Steiner’s smile was thin. “Too vague. Markets thrive on precision.” He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the sofa’s armrests, caging her in. “Tell me exactly how Reddy will react when Chen presents your model tomorrow.”
The cold leather pressed against her skin as she leaned forward slightly. “It won’t be tomorrow. We’re not ready yet. Don’t get ahead of the game.”
Steiner’s eyebrow arched. “Delaying?”
“Strategically,” Hannah countered, her voice low and steady. “We need to have all our ducks in a row.” She saw the flicker of approval in Steiner’s eyes and pressed her advantage. “Besides, we have to make use of the data you’ve given me.”
Steiner straightened, his mind appearing to have returned to Hannah’s physical attributes, his predatory gaze now lingering on her naked form. She didn’t try to cover anything from him, but simply sat there relaxed, though her bare skin felt the chill of the leather. The silence stretched between them, broken only by the faint sounds of the city.
“Stand,” he said suddenly. Hannah rose, the leather sighing as she left its imprint. He moved to the center of the room. “Here.”
She obeyed, positioning herself where he indicated. Steiner circled her once more, his gaze appreciative of the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist, the firm cheeks he saw behind her. “Kneel,” he said.
Hannah lowered herself back onto the marble floor, the cold biting her knees sharply this time. She kept her spine straight, her shoulders back, presenting herself fully to his scrutiny.
Steiner circled again, slowly, his polished shoes clicking against the stone. “You’re a fascinating contradiction, Ms. Hartwell,” he murmured, stopping behind her. “All this fire within you ... You’re so spirited, something I admire ... yet at the same time kneeling so beautifully.”
His hands brushed her shoulders, his fingers tracing the line of her collarbone. Hannah remained motionless, not reacting in any way, ready to serve.
“Shirley understood the art of surrender,” he said, his voice low. “But you ... you offer control wrapped in defiance. It’s ... potent.” His fingers still ran along her shoulders, but moved more firmly now. “I could make you kneel for an hour. Shirley would ask me to end it quite quickly, but I get the feeling you would submit as instructed and calmly kneel for the whole hour.”
Hannah didn’t reply. She kept her gaze fixed ahead on the city lights, her breathing steady. She had promised to give Steiner control and she was going to be as good as her word.
His hands suddenly stilled. “Stand,” he said. Hannah rose smoothly, happy to be free of the marble’s unforgiving chill. He hands found her shoulders again, as he continued to stand behind her, but soon drifted lower, reaching around and finding the swell of her breasts.
For some moments his hands were busy there, taking their fill of her breasts, Steiner appreciating both their firmness and their softness to his touch. Then he broke away and went over to the window, pulling on a curtain cord. As the curtains closed, cutting off the city view, he turned back to Hannah.
“You have a beautiful body, Hannah,” he said, his voice thick. “But I want to see you move. Dance for me. Like you did on the stage.”
The command landed differently. This wasn’t submission. It was performance. Power reclaimed. She thought about kicking off her shoes and dancing barefoot, but although the air in the room was warm, she knew the marble floor was cold, and so she kept her shoes on. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat, shutting out Steiner, the room, the pressure. She heard the phantom pulse of the club’s music, felt the memory of Rossi’s challenge burning in her muscles. This time, the audience was one, the stakes higher.
She began slowly, deliberately. Not the defiant, crowd-commanding whirl from the stage, but something sharper, more intimate. A prowl. Her hips swayed with calculated grace, each movement emphasizing the lines of her body under Steiner’s hungry gaze. She turned, facing him fully, her expression unreadable, distant. Her arms lifted, not in invitation, but in sculpted arcs, tracing invisible patterns in the air. She wasn’t dancing for him, she was dancing despite him, transforming his demand into her own declaration.
Steiner watched, transfixed, leaning against his desk. The raw magnetism she’d shown on stage was distilled here into something colder, more controlled. Hannah glided over the marble floor, the only sound her shoes clicking on it. She moved closer, her movements tightening, becoming more precise - a predator circling prey. Her eyes finally locked onto his, holding his stare as she executed a sharp, fluid turn that brought her within arm’s reach. She stopped abruptly, chest rising and falling with controlled breaths, the silence thick and charged.
“Bravo,” cried Steiner, applauding as he did so, and Hannah knew his approval was genuine. She stood in the center of the room, feeling that her vow to give him more than Shirley had was surely being fulfilled. He pushed away from the desk and walked over to her.
“That was impressive,” he said, his hands exploring her breasts again. “You’re clearly a woman of many talents.” He lowered his hands and cupped the cheeks of her backside, finding they had the same qualities as her breasts, firm and yet soft to the touch. His hands lingered, possessive but not forceful.
Suddenly he stepped away, crossed the room to the window and picked up a rug which lay beside it. Returning to Hannah, he placed it right in front of her. “Kneel,” he said.
Hannah lowered herself onto the rug, relieved at not having to kneel on the marble floor this time. Her breath was still heavy, following the exertion of her dance, but apart from that she had become motionless once more. Steiner smirked with approval.
“Shirley would have given up by now,” he murmured. “But you ... you’re like stone.”
Hannah remained silent. The rug’s coarse fibers made her knees itch a little, but that was a trivial discomfort compared to the icy marble. Steiner circled her slowly, his polished shoes whispering against the floor. He stopped directly in front of her, blocking her view of the room. “Open your mouth.”
She obeyed without hesitation, tilting her head back slightly. He traced her lower lip with his thumb, his expression unreadable. Then his thumb pressed down, forcing her mouth open a little more, testing her resolve. Hannah didn’t flinch.
Steiner withdrew his hand and walked to the desk. He began to undress, placing his clothes very carefully and neatly on the chair there. Hannah remained kneeling on the rug, motionless. She watched him with detached focus, analyzing his movements. The deliberate folding of his jacket, the precise alignment of his cufflinks on the polished wood. Each action was controlled, meticulous. He removed his tie slowly, silk whispering against cotton, then unbuttoned his shirt with steady fingers. His physique was lean, maintained, the body of a man who valued order and discipline. He folded the shirt with sharp creases before turning to face her, now naked.
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