The ballroom floor felt like a stage where I was the main attraction of a very dangerous play. As Julian Vane led me toward the center of the room, I could feel James's gaze burning into the back of my neck. It wasn't a protective gaze anymore; it was the look of a man watching something he owned being handled by a thief.
***********
Julian's hand was slick against my waist, a sharp contrast to the firm, commanding heat of James's touch. "You seem tense, Anna," Julian whispered, pulling me slightly closer than was appropriate for a public dance. "Is the big, bad billionaire keeping you on too short a leash?"
"James just wants what's best for me," I replied, my voice sounding more certain than I felt. I scanned the crowd, catching James standing by the bar. He wasn't talking to the investors. He was nursing a glass of dark amber liquid, his eyes never leaving us. Every time Julian spun me, James's grip on his glass tightened until his knuckles turned white.
"He wants what's best for his image," Julian countered, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "But a girl like you shouldn't be hidden away in a mansion like a family heirloom. You have fire, Anna. I saw it the moment you walked in. Fire that James is too old, or perhaps too 'proper,' to handle."
Julian's hand slid lower, grazing the swell of my hip. I stiffened, the "good girl" in me wanting to scream, but the "asset" in me knowing that a scene at this gala would ruin James's big night.
Suddenly, the music seemed to fade into the background as a shadow fell over us.
"The dance is over, Vane."
James didn't wait for the song to end. He stepped between us, his presence so massive and intimidating that Julian actually took a half-step back. James didn't look at Julian; he looked at me, his eyes dark with a stormy, unfiltered rage.
"I believe I've been patient enough," James said, his voice a low, vibrating warning. He grabbed my wrist not enough to hurt, but enough to signal that the choice was no longer mine.
"We were just having a conversation, Reynolds," Julian sneered, trying to regain his composure. "No need to get caveman about it."
James leaned in, his voice dropping so low only the three of us could hear. "If you touch her again, I won't just buy your company and liquidate it. I'll make sure you never walk a red carpet again. Am I clear?"
Julian paled, the smirk finally sliding off his face. James didn't wait for an answer. He spun me around and marched me toward the exit, ignoring the curious whispers of the elite crowd.
He didn't stop until we reached the private elevator leading to the executive suites above the ballroom. The doors slid shut, sealing us in a box of mirrors and silence. The moment the "Up" button was pressed, James turned on me.
"Did you enjoy it?" he growled, pinning me against the mirrored wall. "Did you like the way he touched you? The way he looked at you like he could take you home?"
"James, you told me to dance with him!" I cried, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I was doing what you asked!"
"I asked you to show him you were mine," James roared, his hand slamming against the mirror next to my head. "Instead, I watched him put his hands on what belongs to me. I watched you let him."
The erotic tension in the small space was suffocating. He was vibrating with a mix of fury and desire that I had never seen during the years he spent raising me. He wasn't my guardian tonight. He was a man pushed to his absolute limit.
"I am yours," I whispered, reaching up to touch his chest, feeling the frantic rhythm of his heart through his silk shirt. "I don't want him, James. I never did."
His expression broke. The anger remained, but it was eclipsed by a hunger so deep it frightened me. He grabbed both of my wrists, pinning them above my head against the glass.
"Good," he rasped, his face inches from mine. "Because we're going to stay in this suite tonight. And by the time the sun comes up, you're going to forget that any other man has ever laid eyes on you."
He crushed his lips to mine, and as the elevator dinged to signal our arrival, I knew there was no going back. The "Daddy's Girl" James had raised was gone, and in her place was a woman who belonged entirely to a monster.