At first, Isabella had been certain the agreement would resemble nothing more than the cold, unspoken rules of keeping a mistress.
Money exchanged for obedience.
Protection traded for silence.
Yet when she actually read the terms, she found herself hesitating.
This wasn't ownership.
It was… actually dating.
Exclusive. Public. Regulated, but strangely fair.
He wasn't hiding her in the shadows. He wasn't sealing her mouth with money. He was, in his own domineering way, inviting her into his world.
That realization unsettled her far more than any humiliating clause would have.
Did Victor Steele really want to date her?
The thought made her temples ache.
What she couldn't understand was why.
How had she, of all people, caught the attention of Victor Steele?
Not only that, but to such an extent that he would go through layers of calculation and pressure just to keep her by his side?
The more she thought about it, the less sense it made.
