RUTHLESS CONTRACT: Bound by power. Pulled by desire.

Richard's POV

Audrey was quieter than before.

Not submissive-just controlled. Observing without asking questions, moving through the house like she was learning its rhythm. I noticed it the same way I noticed everything else: without reacting.

It didn't matter.

The contract didn't require her curiosity, and I had no intention of indulging it.

Breakfast passed without conversation. She sat across from me, eyes down, posture straight, hands folded neatly in her lap. Too composed for someone who'd been dragged into a marriage overnight.

"You'll be staying in today," I said as I stood.

She looked up. "I wasn't planning to go anywhere."

"Good."

That was all. I left the table without another word.

The day was work-meetings layered with coded conversations, numbers that meant more than people, pressure from the police that hovered but never quite closed in. Annoying, but manageable.

By evening, my patience was thin.

The house felt tight when I returned. Not because of her-but because routine had been interrupted. I changed clothes, checked my phone, then stepped out again without explanation.

Some habits didn't need to be altered just because of paperwork.

At the hotel, everything was as it should be. Quiet. Predictable. Mine.

I slammed the door, assuming it had closed, and then made the call.

"Come," I said when she answered. "Same rules."

A brief pause. "Understood."

I ended the call and slipped the phone into my pocket.

No hesitation. No doubt.

This was business. Relief. Control.

Audrey had nothing to do with it.

-----

Audrey's POV

He left minutes later.

I waited, counting my breaths.

Then I followed.

Not close enough to be obvious. Not far enough to lose him. I kept my head down, blended into the city lights, watched him disappear into a hotel that looked far too familiar.

I wasn't meant to hear anything.

That was the excuse I clung to as I stood frozen in the hallway, his voice low but unmistakable through the slightly open door.

"Come. Same rules."

That was all.

No names. No softness. Just instruction.

I stepped back slowly, heart hammering like I'd been caught doing something wrong-though no rule had been broken. Not yet.

That's when I saw her.

She arrived like she belonged there. Confident. Beautiful. Certain. The kind of woman who didn't need to ask why she'd been summoned.

My chest tightened.

So this was it.

Not love. Not betrayal.

Habit.

I left before I could see more than I was meant to.

Back in my room, I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall.

No love.

No questions.

No interference.

The rules made sense now.

And Richard Drake had no idea I'd just stepped into a truth he assumed was invisible.