The morning sun sliced through the gap in the heavy blackout curtains, hitting Tessa directly in the eyes. She groaned and tried to turn her head.

A massive headache pounded against her skull. Her mouth was dry, and every muscle in her body ached with a deep, unfamiliar soreness. The memories of the night before rushed back in fragmented flashes of heat and rough hands.

She turned her head on the pillow. A man was lying next to her.

He was facing away from her. The white sheet was pooled around his waist, exposing a wide, muscular back. Long, angry red scratch marks trailed down his shoulder blades. Tessa's breath caught in her throat. She had done that.

The man shifted at the sound of her movement. He rolled over slowly.

Tessa stared at a face she had never seen before. He had sharp, handsome features, but there was a dangerous, predatory stillness about him. He was wearing the silicone mask, though she had no way of knowing. His dark eyes locked onto hers, heavy with sleep and something much darker.

Tessa instinctively pulled the sheet up to her chest, her heart hammering against her ribs. She forced her facial muscles to relax, masking her panic with a cold exterior.

"You must be Jax," she said, her voice raspy.

The man did not blink. A low, deeply resonant baritone, digitally lowered to be completely unrecognizable, vibrated from his throat. Tessa frowned slightly, her drug-addled brain processing the unnatural, electronic edge to his tone, but quickly dismissed it. It was likely just a high-end escort's standard privacy measure to protect his real identity. "Were you satisfied, client?"

The arrogant tone grated on her nerves. Tessa frowned, but she reached over to the nightstand and pulled her clutch toward her. She unzipped it and pulled out a folded document.

She tossed the paper onto his chest. "I am changing the terms. I want to hire you exclusively for the next three months. You will be on call twenty-four hours a day."

Lucian looked down at the paper. The words 'Employment Contract' were printed at the top. The temperature in the room plummeted. His wife was trying to put him on a payroll.

He picked up the paper, his fingers gripping the edges so hard the paper crumpled. He looked back at her, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. He decided to play her game, to push her until she broke.

"Exclusive access comes with a premium," he said, his altered voice dripping with mockery. He held up three fingers. "One hundred million a month. Three hundred million total."

He waited for her to gasp, to call him insane, to back down.

Tessa did not even blink. "Fine."

The single word hit Lucian like a physical blow. She was willing to throw away three hundred million dollars just to keep a male prostitute around. The jealousy and rage boiled over, burning a hole in his chest.

He sat up abruptly. The sheet fell away, exposing his chest. He leaned in close, trapping her against the headboard. The sheer physical dominance of his proximity made Tessa's chest tighten, but she refused to look away. She stared right back into his furious eyes.

Lucian snatched a pen from the nightstand. He flipped to the signature page of the contract. He pressed the pen down and slashed the name 'Ash' across the dotted line. The tip of the pen tore through the paper.

He threw the contract back at her. "Signal," he demanded coldly. "Download it. I don't use standard text."

Tessa picked up her phone. Her fingers were steady as she downloaded the encrypted messaging app and generated an anonymous QR code. She held the screen out to him.

Lucian reached into his discarded trousers on the floor and pulled out a burner phone Zane had provided. He scanned her code. A notification popped up on her screen, confirming the connection.

With the transaction complete, Tessa pushed the covers aside and stood up. She did not bother to cover herself as she walked over to her clothes scattered on the floor.

Lucian's eyes tracked her every movement. He watched the way the morning light hit the bruises he had left on her skin. His jaw clenched so tight his teeth ached.

Tessa pulled the black dress over her head. She picked up her phone, her fingers flying across the screen to initiate a transfer. She held up the confirmation screen, displaying a ten-million-dollar wire to the agency's holding account. "Your first advance payment," she said, her tone laced with deliberate, icy authority. "The rest depends entirely on your performance. As for your cab fare, I assume you can cover that yourself."

Lucian stared at the screen. The veins in his forearms bulged against his skin.

Tessa did not look back. She walked to the door, her hand wrapping around the cold metal handle. She pulled it open and stepped out into the hallway, letting the heavy door slam shut behind her.

The loud click of the lock echoed in the room.

Lucian grabbed a heavy crystal glass from the nightstand and hurled it across the room. The glass exploded against the far wall, raining down onto the carpet in a shower of sharp shards. He stared at his burner phone, his chest rising and falling in harsh, ragged breaths.