He checks his watch and glances out the window at the traffic.

“I’m going now.”

There’s no hug or kiss goodbye of course. There’s no prolonged fanfare or scene. He just leaves. I’d kill to know if he’s ever had a girlfriend or shown an ounce of warmth to anyone who wasn’t a line item on his yearly accounting audit.

It felt good to lie in his arms earlier, even if it only lasted a short while.

I roll the key fob in my hand and leave his office, pulling the double doors shut behind me. After shutting down my computer and locking my space, I take the elevator down to the parking garage and find the shiny black Land Rover parked in spot forty-seven.

It makes the most adorable beep when I unlock it. I inhale a lungful of the buttery leather and warm, new car scent. Only when I slide into the seat, do I realize this car fits me perfectly. Dane probably has every car imaginable in his fleet, and he chose the one that suited me the best.

For a man who hardly knows me, he truly does take care of my every need without me having to say a word. He wasn’t lying about that.

I press my foot into the brake and start the car, and thank goodness that’s the way my mom’s car starts or I’d have been sitting here for hours trying to figure it out. The car purrs, and I stick it in reverse before pulling out and following the green exit arrows to the street.

Daylight floods the car as soon as I merge into the street, and a little red box in the passenger seat catches my eye. When I get to the next stop light, I grab it and trace my fingers across the Cartier logo on the outside. A little white envelope not much bigger than my hand is taped to the bottom.

I open the card first.

Angel,

This necklace is a symbol. You are to wear an item of ownership at all times. Never fear, the items will be classy and tasteful, just like the submissive who wears them, and this necklace will be the first of many.

Seventy lashes if you’re not wearing this the next time I see you.

Master

The light turns green, but not before I drop the letter and crack the box open to see a gold necklace with a single, bezel-set diamond charm dangling from it. I’m not a jeweler but this looks to be, at minimum, one carat.

Any other girl would drool over the sheer beauty of this thing, but all I see is an animal collar.

I snap the box shut and toss it in the passenger seat.

FIFTEEN

DANE

I should’ve gone straight home after visiting Uncle Leo again, but here I am, back in the office. The sun has long gone down, and the drone of the cleaning crew vacuuming the hallway is the only other sound accompanying me tonight.

My emails are sorted, and I begin attending to the ones marked “high importance” that I’d purposefully neglected earlier in the week.

Just as I suspected, not one of them is that important.

Delete…

Delete…

File…

Delete…

Respond…

When my inbox is almost clear, I see an email from Laurie in HR from earlier in the afternoon.

Dane,

Background check came back clear.

Laurie

“Good,” I mutter before forwarding it on to my guy, the one who checks on things beyond credit history, criminal records, and identity confirmation.

I never used to run such extensive background checks until Jenessa. Now I won’t sleep with a woman until I know every goddamn thing there is to possibly know about her. Only I have to go about extracting that information in roundabout ways. Asking a woman these types of things doesn’t always guarantee the truth, and it also has a tendency of making them think you give two shits about getting to know them on a personal level. I’d prefer to avoid complications if at all possible.

Roger,

Full report on this one. Need ASAP.

Dane

I attach her signed consent form and hit send.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and my heart skips without permission when I wonder if it might be Bellamy, texting to thank me for the bezel-set diamond necklace.

Nope.

It’s Beck.

YOU EAT YET?

I type back, NOT HUNGRY.

ODESSA AND I WILL BE AT TAVERN PARK DRINKING BEER AND EATING PIZZA. JOIN US OR BE LAME.

My palate prefers a different kind of dinner tonight, one that lies between the curved thighs of my sub. I meant to reward her for the impeccable mouth-fucking earlier today, but I wasn’t quite in my right frame of mind, and when I saw that I’d fucked those cherry lips so hard she gagged, I had to bring us both down.

I’m not a man who ever prefers cuddling, but I’m not about to subject a novice to sub-drop. I’d never do that to Bellamy, so I held her in my arms, warmed her with my heat, and pretended not to enjoy it when she nuzzled her cheek up against my chest.

I reach for my phone again and pull up Bellamy, my thumbs hovering over her number. But the second I realize I’m halfway smiling, I throw my phone down like it’s carrying the bubonic plague.

Screw that.

I’ll see her when I see her.

In the morning.

On all fours.

Wearing the necklace that tells the world she’s taken in all senses of the word.

She’s lucky I didn’t get her an actual collar.

SIXTEEN

BELLAMY

I clasp the gold chain around my neck and flip the visor up before turning the engine off. It’s not tight by any means, but a constricted sensation creeps around me.

I’m not an animal.

And I fully understand that physically I belong to him. I know what I agreed to. But I didn’t know I’d have to wear something twenty-four seven to remind me.

It’s almost worse than Cortland proclaiming at Bible study last night that he’d spent the afternoon looking at promise rings for me. It took every ounce of strength in my body to give him my ring size with a smile on my face.

When I climb out of the Land Rover, I click the button twice just to hear the sonar beep an extra time then stand back and admire how sleek and sexy my new ride is. I worried about explaining this beautiful beast to my family, but my father took it exceptionally well. I think he was just relieved he wouldn’t have to buy me a new car. The Chrysler should be out of the shop next week, but I’m going to tell my father to sell it. By the time I’m done working for Dane in a few months, I’ll be able to afford something one-hundred-percent mine.

“Dane’s not in today,” Marlene says when I walk past her desk that morning.

I stop short, cocking my head. “Is everything okay?”

“Death in the family.” She presses her hand across her heart. “He might be in later today, but we’re not sure. He’s with Beckham right now. Private burial on Saturday. That’s all I know.”

My heart aches for the man with the ice-block heart who’s probably suffering in silence, not allowing anyone to comfort him. I wish he’d let me be with him. Granted, I’m not his girlfriend, but still. I could at least serve him by offering my support.

Then again, he made it clear earlier in the week that I’m not in his “inner circle.”

I slip the diamond necklace off when I get to my desk and place it in an organizer tray in my top drawer. If he’s not here, there’s no sense in me wearing this. Pulling out my phone, I send him a text.

SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, DANE. I’M HERE IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.

Send.

He doesn’t respond, and like some spineless pushover, I can’t help wanting to do something more to please him. I yank the drawer out and fish around for the necklace, slipping it around my neck and taking a selfie. It’s just my décolletage, the photo centered on my necklace. I leave out my face and cleavage, as I’m not about to make his day of mourning about sex or teasing.