The word slips out before I can stop it.
My vision blurs for a second. Because standing in front of me. Unmasked. Is not a stranger, not some faceless buyer, not some random rich man with a sick obsession.
It’s—
“Pierce…?”
My voice cracks on his name. Him. My stepbrother. The one who disappeared. The one I haven’t seen in… years.
And suddenly everything — snaps into place. The voice. The way he looked at me. The way he touched me.
“You—”
I shake my head, trying to process, trying to breathe.
“You’re the one who—”
Bought me. Owned me. Touched me. Fucked me.
“You’re the one who paid ten million dollars…”
My voice comes out barely above a whisper.
Because I’d never thought that he would be the one behind the mask. The boy I used to know. The one who left me behind. The one I thought I’d never see again.
“You own me now,” I say slowly.
My throat tightens. Because the man who put me through the mattress literally hours ago—
The man who bought me—
The man who now owns me—
Is Pierce.
CHAPTER 8
PIERCE
He says my name like it hurts him.
“Pierce…?”
I watch the realization hit him in real time—the confusion, the shock, the way his entire body seems to tense like he’s trying to decide whether to run or stay.
I expected this. I prepared for it.
Still… seeing it on his face does something uncomfortable to my chest.
“I know,” I say quietly.
“This isn’t exactly how you expected to see me again.”
That’s an understatement. He’s staring at me like I just rewrote his entire reality. Like I took something familiar and twisted it into something unrecognizable. Maybe I did.
“I understand you’re shocked,” I continue, keeping my voice steady.
“You didn’t expect it to be me.”