Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria came down the main foyer steps. Cole was at the bottom, two suitcases behind him. His fingers picked at the collar of his white polo.
She reached up, brushing his hand.
“The clothes are temporary. Your buyer will want you out of them after you settle,” she said.
His eyes flitted around the room.
“Cole,” she said.
He looked down at the marble floor. “Yes, Mistress?”
“Please look at me.”
His alluring hazel eyes sparkled as he looked up, and she saw tears forming.
“Your new location has many exceptional qualities. One of which is that your new Mistress isn’t me.”
He looked at her with confusion.
She continued, “I enjoyed our time together. And I know you’re going on to do great things—just not with me.”
She let the words hang between them. They had discussed this before. Her role was to train them, to prepare them for the world beyond her. At the end of their contracted time, they moved on to a new home. That was the purpose. In the world of paid submissives, bonding with your trainer was common—but staying? That wasn’t how it worked.
Adria was stage one. Cole needed to move on to stage two.
But Cole didn’t want to move on. He wanted a real relationship. He wanted to stay.
He wanted to be hers without a contract.
She tugged gently on the collar of his white polo. “Sometimes we know a shirt doesn’t fit, even before trying it on.”
It was something her mother used to say. Pain sparked at the old memory, and Adria pushed it aside, just like she always did.
Cole wiped a hand across his face. “I know. And I’m grateful…and excited.”
She could tell it was mostly the truth.
Adria handed him a cashier’s check for $250,000.
Cole stared at it. “Our agreement was for one-eighty,” he said, fingers tracing the number.
“Your sale brought in over a million,” she replied. “Consider it a bonus. Pay off those student loans.”
Her body rocked slightly as he pulled her into a crushing hug. The warmth of it caught her off guard, and for a second, she froze, before raising her arms to return the contact.
Cole was a sweet kid.
Cole had taken no convincing to join her stable. In fact, it had been the opposite. She had spent most of her time trying to scare him away.
Most of her submissives came to her because they needed the work and the money. Her contract was simple: one year of training. After that, they went to auction, where people from around the world bid for the chance to stable them for a year .
Cole had studied forensic accounting. Drowning in student debt, he had needed the money.
But Adria always suspected he had signed up because he was drawn to her.
A low rumble of tires on gravel signaled the arrival of the car. Cole released her, a huge smile breaking across his face.
“Thank you, Mistr—Adria. For everything. I couldn’t have gotten here without you.”
And with that, he opened her front door and bounded down the steps toward the two black sedans with tinted windows.
A driver exited the first car and assisted Cole with his bags before opening the rear door.
Loretta, her business partner and friend, stepped out of the second car. Her silver hair swept up in a messy updo, and her oversized sunglasses glinted in the morning sun.
There was a timeless elegance about her—effortless, self-assured. It was something Adria had always admired.
“One-point-two mill, Dri,” Loretta said, slipping off her glasses. “An all-time best.”
Adria watched Cole disappear into the black sedan.
“Young, vibrant, brown-eyed virgin,” she replied. “They were like kids in a candy store.”
Loretta followed her gaze as the car pulled away.
“He was a good one. Your best yet,” she said softly. “Don’t discount yourself.”
“I’m not,” Adria answered quickly. “He had his challenges, but in the end, those numbers were more about him. About the work he put in.”
And that part was true. Cole had struggled with confidence. But every day, he pushed himself. By the time of the auction, he wasn’t just ready. He was captivating. The kind of submissive who could hold a room hostage with a single glance .
“Liked this one, did you?” Loretta asked, her voice knowing.
“He was sweet.”
Loretta mouthed the word like she was tasting it. “Do you ever think about keeping them?”
Adria’s eyes flicked to the empty stretch of driveway. She already felt the difference in the house.
People were always chasing the dream—white picket fences, cozy fireplaces, someone to curl up with while reading romance novels and sipping wine.
After his time with Mistress Eve, Cole would become a financial investigator. He’d be the dependable one. The guy who bought thoughtful gifts, even when there wasn’t a reason. He’d be someone’s warm, safe place.
Cole was the cottage.
He was the fence.
He was the daydream.
Adria gave a slow shrug. “He didn’t fit.”
Loretta slipped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. It was the second hug Adria had gotten in ten minutes, and she wasn’t sure what to do with that.
“Someday you’ll find someone who fits,” Loretta said. “Or at least one you can keep around that isn’t under contract.”
Adria didn’t argue. What was the point?
No one was ever going to fit. Not with her. She didn’t date. She never extended contracts. Not because of her family name. Not even because of the Nine.
But because she was the puzzle piece the dog had chewed.
No matter how carefully you tried to fit it in, it never quite matched the picture on the box.
Loretta made her way to the garden room for tea, and Adria was stopped by one of her staff members.
“This was in the dead drop today,” he said before handing Adria an envelope .
A dead drop was a pre-selected location where correspondence between families was placed. The Nine families were old school and liked to keep their digital footprint to a minimum.
Opening the envelope, Adria read:
Dear Miss Federov,
Callen Winters has requested an audience with you. Please respond within the required five-day period. Note that the Triune has reviewed this request and has decided that this is a non-negotiable meeting.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. You have my number.
Sincerely,
Jonathan.
JR NER GUR SRNE, JR NER GUR GNEXARFF
The Triune were the top three families in the Nine and head of the council. A secret society that Adria’s family had been a part of for generations. Nothing of importance happened in the world without the Nine’s involvement. A political figure killed, media spin campaign, shortage of medical supplies, if it was loud, odds were the Nine were involved.
Adria’s fingers curled around the paper, crumpling it. When the Triune gave an order, it was paramount to God himself. Jonathan had once been her father’s Right Hand and after Ivan’s death he became the mouthpiece for the Triune.
The fact that the council were ordering her to meet with the Winters family should have been unnerving, but in fact it was the idea that Jonathan was within a ten-mile radius of her home that had her insides turning. Callen, she could handle. Jonathan was another story.
And just when she thought this day couldn’t get any worse.