Chapter 15
Max stared at the phone sitting in the middle of his desk.
The weight of its presence felt oppressive, as if it carried the power to shatter every carefully constructed wall he had built around himself.
He needed to know what was on it, needed to confirm what Enzo had done.
But the thought of watching Lexie— his Lexie—entwined with another man made his stomach turn.
From the moment he’d first seen her, entering that boring party with her curls dancing around her shoulders even as she’d looked bored and unimpressed by the opulence, she had captivated him in a way no one ever had.
There had been no games, no strategy, no plan to pull her into his world.
She hadn’t been a piece on the chessboard of his life—she had been something else entirely.
And that terrified him as much as it thrilled him.
What Lexie didn’t know—and could never know—was how much control she had over him.
Max Diatras ruled the Pacific Northwest region with unyielding precision.
The businesses he didn’t own outright, he controlled.
The politicians he didn’t own, he influenced.
The only exceptions were the insignificant members of the school board, and even they rarely moved without considering how their decisions might intersect with his interests.
His was a world of absolute power, wielded with purpose and precision.
But Lexie had been different. From the very beginning, he hadn’t wanted to control her.
He hadn’t wanted to force her hand or bend her to his will as he did with everyone else.
With Lexie, he’d wanted her to come to him freely, to choose him not because of what he could give her or protect her from, but because she wanted him.
And for two glorious months, she had.
For those brief, incandescent weeks, she had been his.
They’d dined together, laughed together, talked late into the night about any and everything.
She’d challenged him, teased him, and surprised him at every turn.
And every night, when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, it was like the rest of the world faded away.
She was fire and sweetness, a combination that left him aching with a need he hadn’t known he was capable of.
And then she’d ended it.
Her words still echoed in his mind, idiotic and infuriating as they’d been. She’d stood in front of him, her brown eyes resolute, and told him she couldn’t be with someone like him. That his power—his influence—was too much. That no one person should hold so much sway over so many lives.
Max had been furious. Not because of what she’d said, but because of what it meant. Lexie didn’t understand his world, didn’t understand what it took to maintain the balance of power. She was too na?ve, too idealistic, thinking the world could function without someone like him to keep it in line.
He’d wanted to yell at her, to tell her how wrong she was. But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d let her go, even as every instinct within him screamed at him to hold on. He’d told himself it was for the best. That she would never truly accept the life he lived, the man he was.
But it hadn’t been for the best. Because here she was, back in his world, broken and vulnerable, asking for his help. And despite the anger still simmering in his heart, he couldn’t turn her away. He couldn’t let her face this alone, not when she’d come to him.
Because as much as he tried to deny it, Lexie wasn’t just someone he’d cared for. She was the only person who had ever made him feel like more than just a powerhouse. She had made him feel like a man. And no matter how angry he was at her for leaving, that was something he couldn’t forget.
Even now, Max’s body ached at the thought of Lexie just a few floors above him, sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms. He’d ordered one of his assistants to obtain a wardrobe for her—everything she could possibly need—but the uncertainty gnawed at him.
What is she wearing now? Was she still in that absurd pink satin dress that barely covered her?
Or was she…naked? The thought twisted something deep inside him, a dark, possessive anger he didn’t want to examine too closely.
His gaze dropped to the phone sitting on his desk, the screen dark against the stack of papers it rested on.
The sight of it irritated him further. His desk was always pristine, a reflection of the control he maintained over every aspect of his life.
His world was orderly, structured, and predictable.
Even chaos was managed with precision under his rule.
Until Lexie had walked back into his carefully controlled existence.
Lexie’s revelation had shattered that control.
The knowledge that someone had violated her in such a personal, intimate way—his Lexie—was enough to make his blood boil.
But it was more than that. Those videos…
they weren’t just an invasion of her privacy.
At first, it felt like betrayal. Then the truth settled in—slow, sickening, undeniable.
Evidence that another man had seen what Max had spent the last year trying to forget.
His hands curled into fists as a wave of simmering anger coursed through him.
Max had spent the past year in a state of painful celibacy because no other woman could compare to Lexie.
No one else could ignite that spark of desire, that need that burned so fiercely every time she was near.
A year ago, he’d told himself that she was the only one, that she felt the same pull, the same connection.
But the phone on his desk told a different story. A damning story.
Twenty-four hours ago, he would have sworn that Lexie belonged to him in every way that mattered.
That she hadn’t moved on, just as he hadn’t.
But now? Now, the evidence sat right in front of him, mocking him.
Proof that he had been wrong about her. Proof that another man—or maybe more—had touched her, seen her in ways Max had dreamed of, but never allowed himself to claim.
His jaw clenched as jealousy flared hot and unrelenting, feeding the fury simmering just beneath his calm exterior.
The thought of her in someone else’s arms, giving herself to someone who wasn’t him, was a betrayal he couldn’t stomach.
It churned in his gut, a toxic mix of anger and possessiveness.
And yet, even as he stared at the phone, his hand refused to move.
The reluctance to open it, to see the truth with his own eyes, rooted him to his chair.
He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to see her in a vulnerable, intimate moment that didn’t belong to him.
It would shatter something inside of him, something he wasn’t sure he could repair.
But he couldn’t ignore it either.
This was his world. His responsibility. And Lexie—whether she realized it or not—was his. No other man would ever touch her again. No one would ever violate her trust, her body, or her privacy again. He would see to that.
With a surge of determination, Max grabbed the phone and typed in the passcode.
The screen unlocked, revealing a gallery of videos.
Dozens of them. His gut churned as he scrolled through the thumbnails, the bile rising in his throat at the sight of her in her bedroom, her bathroom, in moments when she clearly assumed she was alone.
The rage inside him burned hotter, but it wasn’t directed at Lexie. Not anymore. It was directed at the bastard who had done this, who had dared to invade her life, her sanctuary. Enzo would pay for this in ways he couldn’t yet fathom.
But as Max stared at the screen, his jaw tightening and his breathing grew shallow, he knew one thing for certain: he would fix this. He would regain control. And Lexie? She would be his. Fully, irrevocably. No one else would ever touch her again.
And then Max felt something he hadn’t expected while watching these videos; relief!
She wasn’t with another man. Video after video showed Lexie in the bathroom, coming out of the shower, sleeping, dressing…! His body was rock hard as he watched each one, feeling the ache until…he knew exactly which video Lexie hated the most.
And it was his favorite.
He watched, his body nearly exploding as Lexie lay in her bed, one hand sliding underneath the sheets.
Lexie slid her other hand underneath her dark tee-shirt and he could see her fingers moving, stroking and pinching her nipple while her other hand moved between her thighs, stroking herself.
Slowly at first, her eyes closed, her breathing coming faster while her fingers moved faster.
It took less than two minutes before Lexie’s back arched and her fingers stopped. That’s when he heard it. “Max!” she sighed, then her whole body collapsed. And she rolled over, pulling a pillow closer as she fell asleep.