Chapter 547: Now, it’s my turn, darling

"Raymond Cole... your boss."

The words echoed in the narrow space between them, ringing sharp in Naomi’s ears.

She blinked, momentarily stunned, her wide eyes locked onto her so-called boss standing alone amid the flashing strobe lights of the dance floor to the side.

​The scene there had already shifted. The two women who had been laughing and dancing with Raymond only moments ago were no longer by his side. Instead, they were now clinging to a smug younger man just a few feet away.

The kid was leaning back, arms draped casually around both girls, laughing openly and taunting the older billionaire right in the middle of the crowd.

Raymond stood there, looking suddenly isolated under the strobes, his pride visibly fraying while the young man smirked and paraded the women right in front of him.

Naomi remained frozen on Alex’s lap, her mind racing, yet there was no panic in her expression. Instead, a flicker of genuine confusion crossed her face, quickly followed by a spark of quiet, bubbling delight.

’Don’t tell me,’ she thought, amusement rising in her chest. ’Does he really think he can corner me with an obvious clue that practically anyone could have found out?’

If this was the grand secret he thought would break her, it was almost laughable.

Curious, Naomi turned her head to study his face, searching his sharp features to see whether he was actually being serious or just winding her up to mock her.

Her lips parted to call his bluff, but before a single word could escape her throat, Alex brought his finger to her mouth, pressing lightly against her lips to stop her.

"Ah, ah," he whispered, a lazy, wicked smirk curving his mouth. "Don’t forget, darling... we’re playing a game. And you only get one question."

His finger lingered against her lower lip, pressing just firmly enough to keep her quiet.

"And since you just used it, let me give you a proper answer," he continued, his tone smooth and entirely self-assured. "I came here tonight to meet your boss. But clearly, he had no intention of talking business anytime soon. He sent you over to keep me occupied — a pretty little distraction so he could enjoy his night without being bothered."

Alex chuckled, thoroughly pleased with his own deduction, and glanced back toward the strobe lights cutting across the dance floor.

"Though it seems his little party got cut short."

He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against the sensitive curve of her ear, his voice dripping with smug amusement.

"Looks like your boss ran out of cash already," he whispered. "All that power and swagger, only to get tossed aside for some trust-fund brat the second his back is turned. Tragic, really."

He gave her hip a slow, teasing squeeze, looking back into her eyes with a mocking grin.

​"Tell me, darling... am I right, or am I right?"

​Naomi’s throat bobbed in a visible swallow. To anyone watching, it might have looked like the nervous reflex of someone caught red-handed.

​Alex certainly seemed to take it that way, his smirk deepening with every second she took to answer.

​Then, slowly, the corner of Naomi’s mouth twitched. The hesitation vanished, replaced by an unmistakable, radiant grin spreading across her lips. It wasn’t a nervous smile, nor was it the polite smile of a woman humoring a dangerous man.

​It was pure, unfiltered amusement.

​She looked at him and had to fight the urge to laugh right in his smug, confident face. He was so completely convinced he had solved the entire puzzle. In his mind, he had her pinned: she was just a pretty little mercenary sent by an old billionaire to play distraction while Cole had his fun.

​He thought he was holding all the cards. He thought he had seen right through her.

​Naomi tilted her head, letting her eyes sparkle with effortless mischief as she shifted slightly on his lap, completely unbothered by the hand resting on her hip.

Alex only chuckled, unbothered, reading her grin as nothing more than nervous bravado.

"Cole thought he had it all planned out," he murmured, his voice dropping into that low, dangerous register as he leaned down. "Send a gorgeous distraction to keep me tied up while he plays his little games. But the old man didn’t consider one critical variable."

His breath ghosted hot over the curve of her collarbone.

"Me."

Alex pressed his lips against the warm skin of her neck. It wasn’t rushed. It was a slow, deliberate kiss that parted slightly against her pulse point, letting the moist heat of his lips brand her flesh.

A sharp, involuntary tremor raced down Naomi’s spine.

"And now the table turns, darling," he whispered against her skin, his mouth grazing upward toward her jawline. "You’re going to answer every question I have, completely truthfully. Aren’t you?"

Trapped beneath the heavy, magnetic heat of his mouth, Naomi swallowed and gave a small, obedient nod, a soft shiver shuddering through her frame.

"Good," Alex said, a low, satisfied laugh vibrating against her throat.

He had no idea.

Beneath her quiet compliance, Naomi was practically dizzy with delight. Her original objective had been simple enough — gather whatever scraps of intel she could to figure out who he was and what angle he was playing.

Now, the entire board had flipped in her favor.

Alex had handed her the ultimate weapon: an arrogant man completely blinded by his own assumptions. If he truly believed she was Cole’s pawn sent to distract him, she didn’t just have an opening to survive... she had an opening to manipulate him.

With the right mix of half-truths and subtle nudges, she could feed his ego, exploit his blind spots, and convince him to walk away from this entire deal on his own.

She just had to be exceptionally careful. Alex might be overconfident, but he was far from weak. And worse, sitting stranded on his lap, pinned by his weight with his scent clouding her senses...

’God,’ she thought, her pulse hammering wildly against her ribs. ’The man might be full of himself, but his hand makes thinking straight an absolute nightmare.’

Completely unaware of the schemes spinning behind her guarded gaze, Alex took her silence as quiet surrender. His arm tightened around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest until every hard angle of his body pressed into hers.

"Brace yourself, darling," Alex murmured against her ear, his voice dark, velvet-smooth, and heavy with wicked intent. "Because if not... you’ll have to spill every single secret you and your boss have prepared."

Naomi’s muscles coiled tight, her mental walls snapping instantly into place. She braced for the same slow, agonizing friction he had tested her with moments ago.

She had conquered it once; she told herself she could conquer it again.

Alex didn’t repeat himself. He had no intention of playing the same game twice.

Beneath the hem of her dress, his hand shifted with sudden, ruthless authority. Instead of circling the outside, the broad palm of his hand clamped firmly against her center, shoving the damp fabric aside entirely. Then, before she could even process the shift, his long fingers parted her slick folds and pushed straight inside her heat.

He didn’t ease in gently. He sank deep, his thick fingers stretching her tight, drenched entrance in one single, unyielding glide... while his thumb bore down hard and flat against the swollen crest of her clit.

At the exact same instant, his teeth caught the soft hollow where her neck met her shoulder, biting down in a sharp, possessive nip that sent a lightning bolt of pain and pleasure straight down her spine.

The dual shock was catastrophic.

Her Enhanced discipline, her iron willpower, her tactical breathing — all of it disintegrated in a split second. The sudden invasion tore through her nervous system like raw voltage, ripping all the air right out of her lungs. Her hips bucked violently against his lap in pure, helpless reflex, and the lock on her jaw broke wide open.

A wrecked, fractured whimper tore past her lips.

"Ah... god—"

The ruined cry spilled into the air, raw, breathless, and undeniable.

She slammed a hand over her mouth, but it was already far too late. The sound had escaped, echoing between their chests like a confession.

Alex froze for a fraction of a second, letting her drown in the realization of her failure, before a rich, dark chuckle vibrated deep against her bruised throat. Inside her, his fingers curled upward in a slow, punishing stroke, milking another shuddering tremor from her hips.

He lifted his head slowly, his eyes glittering with ruthless triumph as he looked down at her flushed, unraveling face.

"Listen to that," he whispered, his lips curving into a lethal, taunting smirk. "Not even five seconds in, and you’re already crying out for me."

He leaned in close, his thumb grinding a slow, agonizing circle against her slick peak to keep the fire raging through her core.

"Now, it’s my turn, darling."