I turned to go, but didn't move quickly enough when his hand made hard contact with my ass. I felt the sting through my jeans and fought a smile. I pushed through the door and hurried upstairs.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

I fidgeted in my chair. My ass still stung a little from the solid spanking Blake had doled out the night before. That was after I'd spent a great deal of time on my knees. God, did the man love to see me on my knees.

But there had been more at play last night than Blake's kinks. Frustration rolled off his tongue with every sharp demand, every fierce drive that took us over the edge again and again. My willing submission had come with a price. I was fighting back for the control I'd once promised him.

And I would keep fighting for the right to call the shots until Alex took over the business. Holding onto that level of control, now that everything was changing so dramatically, was worth it. Sore knees and all.

Plus, I'd left my own marks and had my own fun. Blake never tormented me to any degree without matching it with a heavy dose of sexual satisfaction. The slight discomfort of my ass was a casual reminder of yet another sleep-deprived night in Blake's arms, at his mercy. I crossed my legs, hoping to dull the pulsing ache there.

I pushed sordid thoughts from my mind and read a message from Geoff reminding me about our meeting this week. I was looking forward to chatting with him and learning the details of what he had planned, but now I considered putting it off. I had no idea what my own future looked like. How could I make him any promises of being able to help him?

Finances weren't the issue. If I didn't invest my own money, Blake would invest "ours." But with a sale of the business, I could pay Blake back the loan he'd made toward Clozpin and possibly fund Geoff's business too. Quiet satisfaction took root when I imagined making a tiny seed grow again on my own, without the overwhelming wealth and security of Blake's bank account and business prowess. I could do it, and I couldn't deny the part of me that craved this new opportunity. In the boardroom, Blake had encouraged me to grab what I wanted and go for it. If it made financial sense, that was what I was going to do, but I had to break that news to Sid first.

I sent him a message, and a minute later he was sitting across from my desk. His tall frame overwhelmed the chair as he leaned back with tired eyes and a tall energy drink in his hand.

"What's up?"

I drew in a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you about a new direction for the business that I'm considering."

His eyebrows went up, a new alertness brightening his eyes.

"Alex Hutchinson wants to acquire Clozpin."

He paused. "What would happen to the team?"

"Alex assures me that everyone's jobs would be safe. He'd add language to any sales agreement to that effect. Obviously you and Alli would be cashing out along with me, but we could all keep running Clozpin as long as we wanted to be involved. He said he really wants me to stay and keep doing what I'm doing here."

A slight frown wrinkled his forehead. I found myself mimicking his expression, waiting to hear his reaction. I'd never been one to make blanket decisions for the team. Alli and Sid always brought something valuable, and Alli's words last night still lingered in my mind. They echoed my own fears. The big, scary what-ifs that I had to consider if everything went wrong. "Interesting," he finally said.

"Interesting, good?"

"Maybe. The financial security on a personal level would be good. I've been able to stash some money away since Blake still won't cash the rent checks for the apartment, but I have my own ideas that I wouldn't mind working on."

My heart fell a little. "You don't think you'd stay?"

He shrugged. "Shouldn't shock you that I'm not that much into fashion. I'll stay as long as you want me to though. I'd never abandon the project. We've put way too much into it. Whether we sell or not, I want to see it successful."

"Are you worried about selling it too soon? Alli thinks we might be leaving money on the table."

He twisted up his lips again. "I guess that all depends on what he's offering and what we want to walk away with. Ultimately, it's your call, Erica. We put you at the head of the project, and so far you've done a good job steering us in the right direction. If you think this is what we should do, I'm behind it."

I released a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Sid. For everything. I can't imagine coming this far without you and Alli. No matter what happens, I want you to know that."

His cheeks darkened and his gaze dropped to the floor. "Thanks. I feel the same way. We've made a good team." The way he said the words sounded oddly like a goodbye.

With each passing moment I felt more and more committed to the prospect of selling, even as I waited for Alex's offer.

Alli popped in, interrupting us. "Hey, um, Alex is on the phone."

"What?"

Sid rose. "I'll leave you to it. Keep me posted."

"Of course. Thanks, Sid."

He and Alli left me alone. My stomach flipped. Had he reviewed the financials so quickly?

I picked up the office line. "Alex, hi."

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm doing well. You?"

"Good." He sighed, and for a moment, I wasn't sure I believed him. "I looked at the financials last night."

I clicked my pen anxiously. "Okay. Did you have any questions?"

"No, not really. I assume the fact that Blake reached out to me means you are open to offers though, correct?"

My heart stilled. I hoped my shock wasn't obvious to him.

"Y-Yes. I mean, if it makes sense financially." I winced at my stammering.

"Of course. In that case, I'm sending you over our initial offer this morning. There's one issue."

"What's that?"

"I don't typically like to rush things, but time is of the essence on this. I'll need an answer from you tomorrow."

My mind spun. Shit. "Okay, is there a particular reason why?" I hesitated to ask, but I wanted to know what was spurring this sense of urgency.

"Nature of the beast, I suppose," he said quickly. "I think you'll be happy with the offer though. We don't have a lot of time for negotiating specifics, so I'll be sending it over with a draft of the agreement. If everything looks good on your end, we can move forward pretty quickly on this."

"Okay." I couldn't hide the uncertainty in my voice. I had boarded a deceivingly tame-looking theme park ride and now I couldn't get off.

Alex ran a few more details of the proposal by me before we hung up, but I couldn't get his comment about Blake out of my head. I didn't bother asking Alex what they had discussed and risk sounding ridiculous for not knowing. Despite my plea to handle the negotiation myself, Blake had reached out to him anyway. I knew it. I fucking knew it. I slammed my hand down on my desk, suppressing the urge to scream out in my frustration. I was marrying the most maddening, controlling man on earth.

Head in my hands, I took a few steeling breaths. I'd deal with Blake later. More importantly, I had a prospective sale to weed through, and Blake was insane if he thought I was going to let his lawyers have any piece of it. I refreshed my email repeatedly until Alex's offer came through. I stared at the message, not sure I was ready to read it, but I was unable to do anything else until I knew what it held. I skimmed through the message.

The offer was seven million dollars, an enormous sum.

I bit my lip, trying to stem my excitement. Oh my God, this is really happening.

I hadn't burned through Blake's entire initial investment. In fact, I'd stashed a good part of it away into a business savings account in the event of an emergency. After paying him back and cashing Alli and Sid out from their stock in the company, I'd have enough for Geoff's project and plenty leftover.

I printed out the deal terms and called a meeting with Alli and Sid. We met downstairs at Mocha, which was convenient for privacy and a much needed caffeine boost.

We each read the terms and discussed the concerns until we felt all the bases were covered. We stared at each other. I was desperately searching for signs that this was the right thing to do. A Magic 8 Ball could have done the trick, but I settled for the tentative agreement of the two people who had gone on this crazy journey with me from day one.

"Are we sure?" I asked, looking between Alli and Sid.

"Let's do it." Sid's big brown eyes seemed sure.

More than Alli's, but enough to give me the push I was looking for.

"Okay, here goes nothing, I guess."

I stayed late going back and forth with Alex's legal department. Over email, we'd set the closing for Friday of that week. Days away. It was all so surreal.

Alli joined me when the office had cleared out for the day. "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I'm just looking over the terms." I hesitated, compelled to seek her approval once more. "Are we sure about this?"

She smiled weakly and sat in front of my desk. "It's progress, I guess. Nothing can stay the same forever."

"This isn't an easy call for me, Alli," I admitted.

"I know. There's a ton riding on this, but whether it works out the way we want it to or not, we took a risk. Nothing can take away the experiences we've had. Honestly, I'm scared this could push us in a direction we're not ready for, but I'm also scared about turning down an opportunity that we would be foolish to ignore."

"I feel the same way. Change is never easy, I guess," I said.

As much as Alex assured me that he wanted me to keep doing what I was doing, I knew change was on the horizon in one form or another. One didn't make an acquisition of this size, no matter how well off he was, without wanting to get the most out of the opportunity. I had to brace myself for those unknowns and have faith that Alex had our best interests in mind, even if they were secondary to his desire to take profit from the venture.

"Well, the decision has been made, right? I'm going to send this off to the lawyer, and maybe we'll have this executed soon."

She blew out a breath and shrugged. "Another reason to celebrate, I guess."

"Sure, we should celebrate. Drinks or something."

Alli's smile grew wider. "I was going to surprise you, but the bachelorette party is this weekend."

I lifted my eyebrows. "Oh."

"So celebration will definitely be in order. We'll have to feed you some extra shots."

I laughed. "Okay, we'll see how it goes."

She rose and came to me. I stood up and hugged her.

"I'm so proud of us." Her voice was muffled in my shoulder. Suddenly tears threatened, and the emotional cliff of following through with this was fully in sight. This was shaping up to be one hell of a week.

She left, and I sent off my last message to Alex. I sat in the office a little while longer, contemplating the heavy choice I'd made. For so long, my life had been framed by Clozpin, by the experiences that had taken me from dabbling hopeful, to near failure, to veritable success. Alex wanted the business and he wanted me. He'd seen value and taken a chance on both. A ripple of satisfaction went through me. I smiled inwardly. I was proud of us too.

Clay dropped me at home. The night had turned dark, and I tried not to think about everything Blake and I needed to hash out tonight. I walked toward the door.

"Erica?" A man's voice approached me, his frame appearing from the shadows. My heart leapt and I stepped back.

"Who are you?"

"I'm with Channel 5 News. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about your connections with the governor's race and Daniel Fitzgerald."

"I'm sorry, this isn't a good time." I fumbled with my keys and tried to circle him to get to the door.

"I'll only take a moment of your time."

Before I could tell him to leave, Clay appeared, squaring off with the man.

"The lady doesn't want to speak with you. You need to leave now."

The young reporter scoffed at him. "Who are you? I'm not breaking any laws by being here."

"I'm security for Miss Hathaway and for this building. If you don't leave, I'll call the police." Clay was unruffled, his voice and broad frame intimidating without trying to be. He stood imposing between the reporter and me, staring the man down.

Unfortunately for the man, Clay could probably bench press him. He didn't have a prayer.

"Fine. Sorry. Is it okay to follow up with you by phone?" He glanced around Clay to me.

I shook my head with a sigh. Jesus, these people were persistent. I turned my key in the door and thanked Clay before rushing up the stairs.

I walked into the apartment, dropped my purse on the counter, and silently wished I could unload the suitcase of emotions I'd brought home. Blake rose from the couch while I made a plate of leftovers.

"Is everything okay?"

"Reporter accosted me outside."

His brows knit tightly. "Who was it?"

"Clay dealt with him. It's okay."

The tension in his body seemed to relax a little. "Okay."

He circled the island to where I stood and leaned in for a kiss, but I turned from it.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you think?" I muttered. He was going to make me spell it out. I couldn't wait to hear his excuses for getting to Alex before I could.