Both her and I put on our nicest business outfits, neither being anything to gawk at. Hers is a pastel blue, a nice blazer and shorter pencil skirt against her nude heels. Mine contradicts her with a solid black blouse and leopard print maxi shirt that pairs well with my black pumps. The outfits the men had bought us had plenty to choose from that were much flashier, but her and I agreed that not standing out was more important than attempting to show off.

"Why are we doing this?" I mumble to myself in the mirror finishing up the last curl on my hair letting it fall and mix with the rest of the more relaxed hair. The necklace reflects the bathroom lighting, the rainbow laying lightly over my skin. I warp my fingers around it, playing with the jewel between my fingers. It feels warm to the touch, an energy I can't describe coming from it. A part of me is content with the gift, the other demands I rip it off and run for the hills. Maybe it's the fact that Ares, without my knowledge, somehow learned my favorite jewelry and purchased it. This gift didn't come with anything bad. It wasn't the prize after sex, nor was it gifted with an immediate requirement in return. For now, it's just a gift.

"Um... the guard from before, Daniel I think, knocked on our door. Said our car is out front." Jessica knocks lightly on the bathroom door; I drop the opal against my skin opening the door. She gives a light smile.

"Ready for this?" Her nerves are evident.

"Did you see what we are going to be doing?" She holds up the folder to my face, I back up trying to let my eyes readjust.

"What-" I mumble trying to grab it, but she throws it to the side with a curse of frustration.

"Secretaries." Her face is hot in anger, her chest rising and falling with every passing moment. I watch her upper lip twitch, and her hand raise to cover it, the bracelet falling down her arm.

"You have to be kidding me." Such a predictable move, but I hoped to be a teller. Something that keeps me from having to deal with him every moment of the day. Thinking back, I should've made that clear. He's already using the loopholes in the contract to win in our little game of cat and mouse. That fucker.

"I wouldn't lie about something like this. And we serve them. Their personal secretaries for all things. Special keys to the building, everything. Talk about laughing in the back for winning this round." She shakes her hand at the door like their standing right behind it. While her anger is very visual, I can tell that getting it out now is helping.

I bit my lip looking around the luxury apartment for anything that could take my mind from this, "Neither of us asked for clarification either, huh?" I groan wiping my hand down my face. Bite my ass and hope to pop it.

"These men are intolerable." She screams grabbing her purse to throw over her shoulder walking to the doorway, "It's because we're women huh? They think that because their businessmen and know all the waves to deceive people we're going to go out with a fight? Think they can just buy us!"

"We do have their cards and access to any amount of sum we might want to spend." I pull the black card from my folder that still lays on the island. Jessica meets my eyes, her mouth pulling up on one side into a devious smile.

"That we do."

"How would you feel about some subscriptions? Maybe a shopping spree?" I can only assume that these creeps are watching our purchases to make sure we aren't buying tickets to leave the country. I'm not stupid enough to do something so obvious. I would at least get cash back during every purchase and buy everything out right. I mean come on. This isn't my first time running.

"I'm feeling like porn premium, all the sex websites, and maybe even some hentai haven!"

I pause, my fingers stopping over my screen, "How do you-"

"Better question is, how do you know what it is?"

"Agree to table this?" I mutter in pure embarrassment. She turns red as well twisting on her heel to look away.

"Allowed." She smirks pulling out her phone as well subscribing to as many as she could scan her card into. I follow suit, but also place large orders for lingerie, especially things that I know that creep would be into. Like leathers and chains.

Jessica laughs, "Added a dildo as well, you?"

"Tossed in some lingerie that leaves nothing to the imagination, oh and a trusty vibrator. Mines missing, I know it was in my side table so I'm a little confused on how that just disappears." Everything else was right where I left it. It seemed like they picked up the furniture, tossed it in the back, and brought it right over. Both our cell phones start to ring, our respected kidnapper on the other end. We simply slide the phones into our wallets leaving to meet the guard. The contract discussed intercourse. It doesn't count if it's with yourself, right?

"Good morning, ladies!" He smiles waving us down to the white car he stands in front of, "While the office is close, the al-CEO and his chairmen would prefer if you traveled in our company vehicle."

I roll my eyes looking at Jess, "Was that in the contract?"

She taps her chin mockingly, the guard giving us a look of apprehension, "I don't believe so," She grabs my hand, winking at the familiar gentleman, "Tell them to kiss our ass! And we will be there soon."

"Lun- I mean Veronica! Jessica! It would be better if you..." He waves his hands, but we are already out of earshot before he finishes, I watch him with my head turned close his eyes, the gold meeting mine when he opens them again. And his are normally blue. Was he going to call me, Luna, and Ares, Alpha?

"Come on, we have time to stop for a bagel and some coffee, and I also give no fucks if we are late. The men never said we had to be good at our jobs."

I let her drag me into the cute shop, books lining the walls with the warm smell of coffee breaking through the room. A small lady stands at the register, her hair greying from age. I watch her straighten her back when we enter, finger at ready to take our order, "Welcome to Moon Knight Coffee! How may I help you, Luna?"

"Um... my name is Vee?" I respond, her eyes widening.

"Oh sorry! I thought you were a regular. I won't let it happen again." Her smile is cheesy, ear to ear, but I toss it to the back of my mind. We both have bigger things to worry about.

"Iced latte, vanilla please. Extra shot of tequila if you have it." Jessica rambles off the lady lowering her brows.

"Ma'am... our coffee doesn't have tequila. Did you mean espresso shot?"

"Whatever you have, double it." I shove at her, and she laughs, "Sorry, we have some frustrations right now, just need something to take the edge off. It was a joke, I promise ma'am. But please, double espresso, I need the energy."

"Yes, Mrs. Denmark. And for you?" She looks to me, her eyes wide with a smile.

Jessica has already walked off, her mind on coffee, but my thoughts pause looking over the woman. Jessica never having said her name, nor her captor's rise heavy suspicion, "Why did you call me Luna? And her Mrs. Denmark. She isn't married, nor connected to an asshole like that. We also haven't paid; not like you could see a name on the card," I watch sweat form on her brow, a light line of gold surrounding her pupils, I put the heat on her, "Tell me now."

The woman visibly cries, covering her eyes in fear before stepping away, "I-I need to go. Another lady will finish your order." She runs to the back, a red head coming out of the same door to stand at the register. She gives me a wide smile, her name tag reading Cherry.

"Uh... same as Jess."

"Yes, Ms. Anything else?" She tilts her head, no sign of aggression from her soft features. I look over her and watch the shoulder of her shirt shift down a scarred bit mark raising over her collar bone. She catches my eyes following it down to the mishap and pulls the shirt back up, "I will take that as a no, give us five minutes."

Cherry walks away to handle our drinks, my card hangs in the air. I check the card reader and see no payment required, "Um... I didn't pay."

"As secretary to Mr. Gray you dine here free, as of most of 12th street. Just look for the logo on the door." She points her finger over to the glass door that we walked through a distinct wolf embedded in a circle sitting right at eye level.

"Wolves huh?" I call out, her lips raise at the edge.

"You don't even know the half of it." Her voice is dark, no indication she is going to continue. She travels over to the pick-up point setting down our coffee, "Welcome to 12th ladies, enjoy the coffee. I know that I've loved being here with my mate, I bet you'll love it too."

~

"Is any of this weird to you?" I say to Jess when we enter the bank, two men spotting us and walking over neither, thankfully, our contract holders.

"Oh? Weirder that the contract we signed to agree to date billionaires that have a weird obsession with smelling us and controlling our every move?" She pauses to wave at the men when they walk over, a fake smile plastered over her, "No not at all."

"They seem... fantasy." I mumble side stepping a lady who shoves past. The gentlemen stop in front us. Jessica bites her tongue from continuing the conversation. The men raise their brows. They take a moment to look me over, then snort.

"You both must be our new secretaries. You will work under Master Gray and Mr. Denmark, correct?"

Master? "Oui, um, yep?" Calling him master stirs something in me, a deep fire in my belly that I must settle within me. A secret kink that even that creep upstairs could use against me.

Jess flashes her eyes at me, a subtle wink, she knows all about it, "I am placed with Josh, she is with Ares."

Both the men suck in a breath, their reaction to her saying his name like the notary in the office, "Wonderful, follow us. The men have requested to train you themselves."

I groan pinching my nose, "Can I request differently?"

The blonde one of the two snaps his head back to look at me, "You want to defy him?"

I look around trying to find my fucks to give, "Right now blondie, that's my life goal. So please, request to have someone else train us. Maybe the past secretary? Or another one in the building?"

"You two are the only secretaries."

"Yes, but the ones before us." I cross my arms tapping my toes, "Maybe even someone that's been acting like one?"

The blonde pauses me, "There wasn't any. You two are the first and last to serve them."

Jessica stops in her tracks grabbing my arm, the men stop as well, "Are we allowed to call in sick?"

"Of course, every employee gets one month of PTO..."

"We are puking and pissing blood down both legs. And you better tell them it's as contagious as the plague." Jessica blurts grabbing my arm and turning me away from them. All the confidence she had on the way in leaving her at the final moments. I join her but know that this is going to end horribly. At least if things go bad, we're together when it happens.

"Wait- The al-Ladies!" We are already running, our new habit of ditching men becoming somewhat addicting. We hold the lids on our coffees as we run, the men hot on our tails as we dip out of the hallway and break through the morning busy of customers.

"Jess is this a good idea?" My breath is heavy as we run together, "No matter what I support you either way!" She pushes against the door, the city busy disrupting her response. I feel her hand grab my blouse us barreling down 12th street. She shifts left and right quickly through the people, her years of ballet coming into play before her parents passed. We bonded over it so long ago, sometimes I forget she spent many years on this street as one of the elites. I look back to see the blonde breaking the light the people, and the familiar guard now running with them. Shit. They lift their nostrils to the air, sniffing, before continuing towards us but none can lay an eye on our moving bodies.

"Here." She calls turning straight into a Thai foods place, the people turning to us in fear. In our panic we didn't notice the wolf printed on the door, and we took our seats.

"What in the hell did we just do? Can they grab us for this?" I whisper under my breath, Jessica tugging at her hair.

"I thought I could do it. I thought we could play this out, but fuck. When he said first and last, I freaked! I needed... I needed air." She breathes in deeply, her heart probably a mile a minute. I sit with her quietly letting her take a moment, my heart somehow settled into the situation. Not like I had practice or anything.

"How did you do this? Handle such dominating men?" The tears brim her eyes, the heaviness of our situation finally hitting her.

"It took years for me to be okay with it. My ex had my debt over my head, and my parents had just died. I was putty in his hands at the need to feel wanted and cared for. He used it against me, ruling every moment of my life down to my calories, but still fucked other women. It wasn't until he bought me a car with a tracker and demanded to marry me that I realized I needed out. And here we are, he still looks for me. I sometimes see flickers of the headlines of Volga looking for his bride to be. They think I was kidnapped."

"Well..." She laughs waving her hands before looking around jokingly.

"Yeah, well they might be right now." I laugh with her, our small giggles turning into full out senile laughter.

One of the waiters breaks up the fun, his face pulled into a frown, "Master Gray and Mr. Denmark are on their way."

"What..." We both turn to the door, the mocking emblem staring back at us.

"And to think we thought we had a moment of peace." Jessica's tears slide down her face, the waiter looks over us in sorrow.

"If it means anything, I wanted until you were calm to call. I know how much our people can be overbearing." The man smiles down, a bit mark on his collar. He seems normal, no signs of the weird gold the others do.

"Well... thank you. This might be the last time you see us alive." Jessica grumbles slamming her head down into the table.

"While I know this doesn't offer much, they wouldn't kill you. They just want to love you. It's... complicated but trust me." He smiles once more before walking away, we both stay seating waiting for the men to find us. It didn't seem much use to run when the wait staff seems at ready staring us down with intention if we were to leave. This really isn't much different than being trapped in a man's bedroom.

The men storm into the restaurant, both seething with hot anger that I could cook marshmallows on. Ares looks the worst, his eyes bright beyond compare, veins popping from his uncovered arm all the way to where his button up is pulled up. Josh seems just as mad, but handles it better, his mouth in a tight line. I look over to see the wait staff hide, none wanting to deal with this type of crazy. Jessica is the first to break the silence, "I didn't intend to run, okay? I just got... overwhelmed and needed a moment with Vee. Please believe me." Ares crosses his arms, the muscles shifting delightfully. I let myself watch them, his head turning to one side when he notices. If he wasn't a psychopath...

"And you couldn't have done that in a break room? In the safety of our building?" Josh retorts walking over to Jess grabbing her shoulders to pull her into a tight embrace. She pulls back against him, but soon enough holds still so he can pull her in closer.

"Josh, take her back. I'll handle Veronica alone."

"Yes sir." The hug becomes a hold while he walks her out, they both turn in the direction of main city.

"I suppose we lost huh. Barely even a day." I let my tears fall now. The need to be strong for Jess falling off my shoulders the moment she is out of sight. I cover my eyes and lay into my palms, my elbows holding me up as I cry into them. I don't care how much I embarrass myself right now, but I assume Ares would. I hear the shuffle of his shoes across the floor and the presence of him squat next to me. I try to turn away from him, but his palm comes up to the side of my face slowly getting me to face him. His thumb rubs back and forth underneath my eye and along my cheek bone. The other hand comes up as well wiping away tears on the other side, soon my face captured in his large, calloused hands. The callous confuses me, as a white-collar man their hands tend to be soft, but the welcome rough is unexpected.

He gives me a small smile, "I am not the bad guy, love."

"Well, you sure do come off as one." I grunt back through the tears pouring from my eyes.

He gives a glance to the ground and then back at me, I use the moment to suck my snot, "I simply want to take care of you. Love you. Everything in between."

"And that doesn't freak you out? You've known me what? A little under a week?" His hands are warm, the sparks addictive where he touches me. I make so move to leave his hold.

"For us it's different. Love at first sight, then it's forever. I am not trying to lead you on, we just have some hoops to jump through before I can be honest with you."

"You claim love but won't be honest?" Please just tell me to silence my crazy.

"You don't fight my touch; I know you feel it. That energy between us. Somewhere you know just as much as I do you belong to me. I just need you to say that, and all your questions are answered."

"Say I belong to you? I belong to no one." I spit finally pulling from him to where his hands drop to his sides. He sighs disappointed, and some part of me is as well.

"Come, let's get you home." He stands with his hand out, "And you either hold my hand or go over my shoulder, and like before, I know what I prefer."

I snatch his hand letting him pull me up to standing, "You are such an asshole."

"Mm." He studies my face and trails down my neck stopping on the opal, "The necklace is beautiful on you, it only adds to your breath-taking beauty." Don't do that. Don't sweet talk me.

"Thanks."

We exit together, his hand wrapped through mine. I try not to blush when he opens the door for me letting me out first, or when he turns walking me back towards the bank, "Josh and I spoke. You both would be better to start next Monday after some processing time. Enjoy the break. I can send over training videos for you both to study at your leisure."

"Uh... thanks."

He stops at a light, peering down at me, "You never have to thank me, love. My life is dedicated to you and your happiness."

"That's indeed overwhelming. A billionaire and a waitress?"

"A man and his future wife."

I couldn't fight that blush, my cheeks turning a burning red to match the light above us. I walk forward dragging him with me, and he smirks at my reaction. Whatever drug he laces himself with is starting to impact me, a little too much. The new apartment comes into view and Jessica is laying into Josh at the entrance. Her face is hot, his showing fear as she pokes at him and throws her hands up before finally stomping into the lobby. We walk up behind him, Ares mocking him as one would a brother, "Trouble in paradise?"