Chapter 88 Now it was my turn
Aria’s POV
I woke up to the feeling of Damian’s mouth on my neck.
"Good morning, baby," his voice rumbled in my ear, rough with sleep and desire.
I groaned, my whole body aching. "What time is it?"
"Early." His hand slid down my stomach. "Too early for you to be awake. But I need you again."
"Damian—" I gasped as his fingers found me, already slick despite how sore I was. "I’m so sore—"
"I’ll be gentle this time," he murmured, rolling me onto my back. "Promise."
He wasn’t gentle. But I didn’t want him to be.
Afterwards, as we lay tangled together, my phone started buzzing on the nightstand. I reached for it, squinting at the screen.
It was Jennifer, one of my team leads at V&A Group.
"I have to take this," I said, sitting up.
"Make it quick," Damian growled, his hand possessively gripping my thigh.
"Jennifer?" I answered, trying to sound professional despite being naked and thoroughly fucked.
"Ms. Smith, I’m sorry to bother you, but we still can’t access the systems," Jennifer said, sounding frustrated. "Nathan’s blocking every authorization we try to push through. We can’t move forward on any of the projects without those clearances."
I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. Of course Nathan was still playing games.
"I’ll be back today," I said. "I’ll handle it personally."
"Thank you, Ms. Smith."
I hung up and looked at Damian. "I have to go back."
His jaw tightened. "Now?"
"Yes, now." I started to get out of bed, but he pulled me back down.
"Not yet," he said, his voice dropping to that commanding tone that made my knees weak. "I’m not done with you."
"Damian—"
"One more time," he cut me off, already positioning himself between my legs. "Then I’ll let you go."
"I have a company to run," I shot back. "Nathan’s blocking my team’s access to critical systems. If I don’t deal with this now, we’re going to lose contracts."
"Then let him block it." His hand tightened on my waist. "Fire the bastard. Take everything from him."
"I can’t just—Damian, this is my business. I need to handle it."
We stared at each other, the tension thick between us. Finally, he exhaled through his nose and released me.
"Fine," he bit out. "But I’m taking you back on my jet. I’m not letting you fly commercial."
"You don’t have to—"
"I’m not asking," he said firmly. "Get dressed. Rick will have everything ready in an hour."
I stumbled to the bathroom, my legs protesting every movement. When I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I gasped.
Marks. Everywhere. My neck, my shoulders, my thighs. I looked thoroughly ravaged.
"Damian!" I called out. "How am I supposed to explain this?"
He appeared in the doorway, completely unrepentant. "Wear a scarf."
"It’s summer!"
"Makeup then." He shrugged. "Or just tell people you have a very attentive boyfriend."
I glared at him, but he just grinned and pulled me in for a kiss.
After a quick shower and some strategic concealer application, I was as presentable as I was going to get.
When I came out, there was a fresh set of clothes laid out on the bed—designer labels, all in my size.
"How did you—"
"I had someone pick them up this morning," Damian said casually, leaning against the doorframe. "Put them on."
The outfit was perfect. Tailored black pants, a silk blouse, a blazer. Professional but expensive.
I looked like someone who belonged in a boardroom, not someone who’d spent the entire night screaming a man’s name.
An hour later, I was standing on the tarmac next to Damian’s private jet. He had his arm around my waist, and I could feel him reluctant to let go.
"I’ll see you soon," he said, tilting my chin up to kiss me. It was possessive and claiming, the kind of kiss that marked me as his in front of everyone watching.
"Soon," I agreed, breathless.
He smiled against my lips. "Call me when you land."
"I will."
As I turned toward the stairs, he caught my wrist.
"Aria."
"Yeah?"
"If you need anything—anything at all—you call me. Understood?"
The intensity in his eyes made my breath catch. "Understood."
The jet was exactly as luxurious as I’d expected. I collapsed into one of the leather seats, my phone already buzzing with messages from the team.
As the plane taxied down the runway, I looked out the window at the capital disappearing below.
Nathan had made his move.
Now it was my turn.
---
The first thing I did when I arrived at V&A Group was head straight to HR.
"I need to process these direct hires immediately," I said, sliding the authorization forms across the desk.
The HR manager glanced at the paperwork, then gave me an apologetic smile. "Ms. Smith, I’m afraid these require board approval first. We’ll need to wait for the shareholders to sign off."
My jaw tightened. "I’m the majority shareholder and CEO. My approval should be sufficient."
"Under normal circumstances, yes," she said carefully. "But according to the betting agreement you signed with Mr. Nathan Smith, any operational authority requires approval from over half the board members before it takes effect."
I felt my blood run cold.
I’d won the bet. I’d turned the subsidiary profitable. I’d secured my position as CEO. But apparently, that wasn’t enough.
Nathan had buried a clause deep in that agreement—one I’d been too focused on the profit targets to notice. The clause that said my actual power wouldn’t kick in until more than half the shareholders voted to approve it.
Which meant that even though I could hire Jennifer and the team, their positions wouldn’t be official until I had operational clearance. And with Sylvia conveniently "ill" and half the board suddenly unreachable, that process could drag on indefinitely.
I pulled out my copy of the agreement right there in the HR office and read through it again, my hands shaking with fury.
"Authorization effective upon approval of over half the shareholders."
Approved by more than half the shareholders before taking effect.
Bastard. Nathan had planned this from the beginning.
I walked out of HR and nearly collided with Jennifer in the hallway.
"Aria, what’s wrong?" she asked, taking one look at my face.
"Nathan’s blocking everything," I said flatly.
"That snake," Jennifer hissed. "What are we going to do?"
I stood there for a moment, staring at the marble floors of the lobby.
The rage burning through me was almost blinding. Nathan wanted me to lose my temper.
He wanted me to storm into a board meeting and start making demands, so he could paint me as unstable and unfit to lead.
But if he thought I’d play into his hands, he was sorely mistaken.
"We follow the process," I said finally.
Jennifer blinked. "What?"
"If Nathan wants to play by the rules, then we’ll play by the rules." I pulled out my phone.
"Get me the contact information for every single board member. I want names, phone numbers, addresses, business interests—everything."
"On it," Jennifer said, already typing furiously on her phone.
Three hours later, I was sitting in my office,reviewing the files my team had compiled.
V&A Group had seven core shareholders. Sylvia, Nathan, and I were three.
The other four were older men, business veterans who’d been loyal to Vincent for decades. After his death, they’d naturally aligned with Sylvia.
But loyalty, I was learning, was just another word for self-interest.
I started making calls.
By the end of the day, I’d sent formal meeting notices to all seven shareholders.
Most didn’t respond.
But I wasn’t worried in the slightest.