Page 34 of Hunter

“Respect has to be earned, and you have proven to be a spineless asshole, so fuck off and get to the point.”

“One of these days…” A chill raced down her spine at the dark promise in his voice. “For now, I want to know if you made progress. Has Hunter Sutton come forward yet?”

“No, and to be honest, I don’t believe he ever will. The man is anal about keeping his identity private, even though he is one of the richest men in the States and owns a global Blue-Chip company. Why would he expose himself to a group of trainees?”

“You’re right. I suppose I’ve underestimated the man. Never mind, there’s no time to keep playing the cat-and-mouse game. I know who Hunter Sutton is.”

“You know?” Lilith’s eyes narrowed. “Then why the fuck am I wasting my time at a BDSM training academy attempting to find out who he is?”

“Because if you just approach him out of the blue, he would be instantly suspicious. Sutton doesn’t trust people easily.”

“Who is he?”

“Why, my dear, I would’ve thought you’re clever enough to put two and two together. Hutton Sutton is none other than your edging king of parade night… Master Crow.”

“No! You’re lying.” Lilith sank to the floor. Somehow, not knowing Master Crow’s true identity had made him more attainable. Now, the feelings that had slowly been unfurling inside her seemed to shrivel a slow death.

“I have no reason to lie, Lilith, especially since I’m the one who wants the man to suffer.”

“How do you know him?”

“It doesn’t matter, but now that you do, get your ass in gear, and seduce the bastard. The sooner you get inside his head, the quicker we can part ways.

“Believe me, that day can’t arrive soon enough.” Lilith ended the call.

With one phone call Rocco had destroyed the dreams she had started to have of a romance between her and Master Crow. She knew the chemistry between them was real, and the emotional connection was intense, which she believed he felt as well.

“Now, it’s all gone to hell. I have to choose. Do what Rocco says and help Gustav in the process, or lose the man I believe I’m falling in love with?”

Chapter Fourteen

Hunter

Club Sensations, Seattle, WA…

Three hours after he had indulged in touching Lillian again. Three hours and he couldn’t get the taste of her from his mind. To be this attracted to someone who was underhanded and blatantly lying to him didn’t sit well with Hunter. He’d mistaken greed for love once. He had no intention of doing it again.

Over the years, he had indulged in only two Dom/sub relationships, neither of which was of a serious nature. Once, fifteen years ago, he believed himself to be in love and proposed to a woman, Hailey Whittaker—two years older than him but a woman who he could see himself grow old with.

Hailey, unfortunately, only had her eyes on his bank account and used his status in business as a steppingstone to get noticed among the rich and famous. Hunter had made a breakthrough while he was studying towards his computer engineering degree that had catapulted him from being a broke student to a multimillionaire. By the time he was twenty-five, he was a billionaire. It was in those early years he learned money destroyed loyalty and raised expectations of grandeur by those who called themselves friends. That was when he decided to keep a low profile and keep his identity out of the tabloids. Today, only those who honored his wishes were called friends and knew he was the esteemed owner of Ground Zero Software Engineering Solutions.

The day he caught Hailey with a reporter, sharing his life story and a myriad of photos of the two of them together, he realized she had no respect for him or his desire to stay out of the limelight. Love didn’t feature in Hailey’s vocabulary. Only money and being envied did. Hunter had no intention of providing either. The reporter was paid off and the promise of never working ever again, ending up destitute and on the streets was enough to entice him to hand all the material to Hunter before leaving Seattle. Last he heard, he worked for a small-time newspaper in Australia.

Hunter destroyed every picture Hailey had of them, and since he had the skills, not one remained in the virtual world either. He handed her five million dollars to get her out of his life and walked away. She, of course, sprinted through the money in no time but managed to snatch up a much older man who didn’t care that she didn’t love him. To each his own, Hunter always said. He grimaced.

Hailey, in the end, got what she deserved. She might have married a man with a bank account that had no boundaries, but her husband was an Arab and a couple of months after their marriage, he forced her to move to Saudi Arabia. The glitz and glamor of Los Angeles didn’t happen for Hailey, but at least she was the queen of her own castle in the desert, raising a brood of four children the Sheik demanded they have.

In Hunter’s opinion, justice had been served.

“Hey, Hunter, I heard you were looking for me.”

He looked up and smiled at the tall, red-haired man walking into his office.

“Hi Garth. Take a seat. I won’t take up much of your time.”

“What’s up?”

“The man you brought with you as a guest on parade night, who—”

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