IT WAS WAY PAST HER time and she wasn't here yet.

Ethan checked his watch impatiently before deciding to finally get out of his office.

He walked the length of the corridor and a few Doms that littered the corridor greeted him.

But it was mostly quiet. Everyone was in their rooms, busy with their subs.

He was at the other end of the corridor when he spotted a figure running up the stairs. Amelia.

Someone came after her and said something that made her stop and turn around.

Ethan walked towards her and he recognized the figure halfway through.

Dylan.

Ethan's pace increased. He was going to make sure this guy regretted ever crossing paths with Ethan.

He could hear snippets of conversation by now but none of them had seen him yet.

"I... well, that's really nice of you but I can't. I'm sorry." She was saying.

"You can at least try, right? It won't do you any harm."

Dylan saw him first. A flicker of absolute hatred crossed his features.

"Come on. Let's talk somewhere else," Ethan heard him say before he grabbed Amelia by the arm and tried to drag her away.

A pained yelp left her lips and Ethan broke into a run.

"There's nothing to talk about," she gritted out, shoving him back.

Surprisingly, he stumbled backwards, freeing her arm.

She took a step back and bumped into Ethan. His arms shot out and he grabbed her around the shoulders to steady her.

She turned around and wide blue eyes stared at him.

A spot of red spreading readily against the blue of her sleeve caught his eye.

Ethan's brain stopped working. That red spot was the only thing he could see even as he turned towards Dylan.

He opened his mouth to say something but Ethan's fist connected with his face before words could properly form. A satisfying crunch of breaking bones followed.

Ethan grabbed him by his collar and lifted him off his feet, pulling him off the stairs and into the corridor before he slammed him against the wall.

Amelia was screaming. Doors were opening. There was a crowd gathering around them but everything sounded muffled to Ethan. There was a frantic ringing in his ears.

"I told you," Ethan growled. Another punch. "To not show your face around here ever again."

Dylan had gone unconscious. Ethan raised his fist again but someone held onto it, stopping him midway.

Another pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back.

He struggled against the grip. He could fight them. He was stronger than both of them combined, whoever they were.

But then someone touched his arm and he felt electric currents within him. The touch moved down to his closed fist, urgent and panicked, and he relaxed, his fingers uncurling.

The ringing in his ears subsided.

He saw another man pulling a bloody Dylan off the ground. Xaden was yelling at him. Dahlia was there as well, demanding an explanation.

He shrugged both of them off.

"I don't want to see him around anymore or else I'll kill him," he said to them before he grabbed Amelia's hand and dragged her away from the scuffle and into his playroom.

He locked the door behind them.

"Take off your shirt and come here," he ordered, not waiting to see whether she was following.

He pushed open the bathroom door and reached for the cabinet over the sink.

The first aid kit wasn't there.

"Fuck." He muttered.

He yanked open the mostly empty drawers in a panic that was foreign to him. Ethan was usually a very composed person.

He finally found the box in one of the bottom drawers.

He turned around with the box in his hand to see her staring at him with a hard look on her face.

"I told you to take off your shirt," he gritted out.

Couldn't she see how badly she was bleeding?

"First you tell me what that was?"

"What?"

"That show you put outside."

"He wasn't supposed to be here. I had already warned him once."

"Ethan," she sighed exasperatedly.

Ethan found himself wondering if he'd ever heard anything more beautiful.

"That doesn't mean you'll go ahead and beat him bloody."

He opened the first aid kit and pulled out the dressing scissors before closing it back again and placing it at the edge of the huge, circular bath tub filled to the brim.

"Amelia, listen to me," he said, taking a step towards her.

She took one back. Her eyes flitted towards the scissors in his hand.

"I'm not a patient man. Never was. I expect things to be done exactly when and how I ask them to be done," he closed the distance between them, trapping her against the wall.

"You know about heartless fucks more than I do. You encounter them daily. I'm one of those monsters. I'll go to any length to get what I want and if anything stands in my way, I'll destroy it," he touched the scissors against the side of her neck.

She shivered against him.

He pressed the metal a little more sharply, enough to leave a bruise. A startled gasp escaped her lips.

Ethan dragged the scissors down, tracing her collar bone with it before running it down the length of her arm in a slow, painful way.

He released the pressure when he noticed the patch of blood.

"That is the kind of person I am. That's the kind of person you signed up to be with. And you don't get to interfere in my affairs or question me. The only thing you can do is what I ask you to do. Am I clear?"

He grabbed the edge of her sleeve and cut it in half with the scissors, dragging it upward until he reached the bandaged and bleeding part of her upper arm.

"Yes, sir," she breathed out.

"You can call me Ethan when there's no scene going on."

Pathetic, really. He gave the craziest speech only to become a bumbling idiot just because he wanted to hear her say his name again.

He carefully cut the now red bandage, unwrapping it from around her arm. He threw it in the bin nearby.

"Sit down." He said, pointing to the edge of the bathtub.

He sat opposite her, the first aid kit resting on his lap.

He uncapped the antiseptic and poured it onto a cotton ball.

He scooted closer. He could have just pulled her onto his lap.

He dismissed the thought. Taking care of her was intimate enough. He had never done that before.

She gripped Ethan's arm as soon as he touched the cotton to the disgusting looking wound.

"What?" He demanded.

"It's going to hurt," she whispered, eyes clenched closed.

"Getting stabbed was all good and casual but this is going to hurt?"

"There was a lot of adrenaline rush back then. And then pain killers. I don't have that right now."

"Open your eyes," he ordered and her eyes flew open, the blue so pure and bright.

"Do you trust me, Amelia?"

"You are my Dom. This can't really work if I don't trust you."

"Okay. That's good."

It left a fluttery feeling in his stomach.

He didn't allow himself to dwell on it before he grabbed her by the back of the neck and pushed her head underwater.

That was what the huge bath tubs were for. Underwater breath play.

Her gasp turned into a gurgle as she struggled against his grip, the water splashing out of the tub.

Her movements were frantic, arms flailing around wildly.

He held onto the rest of her body to ensure she didn't fall in entirely.

He would have held her in a little longer but he wasn't sure if she was aware of the correct way of using her safeword while unable to speak.

He let her go and she sprang back, gasping and spluttering.

She looked at him with wide, panicked eyes, rubbing her palms over her face, trying to regain her breath.

He grabbed her arm and used the cotton to clean the infected area.

"What was... What the hell was that?" She gasped.

"Adrenaline rush," he shrugged.

She paused, only now realizing that he was almost done with the scary part.

"Not sure about the adrenaline part but that sure freaking turned me on."

Ethan laughed and she stilled, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

Fuck.

He quickly wiped the remnants of the smile from his face but she was smiling now, a small almost unnoticeable smile and it stayed with her for a long time.

He pulled out the new bandage and wrapped it around her arm.

"So, we're not short of resources anymore at work," she said out of nowhere.

He kept his face blank. "That's nice."

"It is, isn't it? We can afford backups for every case now."

Ethan nodded in response, busying himself with securing the bandage in place.

"The timing is very amazing, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking up at her to find her staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"That I told you everything a day ago and now today we suddenly have all the money in the world."

"What are you trying to say, Amelia?"

"That I know you did it."

"What?"

"I know you're the one who gave them the money?"

"Oh, really? And what reason would I have to do that?"

"That is something I'm still trying to figure out."

Ethan rolled his eyes.

"It could have been anyone else."

"But the timing is too elaborate for it to be anyone else."

"That is all you have to support your hunch?"

"Actually, no. I sneaked a look at the account the money was transferred from."

"Is that even allowed?"

"It's not. But I'm very loved. And I asked nicely."

Ethan hid his smile by turning around, his back to her as he placed the first aid kit back in the drawer.

"Did the account had my name on it?"

She sighed dramatically. "No. It was some 'anonymous.' But come on, Ethan. You look like the kind of person who would transfer millions of dollars with the name 'anonymous.'"

"If I did wanted to help them, which I definitely didn't, why wouldn't I just use my own name?"

"Because you want the world to believe you're a heartless monster, as you said to me earlier. And helping out those poor kids would go against that statement."

Ethan rolled his eyes again.

"That is an absolutely crazy theory."

"I can prove it."

"How?"

"I can find out where and from whom that money came from."

"You're saying you can hack into the system?"

She shrugged. This woman kept surprising him at every turn.

"Now, that is definitely not allowed."

She shrugged once again.

"You said you always get what you want. Well, I also find ways to get exactly what I want."

That was so fucking hot.

Also, he was very well aware of that. He, himself, was the live example of that. She had said she wanted him and she had gotten him.

She had gotten him in more ways than one. Ethan was starting to realize that gradually.

A/N: I don't generally like exceeding my word count but this chapter was totally worth it. Also don't worry, smut chappie is coming. I'm not robbing y'all.