Stella's POV

Three days had passed since I signed that contract with trembling hands and a shattered heart. Three days since I undressed in front of him and, with one last breath of dignity, asked how much he'd pay each time we would do it. Three days of trying to stay sane while keeping up my professional routine, which continued with the same hypocritical formality as always, except now there was an invisible rope pulling me toward him, and another forcing me to resist.

Damian Winter was the most unbearably cold man I had ever met. And the most dangerous. Not because he yelled, or broke things, or lost control. Quite the opposite. He never seemed to lose it. A true robot, as I'd nicknamed him from day one. But even robots have flaws, and ever since I'd put myself at his disposal, or been forced to, he seemed determined to watch me break little by little. These days had been hell, caught between his threats and his not-at-all-subtle attempts to seduce me.

When I say "not subtle,