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I stood there for a moment, breathing hard, trying to let the adrenaline settle. It wasn’t over yet.

I walked to the chair by the window and sat down, my hands steepled in front of me as I waited. Sloane would show up soon, and she wouldn’t be expecting me. She wouldn’t want to see me, but I didn’t care. She needed to know that this was the line in the sand. When I’d said no one else…I’d meant it.

* * *

SLOANE

The hotel was immaculate, as usual. High-end hotels always had a certain coldness to them, everything too perfect, too sterile. I paused just outside the door, smoothing down my dress as I mentally prepared myself for the night ahead. I was used to this by now, the careful masks I had to wear depending on the client. Tonight was no different—I knew exactly who I was meeting and how to play my part.

So why did everything feel…wrong?

I used the key to open the door.

The silence hung heavy in the air, thicker than usual. Jared wasn’t in the living room…but that wasn’t a surprise. He tended to be…more eager than some of the others. I strode across the room, a part of me—like always—wishing that the intricately carved ceiling would cave in and stop all this before it began.

Pasting on a smile, I walked through the entryway?—

Logan.

He was sitting in a chair in the corner, one leg casually draped over the other, his hands folded in his lap. The dim light caught on the sharp angles of his gorgeous face, highlighting the calm, deliberate intensity in his expression. He didn’t move, didn’t say a word. He just stared, his eyes fixed on me like a predator assessing its prey.

My pulse spiked, embarrassment and adrenaline flooding my insides. “What are you doing here?” I managed to ask, my voice tighter than I wanted it to be.

“Waiting for you,” he answered coolly.

I glanced over my shoulder at the entry, tension beading down my spine as I imagined the door opening, and Jared seeing Logan in the room. The congressman was going to be here any minute. Logan couldn’t be here. “You need to leave. Right now.” My voice was frantic and pleading.

He didn’t move from the chair.

His posture was deceptively relaxed, but the intensity in his gaze belied the casual way he sat. “There’s no hurry,” he said, his voice low, almost soothing. “Congressman Stroople isn’t going to be joining you today.”

My stomach churned, and the air in the room seemed to thicken. How had he found out? “What do you mean?” I whispered, my gaze darting away from him in embarrassment. It wasn’t a secret that Jared held himself out to be a devoted family man. It was a secret, however, that he enjoyed escorts on a regular basis…me being one of them.

Logan tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “I mean, he had other…matters come up. You won’t be seeing him tonight. Or any other night.”

Anxiety surged through me, overriding the tension that had gripped me moments before. “How did you?—”

“We had a deal, Sloane,” Logan interrupted, his voice sharp now, cutting through the room like a blade. “No other man was going to touch you again.”

I let out a bitter laugh, the sound harsh even to my own ears. “That’s not the reality of my life, Logan,” I shot back. “It’s not even an agreement I can make. Obviously, you weren’t paying enough if I was sent here.”

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, the room was silent except for the steady thrum of my pulse pounding in my ears. Then, slowly, he stood, the chair creaking slightly as he pushed himself up. He moved toward me with deliberate steps, each one making the space between us feel smaller and smaller. My breath hitched, but I couldn’t seem to make my feet move.

“You don’t have a choice?” he asked, his tone deceptively calm. “Well then, I’ll just be taking over from now on. This…” His hand gestured vaguely, encompassing the room, the situation, my entire life. “Isn’t going to happen anymore.”

“It’s not up to you!” I snapped, my voice rising despite the tremor in it. “You’re a fool if you think you can walk in here and?—”

Before I could finish, he grabbed my wrist—firmly enough that I couldn’t pull away. In one swift motion, he was sitting on the bench against the bed and pulling me down across his lap. My heart jumped to my throat as I realized what he was doing.

“Logan, don’t you dare?—”

The first swat landed on the curve of my ass, hard enough to sting but not enough to hurt. My breath hitched, and my hands scrambled against the fabric of his pants as I tried to push myself up, but his arm pinned me in place.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snarled, my voice muffled as my hair fell across my face.

“Teaching you a lesson,” he said, his tone maddeningly calm. Another smack followed, sharper this time, and I felt the heat rise in my skin. “Next time you get an…assignment. You will let me know, and I will take care of it.”

“You’ll take care of it?” I spat, twisting against his hold. “You’re insane?—”