Page 104 of Gilded Locks

“Of course.” Jordan settled back in his chair, already warming to his favorite subject—himself. “Success isn’t about waiting for permission. It’s about recognizing that most people are sheep, and sheep need shepherds. Men like us. The world will be inherited by those bold enough to take it. You have to go after whatever it is you want—at any cost.”

“And what do you want, Mr. Calder?” Hunter asked with lethal calm.

“Excellence. In everything.” Jordan’s eyes gleamed with fervor. “Most people settle for mediocrity because they’re afraid to reach for greatness. They make excuses, follow rules that don’t apply to superior individuals. But true alphas? We create our own rules.” He smirked at the three of them. “You guys get that. I’ve seen your little torture chamber downstairs.”

Stone noticeably stiffened. “No one is tortured under our watch, Mr. Calder.”

“Sure.” Jordan laughed condescendingly.

Ash cleared his throat and leaned forward, setting a thickly muscled forearm on the table. “Before moving on, it’s crucial that you understand how serious we are about our rules. Everything that happens under our roof and on the premises of The Preserve is one hundred percent consensual. We bring fantasies to life, not nightmares.”

Her brother laughed, as if hearing an inside joke. “Until one of those sweet cherries want to get taken against their will, am I right?”

Hunter’s shoulders shifted with each breath. He looked ready to snap like the pencil he just crushed in his grip. “Excuse me.” He pulled out his phone. “I need to take this.”

Marigold watched the brothers exchange subtle glances as Hunter took his leave. Was this part of the plan, or was he truly that disturbed that he needed to exit the meeting room before snapping Jordan’s neck?

Her brother was giving them everything they needed—his arrogance, his belief in his own superiority, his conviction that normal moral boundaries didn’t apply to him.

“Fascinating perspective,” Stone said, drawing the attention back to Jordan. “You sound like someone who has experience leading, what did you call them? Sheep?”

“You know the type. Delicate, young, big-eyed waifs looking for an experienced Daddy to fix their issues and give them the long-overdue spanking they need.”

Tell me,” Ash said through clenched teeth. “How does one identify these…sheep who need shepherding?”

“Experience.” Jordan’s smile was sharp with cruel amusement. “You learn to read people. Their weaknesses, their desires, their pressure points. Most people desperately want to be led, even if they don’t admit it. They crave someone strong enough to make decisions for them.”

“And if they resist this... guidance?”

“Then you teach them.” Jordan’s voice dropped to something that made Marigold’s skin crawl. “Everyone’s got triggers. Vulnerabilities. The key is getting your finger on the gauge at just the right moment and then applying a little pressure.”

“Such as?”

“Depends on the individual.” Jordan was fully in lecture mode now, drunk on his own perceived brilliance. “Fear works well with most people. But sometimes you need something more... personal. Something that breaks down their defenses entirely.”

The room had gone very quiet. Even Jordan’s own team looked uncomfortable with the direction of his monologue.

“Like what?” Ash pressed.

“Shame.” Jordan’s smile was winter-cold. “Public humiliation. The threat of losing everything they think defines them. And for women...” He paused, his reptilian smirk slithering across his face as he grinned through beady eyes. “Well, women are different. They respond better to intimate pressures, if you know what I mean.”

“I’m afraid I don’t.” Stone’s voice had gone dangerously quiet.

“Physical vulnerability,” Jordan said simply. “Once a woman understands that she’s completely powerless, that no one will hear her scream, that her choices have been taken away, she becomes remarkably compliant.”

The words hung in the air like a death sentence. Jordan had just confessed to sexual assault in a room full of witnesses, and he was smiling about it.

“Interesting,” Ash murmured. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“Life experience,” Jordan corrected smoothly. “I understand human nature. Most men are too weak to do what’s necessary, too woke to acknowledge the beast within. If nature wanted men to be subservient, they would have made them the weaker sex. There’s a reason females are so breakable. I do what I gotta do, and I don’t get squeamish about it.”

Marigold, like everyone else in that room, stopped breathing. The silence was deafening. How could anyone admit something so monstrous?

The door to the security room opened and Marigold flinched, startled by Hunter’s intrusion.

“Sir?”

Hunter held out a staying hand. “Everything’s fine,” he said to Cole, then turned his gaze to Marigold.