Chapter 50

Harper's POV

His thumb moves slowly across the curve where my shoulder meets my collarbone, circling with a quiet, deliberate rhythm as he keeps talking like nothing is wrong.

“I manage two teams. Thirty accounts. Give or take.” His hand drifts lower, following the dip of my neckline, and I sit stiffly, frozen in place. “There’s satisfaction in numbers. People are so easy to read once you understand what they want. Most chase the illusion of fairness. But the ones who actually succeed? They learn how to control the game.”

I murmur something polite and vague, though I couldn’t repeat it if I tried.

My focus has narrowed to the slow progression of his fingers, now gliding just above the fabric of my dress, stroking the top of my chest with the kind of casual ownership that makes my skin crawl. The tips of his fingers