Chapter 8
Working as the Blackwood brothers’ personal assistant is like being dropped into some alternate reality where professional boundaries are more like gentle suggestions and every interaction feels like foreplay disguised as corporate efficiency.
It’s been three days since my promotion, and I’m losing my goddamn mind.
Nora’s advice about “squeezing my thighs together” is becoming less a joke and more a survival strategy. Each glance, each casual touch sends heat pooling low in my belly and makes me hyperaware of how my body betrays me around them.
But I keep telling myself it’s all in my head. Projection. Wishful thinking from a virgin who’s been reading too much into innocent professional interactions.
Because here’s the thing that makes everything feel twisted and wrong: the auction.
Today is the final day. In a few hours, I’ll know which stranger gets to claim my virginity for the right price. The thought makes my stomach turn violent somersaults.
What if it’s some ancient creep? Some psycho with a collection of restraints and questionable hygiene? Some entitled asshole who thinks purchasing my first time gives him ownership over my entire existence?
These fears make my fantasies about the Blackwood brothers feel dirty. Tainted.
How can I daydream about men like them—successful, gorgeous, powerful enough to have anyone—when I’m literally about to become a commodity for the highest bidder?
I feel unworthy. Damaged goods before the transaction even happens.
So when Finn approaches my desk Friday afternoon with that trademark easy smile, I’m already emotionally maxed out.
“Hey, Jasmine. Asher’s birthday is coming up, and we’re trying to come up with the perfect gift. Any ideas?”
I suggest the usual corporate gift bullshit—expensive whiskey, limited edition vinyl, some artisanal whatever that rich people pretend to care about. But Finn shakes his head thoughtfully.
“Why don’t you come over tonight to brainstorm with Liam and me at his place?”
My heart rate spikes—not just from the invitation, but because tonight is when the auction ends. When I find out who bought me.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m pretty tired,” I try carefully, making excuses that sound weak even to me. “Maybe on Monday?”
“Come on,” Finn persists with that persuasive charm that could probably talk nuns into strip clubs. “It’s Friday, the end of the work week. Might be a good way to spend the evening and get to know each other better. Professionally, of course.”
His smile is warm but insistent, and despite every alarm bell in my head screaming about the auction deadline, his persuasive nature wears down my resistance like water on stone.
Which is how I end up at Liam’s penthouse experiencing what can only be described as “forced ovulation” at the sight of him lounging in grey sweatpants and a tight white t-shirt that showcases every line of his torso.
Casual Liam is a completely different species from CEO Liam Blackwood. Less polished control, more raw masculinity that makes my mouth go dry and panties wet.
“Hey, guys,” he said, his voice more eager than usual. “Come in.”
We settle around his dining table, ostensibly to discuss Asher’s gift.
The conversation flows easily at first, but there’s an undercurrent of tension that makes the air feel electric. Liam keeps biting his bottom lip and watching me with unusual intensity, like he’s fighting some internal battle.
When I offer suggestions for Asher’s gift, Finn dismisses them all with a mischievous smile that sends warning bells clanging in my head.
Every time one of them spoke to me, it felt like they were really seeing me, not just listening.
Finn dismissed every one of my suggestions once again with a mischievous smile. “I think I have the best idea.”
He stood up, pulling his phone from his pocket, and moved around the table toward me. There was something predatory in his grace that made my pulse quicken.
When he reaches my chair, he leans down, caging me in by placing his hands on the table on either side of me, his body radiating heat.
Then he places his phone in front of me, screen up and my blood turns to fucking ice.
Staring back at me is my own face from the Virtue Exchange profile. My carefully crafted catalog entry for auctioning off my virginity to strangers.
I freeze completely. Can’t speak, can’t move, can’t even breathe.
My eyes dart frantically to Liam, who’s watching me with an expression I’ve never seen before—raw, primal hunger barely held in check.
“I was quite shocked,” Finn whispers, his breath warm against my ear, “when I discovered what exactly my employee was browsing during work hours.”
His tone is teasing but not cruel, laced with something that sounds almost like admiration.
“Don’t look so terrified, sweetheart,” he continues, his breath warm against my ear. “We’re not disappointed, believe me.”
He swiped to the bidding page right in front of me, where numbers I could barely comprehend flashed on the screen. My auction had drawn serious attention.
Liam’s voice, rough with barely controlled emotion, joins the conversation. “We’re furious that you felt forced to sell yourself to strangers. But we’re also…” He pauses, eyes burning into mine. “Deeply drawn to you.”
Finn’s hand came up to gently stroke my hair, the touch surprisingly tender.
“All three of us, Jasmine. We’ve been trying to fight it, trying to keep things professional, but seeing this…” He gestures to the phone screen. “We can’t stand the thought of some stranger having what we’ve been craving.”
My carefully constructed walls don’t just crumble—they fucking implode. The humiliation of being discovered wars with desperate longing I’ve been suppressing like it’s a goddamn federal crime.
Their words, their presence, the heat radiating from their bodies—it’s sensory overload in the best and worst possible way.
“You’ve been… craving me?” The words slip out before I can stop them, disbelief making my voice crack like I’m going through puberty again.
Liam leans forward, his restraint hanging by a thread so thin I can practically see it fraying in real time.
“Are you kidding? You walk around that office like you have no idea what you do to us. Those conservative little outfits that somehow make you look more tempting than if you were wearing nothing at all.”
“The way you bite your lip when you’re concentrating,” Finn adds, his thumb tracing my jawline. “The way you blush when we compliment you. The way you try to hide how you react when we get too close…”
My face is on fire. “I don’t—”
“You do.” Finn’s voice is gentle but certain. “You squeeze your thighs together every time one of us gets within two feet of you. You think we haven’t noticed?”
Christ. They’ve been cataloging my body’s betrayals like scientists studying a particularly interesting specimen.
“So what are you saying?” I managed to whisper.
Liam leans forward, his restraint clearly hanging by a thread.
“If you really think you have to sell your body,” he says quietly, eyes never leaving mine, “then let it be to men you can trust. Men who already care about you.”
The room falls silent except for my racing heartbeat and the sound of my entire worldview shifting on its axis.
My mind is reeling with implications—the money I owe, Leo’s terrified face, the threats hanging over our heads like a sword of Damocles. But also this unexpected lifeline from three men who apparently see me as more than a transaction.
“You want to buy me,” I say, testing the words.
“We want to choose you,” Liam corrects. “And you to choose us.”
“All of us want to adore you,” Finn adds, his voice dropping to that register that bypasses my brain entirely. “It’s better to give you something unforgettable rather than let you become a commodity for strangers, isn’t it?”
The brutal honesty hits me like a freight train. These aren’t just my bosses anymore.
“All three of us want you,” Liam says, his control cracking. “We’ve wanted you for weeks. Months, maybe. But we thought you were off-limits. Untouchable. Too good for men like us.”
I almost laugh at the irony. “Too good? I’m literally selling myself on the internet.”
“You’re trying to save your brother,” Finn’s voice cuts through the tension like a blade. “We know about Leo’s debt.”
Of course they know. They’re the Blackwood brothers. They probably know my social security number and my favorite coffee order.
“All three of you, really?” The question escapes before I can filter it.
The temperature in the room spikes about forty degrees.
“If that’s what you want,” Liam says, his control cracking just enough to show the heat underneath. “We’re not exactly opposed to sharing.”
Finn’s grin turns wicked. “Me and my cousins have shared everything since we were kids. Why not the most gorgeous woman we’ve ever met?”
