Nicholas arched an eyebrow. "Naturally. Money is no object."
Serena smirked. "As long as the cash clears, I'm at your disposal."
Nicholas shifted his gaze back to the Biometric Monitoring Display, his long fingers gently stroking the curve of her waist.
They were standing flush against each other.
Even though Serena had doused herself in medicinal scents to mask her true identity for The Panacea persona...
Nicholas could still catch that faint, intoxicating fragrance that belonged only to her. Just the scent of her was enough to darken his eyes and make his heart pound.
Yet, on the outside, he maintained his facade of icy, aristocratic indifference. "In that case... you'll have to prove to me that you're worth the investment, Miss Panacea." His words only made Serena's smile more dangerously seductive.
She could hear the edge in his voice.
The man was definitely furious with her.
Furious that she sneaked onto the ship alone, furious she hadn't told him.
But wasn't he exactly the same?
He had boarded Project Zero-Transit under this absurd Sterling Sovereign alias without saying a word to her, either!
And this alias...
When exactly had he built this empire?
The Sterling Sovereign was rumored to be the absolute apex predator of the global dark web, controlling not just unimaginable wealth, but the entire underground supply chain.
Serena knew he wasn't just wearing a stolen identity.
To board with that clearance, his financials and background would have been vetted through layers of impenetrable security.
This manipulative bastard...
He really knew how to hide his fangs.
Serena's smile grew even more radiant, as if the ten million in her bank account had completely won her over.
She reached out, trailing her slender, pale fingers down the center of his chest.
The harsh, surgical lighting cast sharp shadows over her pale features, making her look exactly like a deranged, psychopathic doctor freshly crawled out of an underground black market.
The simple gesture was genuinely terrifying.
Both the armed guards and Director Kaelen flinched.
She was just dragging a finger down his shirt.
But in their panicked minds, they hallucinated her plunging a scalpel straight into his heart.
Her unhinged energy was horrifyingly palpable!
Serena merely maintained her wicked smile. "How exactly would you like me to prove my worth, sir?"
"Are we treating an illness, or saving a life?"
She tilted her head, her smile turning vicious as the finger on his chest slowly
hooked the edge of a button.
With a deliberate flick.
The button popped open.
Without a shred of hesitation, she slid her fingers beneath the silk fabric, grazing his bare skin.
She traced lazy circles over his chest, utterly brazen. "Or... would you like me to give you a thorough physical right here, right now?"
Director Kaelen swallowed hard.
The security detail was completely paralyzed.
This woman really had no fear. She would flirt with the devil himself.
This was The Sterling Sovereign, the absolute ruler of the merchant quarter!
And yet, the billionaire was just
vel
letting her do it, standing there taking her wild, inappropriate
advances without a single word of
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The guards were practically dripping with cold sweat.
Nicholas stared down at the girl with a stranger's face. Yet the electric jolt of her fingertips against his skin was agonizingly familiar.
So familiar that with just a single touch...
Every muscle in his body pulled taut.
One touch was all it took.
His defenses crumbled entirely.
If they weren't standing in the middle of Project Zero-Transit, surrounded by hostiles.
He truly, desperately wanted to grab
this reckless deceitful little liar drag
her against him, and teach her a
lesson she would never forget.