Chapter 10

• Joaquin’s POV
• I was enjoying this entirely too much. Watching Roxanne Aduello bare her teeth and spit venom was like watching a cornered lioness. The aristocratic heiress the world thought they knew was completely gone, replaced by a fierce, foul-mouthed survivor who refused to bow. Every time she glared at me, every time she hurled an insult, a dark, twisted sense of satisfaction coiled in my gut. I loved pulling a reaction out of her. I loved finding the exact pressure points that made her mask crack.
• When I told her to strip, it was a test. A calculated move to assert dominance, to remind her of the reality of her situation, and to see if she would finally break and ask for mercy. I fully expected her to freeze. I expected her to cross her arms, hurl another string of curses, and storm out of my study. I did not expect her fingers to go to the buttons of her silk blouse.