Chapter 47: Carnal Calibration at 95%
A few hours later after taking a nice cold shower and changung his clothes , Rick sat behind his desk in his top-floor executive office.
Once he had settled, he pressed the intercom.
"Victoria. My office. Now."
Three minutes later the heavy oak doors opened. Victoria stepped in wearing a grey pencil skirt and a crisp white silk blouse, arms folded, expression ice-cold. She clearly expected another round of humiliation.
"What do you want now, Mr Smith?"
Rick however ignored the hostility, picked up his phone, and slid it across the desk.
The video confession began to play.
Victoria’s annoyed expression vanished. She stepped closer, listening in complete silence as Dirk detailed the plot and named Mathew as the culprit behind the plot.
When the video reached the part about Mathew arranging the shipment, Victoria’s expression hardened.
The video ended.
Rick leaned back in his chair, watching her carefully.
For several seconds, Victoria said nothing.
Instead of panic or fear, a slow, dark, thoroughly satisfied smile spread across Victoria’s face.
"That pathetic idiot," she whispered, voice dripping with pure malice. She rested her manicured hands on the edge of the desk and leaned forward slightly. "He finally dug his own grave deep enough for me to bury him."
Rick raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
"You are not upset? It is ou husband we are talking about."
"Upset?" Victoria let out a short, cold laugh, "I have spent nineteen years looking for a clean, concrete reason to strip that useless gambler of every marital asset and throw him into a cell his minister father can’t easily pull him out of. This video is perfect."
She straightened up, ice-blue eyes gleaming with cold calculation.
"With this, I can finally remove him from my life without political interference."
Rick’s smirk widened. He steepled his fingers and looked at her with open enjoyment.
"So the Chairwoman is actually happy about a sabotage attempt on her own hotel?"
Victoria met his gaze without flinching.
"I am happy about leverage. There’s a difference."
Rick chuckled, the sound light and teasing.
"Fair enough. In that case, Chairwoman, it seems we have a shared interest in making sure a certain gambling addict never see the light of day again."
Victoria’s cold smile sharpened.
"For once, Mr. Smith... we are in complete agreement."
Rick leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, still wearing that cheeky, satisfied expression.
She raised one elegant eyebrow.
"Try not to look too pleased when we ruin your husband’s life. It might ruin your ice-queen reputation."
Victoria’s lips twitched, the closest thing to a real smile she had given him in days, before she turned and walked toward the door.
She stopped.
For the first time since entering the office, the cold amusement disappeared from her face.
"Nineteen years," she murmured.
Rick said nothing.
"I spent nineteen years wondering whether I was being too harsh on him."
Her fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the desk.
"I suppose I finally have my answer."
Rick watched her silently.
There was no breakdown.
Just a brief crack in the ice before the familiar cold expression returned.
Rick finally spoke.
"You know, Chairwoman, most people would at least pretend to be heartbroken."
Victoria looked at him.
"Most people haven’t spent nineteen years married to Mathew."
Rick nodded thoughtfully.
"Fair point."
The faint smile returned to Victoria’s lips.
Victoria remained standing in front of Rick’s desk, the video confession still open on the phone between them. The cold satisfaction on her face hadn’t faded. If anything, it had sharpened.
"You need to understand exactly who you’re dealing with," she said, voice steady but carrying a new edge of excitement.
Rick stayed silent, watching her with that same lazy, amused expression. He let her talk.
Victoria stepped around the side of the desk, closer than necessary.
"My husband is a spineless fool who runs crying to his fahter every time he is in a pinch."
"My husband uses his failing construction company and his minister father’s government connections to launder everything."
A soft chime rang inside Rick’s head.
[Ding!]
[Carnal Calibrator – Target: Victoria Vance]
[Current Level: 70%]
[System Note: Target’s arousal has spiked significantly from the mere thought of destroying her husband and seizing full control of her assets. Residual frustration from previous unresolved encounters is amplifying the effect.]
Rick’s eyes flicked over Victoria’s face. The ice-queen mask was still in place, but a faint flush had started creeping up her neck. Her breathing was just a fraction deeper than before.
He leaned back in his chair, smiling.
’Seventy percent already,’ he said lightly, almost to himself, ’And all I did was show her a video of her husband digging his own grave. You are more worked up than you are letting on, Chairwoman.’
"You are enjoying this, aren’t you, Victoria?" Rick twirled in his chair as he looked at Victoria amused.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed, "I don’t know what you are talking about."
"Sure you don’t." Rick’s voice stayed playful, "You are still standing here in my office after all we have been through, talking about fucking up your dear husband, and I can see a faint blush along your cheeks."
"You are feeling hot." Rick grinned as he stood up and leaned forward, his face just inches away from hers.
Victoria’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t back away, looking him in the eyes.
"I will help you dismantle their entire faction from the inside," she said, ignoring his comment. "I can give you their financial records, shipping routes, everything. In return..."
Rick cut her off with a soft laugh, "i know what you want..."
"In return you want something that has nothing to do with business. You have been thinking about it since the day you sat on my sofa, but you could not get what you have wanted for nineteen years... Admit it."
Rick then walked around the table, closing the small distance between them as he stood next to her. He didn’t touch her yet. He just looked down at her with open amusement as he whispered into her ears.
"A little bird has told me that you are already rubbing your thighs together, barely holding yourself together."
"Let’s see how long you can hold it together."
He reached out and lightly brushed a single finger along the outside of her hip, just over the fabric of her pencil skirt.
"You spent nineteen years married to a loser who couldn’t satisfy you."
"Now you are in my office, offering me your husband’s head on a plate."
"And the only thing you can think about is how good it would feel if I finally finished what I started the other night."
Victoria’s breath hitched. The flush on her neck deepened.
[Ding!]
[Carnal Calibrator – Target: Victoria Vance]
[Current Level: 82%]
Rick’s smile widened.
"There it is," Rick blew his warm breath against her cheeks, "You are getting honest with yourself."
He stepped even closer, voice dropping into a soft, teasing murmur right beside her ear.
"I could bend you over this desk right now."
"Lift that tight little skirt around your waist."
"Make you moan so loud the entire executive floor hears the Ice Queen begging. "
Would you like that, Chairwoman? After all those years of being untouched and perfect?"
Victoria’s hands had curled into fists at her sides. Her ice-blue eyes were no longer cold. They were hazy and hungry.
[Ding!]
[Carnal Calibrator – Target: Victoria Vance]
[Current Level: 95%]
Rick finally placed both hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him.
"Yes!" He whispered, clearly enjoying every second. "That’s more like it."
"Say what you want me to do."
Victoria’s professional mask cracked completely. She looked up at him with pure, frustrated need.
"I want you to wreck me," she said, voice low and shameless.
"I want you to ruin me so thoroughly that I forget that pathetic loser even exists."
Rick chuckled, the sound warm and thoroughly entertained.
"Such a demanding Chairwoman."
He grabbed the hem of her tight grey pencil skirt and pushed it up in one smooth motion until it bunched around her waist. The expensive black lace underneath was already visibly soaked. Victoria made a small, broken sound when the cold air touched her.
Rick hooked his fingers into the lace and tore it aside with a sharp rip. Victoria gasped, hips jerking forward instinctively.
"Look at you," Rick murmured, still teasing even now.
"Soaked just from talking about destroying your husband’s life and getting fucked in an office."
He pressed two fingers against the soaked lace and rubbed slow, deliberate circles over her clit.
Victoria’s hips twitched hard and a shaky moan slipped out of her throat, "Rick... Ah..."
He kept rubbing for a few more seconds, watching her face fall apart, then drew his hand back and delivered a sharp, open-handed slap across her bare ass.
Smack!
Victoria cried out, the sound half-moan, half-shocked gasp. Her whole body jolted forward against him, "Oh Yes!"
[Ding!]
[Carnal Calibrator – Target: Victoria Vance]
[Current Level: 100% (MAX)]
Rick’s grin turned pure mischief.
"One hundred," he said cheerfully, giving the reddening cheek one more light squeeze, "Perfect score. Looks like the Chairwoman really likes being slapped while she’s dripping."
"You are lucky I find that extremely attractive."
** ** ** ** **