Benton heard some sort of a shuffle, the bed beneath him dipping slightly as he rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. His sleep was usually short and light, but he felt like he'd slept like a baby, the morning sun peeking in through the window blinds in the bedroom. Usually when Benton woke up it was still dark outside. He propped himself up on his elbow, running a hand through his messy hair.

"Yeah, okay, I got it." Stevie grumbled into the phone, her blonde hair tangled and wild as she rested the back of her head against her pillow, rolling her eyes at whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Yes, I'll pick you up. Okay, yeah, yeah I know. I won't forget." Stevie glanced over at Benton and gave him a small smile, the realization settling deeply in his gut that he'd just had sex with a woman outside of the The Den for the first time in four years. And he'd actually stayed the night. He didn't know whether to feel relief or anxiety, but he didn't have the time to think through it any further when Stevie hung up the phone.

"Sorry, my older sister. She seems to think that everyone is an early bird." Stevie's voice was raspy with sleep, the sound already sending blood to Benton's dick and he wasn't even touching her. He cleared his throat, looking around for his own phone.

"The bridezilla who just got married?" Benton raised an eyebrow at her, remembering how fearful she'd been the first time they'd met of missing her sister's wedding, even while in the face of some serious legal charges.

"The one and only!"

"What time is it anyway?"

"8:30 something--"

"8:30! Fucking Christ." Benton leapt out of bed, hastily pulling on his clothes. Stevie sat up, laughter bubbling from her lips at seeing the impeccably poised Benton West totally disarmed.

"This is not funny, Stevie." Benton glowered at her as he fumbled with the buckle of his belt.

"It's a little funny." Stevie dropped her feet onto the ground, stretching lazily.

"You have a job to be at too, you know." Benton raised his eyebrows at her as he did up his cufflinks, his hair still all over the place.

"True," Stevie sauntered over to him, her body still fully naked, "but I already have two remixed hits with over a billion streams so I'm pretty sure my boss might give me a pass for being a little late into the office today, don't you think?" Stevie reached up to lace her arms around Benton's neck, but he grabbed her forearms, stopping her.

"What?"

"Let me see your wrists." Stevie rolled her eyes but let Benton carefully turn each hand over, examining the bruises and torn skin. It wasn't terrible but it certainly was more damage than he usually aimed for at The Den.

"Benton, I'm fine. I liked it. Stop worrying. Stress will kill you, you know." Stevie pulled out his grasp, crossing her arms over her bare chest.

"If stress was going to be my cause of death, I would've died a long time ago." Benton grabbed his coat, draping it elegantly over his shoulders and strong arms. He reached inside the breast pocket, cursing when he pulled out his phone.

"Jesus, Mary has called me at least eight times." Benton started typing away on his phone, already having missed several meetings this morning. 8:30 AM was practically noon by his work standards.

"Uh, Benton?" Stevie's voice shifted from confident to nervous and even though Benton already needed to leave this place hours ago, something about her tone had him staying put.

"What?"

"It's Mary."

"What about her?"

"She...well, she's the one who told me. About your ex fiancé...although she seemed to think it was still, you know, current. She was, um, pretty upset about it."

"Fuck." Benton dragged his hand through his hair and before he knew what was happening, Stevie's naked body was fully flush against his clothes. She stood on her tiptoes and brushed his wayward hair back into place, her eyes focused on the task.

"Stevie..."

"Yes sir?" Stevie's tone was teasing, but the fact that she'd called him 'sir' had his dick going rock hard. He pressed her lower back closer into him so that she could feel it. Feel what she did to him.

"Don't say anything else out of that sexy mouth of yours or you'll make me really late. Understand?" Stevie smirked but didn't say anything, nodding her head obediently. Benton stepped away, buttoning his jacket, forcing himself to not tie Stevie back to the bed again within the next thirty seconds.

"I'll deal with Mary." He looked at Stevie, his eyes softening slightly, "I'll call you." Stevie just nodded, her eyes lit up with electricity, her smirk teasing. Benton turned and headed out the front door, wondering what in the fuck he'd just gotten himself into. Whatever it was, it was far from over.

***

Two extra strong cortados and six apologetic phone calls later, Benton was finally caught up with work. The chaos of the morning had been a decent distraction, keeping his mind off of Stevie and off of all the rules he'd broken and the lines he'd crossed. He didn't know what she expected to happen next. He wanted to be able to read inside that wild, creative, electric mind of hers and know what she was thinking. Did she just want to keep having sex? No ties, no emotions, just fucking? Normally Benton would revel at that idea. The idea of having found the perfect woman for his sexual needs who got just as much gratification from their encounters as he did. It was what he'd been searching for all these years at The Den. And now he had it. He really fucking had it, and yet, it wasn't enough. When it came to Stevie, the sex, the control, the restraints...they were everything and yet not enough. Benton let out a small groan as he battled with himself, a tentative knock on his office door disrupting his thoughts.

"Come in."

Mary entered slowly, closing the door quietly behind her. She looked more distraught than normal, dark circles under her plain eyes, a paleness to her cheeks. Despite what people thought about Benton's reputation as The Devil, he had never enjoyed firing people. It didn't bring him any joy. But as a man who was uniquely apt at separating emotion from fact, instinct from logic, he also didn't lose sleep at night over it. Mary had clearly crossed a line, venturing too far into his personal life. Whatever her reasons were, it didn't matter. Benton needed his core team to run his life while still maintaining a respectable distance from it.

"You asked to see me?" Mary's voice was pitchy and Benton cursed under his breath, worried that she'd start crying and he'd be more clueless than a baby in an algebra class. Benton could handle a lot of situations. But a crying woman? That rendered him useless.

"I did. Listen, Mary," Benton cleared his throat, resting his hands on his desk, "you've been working for me for the past two years. Your attention to detail is impressive, as are your communication skills. I find your work admirable and of high quality." Mary shifted in her seat, something like surprise and admiration coming to her eyes. Benton cursed in his head before he continued, "however, I do have some concerns about your ability to separate your professional duties from your...personal interests." Mary lurched forward, her mouth popping open but Benton silenced her with his hand. "Effective immediately you are terminated. I no longer see this arrangement as a suitable fit for my professional needs. That being said, rest assured I am happy to write you any letter of recommendation for a similar role—"

"You can't!" Mary stood up, her eyes going wild as her pale cheeks flushed in surprise and anger. "I can't...I can't breathe without," Mary clutched her chest, angry tears springing at the corner of her eyes, "are you really so cold, Mr. West? Are you really and truly that blind to human emotion that you can't see I'm in love with you? That every day for the past two years I wake up and get dressed and work my ass off just for the slight chance that you'll notice me?" Her voice had risen several levels and Benton stood from his chair.

"Mary, collect your things. Please leave."

"You know what?" Mary practically spat at him, the usually shy, reserved woman he thought he knew turning into a jealous, errant creature before his eyes. "Someday you're going to find someone you want. Someone you can't stop thinking about. Someone you'd do anything to have." She snarled, her usually plain face turning more sinister, "and they're not going to want you. You'll be rejected. You really are the devil." Mary spun on her heel, throwing open the office door and making an unnecessary ruckus as she opened and slammed her desk drawers, throwing random items into her oversized purse.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Cortland emerged from his office next to Benton's, taking in the scene of Mary huffing around her desk until she finally left for the elevator bays, flipping Benton her middle finger.

"Benton don't tell me you screwed her—"

"God, no. Jesus, Cortland." Benton ran his hand along the edge of his hair, the routine movement reminding him of Stevie and the way she'd done just the same this morning. Mary was immature and unpredictable, clearly not the kind of person he wanted or needed as his personal assistant. But still, her words lingered with him. And he hated the ominous feeling that she may be right. And he may have already met the one who would break him.

"Well, that's a relief. I gotta say, Benton, you're the only head honcho I've ever had that doesn't fuck the staff. Half of my career has been dealing with those kinds of settlements." Cortland laughed, his round stomach jiggling. "Let me know if you need a restraining order or anything, happy to draft one up." Benton nodded dully as Cortland's comment rang back and forth in his head. The only head honcho that doesn't fuck the staff. Except he had. And like hell if anything on this Earth could keep him from doing it again.