Chapters 2, 3 and the first part of 4 (where you see the second $GREED$ marker) are all part of a flashback. At the second $GREED$ marker, we start with present day and continue that way for the rest of the story.


$GREED$

Isabella continued to see Edward twice a week to bring his school work by. She wouldn't stay long, but ever since their dinner that night in August, there was an unspoken camaraderie that gave each of them some contentment. They'd commiserate on the workload, compare answers on take-home tests. Their relationship, as it stood, just . . . worked.

And though she found some level of comfort in that darkened doorway, her need for acquiring the most knowledge, the most attention, the most wealth . . . the most power never waned. It seemed to be a thirst she couldn't ever completely quench.

Later that fall semester, Isabella found herself knocking on her Finance professor's office door. Sickened when she received a seventy-four percent on her midterm, she needed to figure out how to do some extra credit, or at least get some extra help and quickly.

"Come in."

Isabella pushed open Dr. Hunter's door to find him typing away at his laptop.

"Isabella?" He invited her to have a seat. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm really concerned about my grade on the midterm, Dr. Hunter. I wanted to meet with you to find out if there's anything I can do to improve. I have to get an 'A' to keep my GPA up. I'll do anything."

With no additional projects aside from the cumulative final—which was only worth ten percent more than the midterm— she'd need a perfect score to even hope for a solid 'B' in the class.

"I give no opportunities for extra credit. Your only chance to boost your grade would be to excel on the final. Perhaps you should find a study partner or tutor."

Isabella knew without question that Edward would work with her, helping her where she struggled. But a wicked idea she'd been toying with suddenly became a desire she wanted to explore. Perhaps she could offer Dr. Hunter a bonus of sorts. She saw how he watched her.

"Is there anything else I can do?" There was no denying the seductive tone in her voice. Offering her body in exchange for a better grade seemed to be the next logical step in Isabella's warped mind. Without hesitation, she went with her gut instinct. She stood, walking around his large mahogany desk, and stopped in front of the man who held her academic fate at this moment in time.

He said nothing, just continued to stare up at her as she started to unbutton her blouse.

"Are you single, Dr. Hunter?" Her fingers slid delicately as each flicked open another button. "I'm not blind. I see you staring at me during class. Do you think of me when you go home at night?"

The words flowed from Isabella's mouth so easily. It would baffle anyone else that she was throwing herself at her teacher's feet, but she felt no remorse.

She only felt the rush . . . the high . . . the power.

"I could have you expelled from the International Business program for this display."

She slipped her blouse from her shoulders and unzipped the side of her linen skirt, thanking her lucky stars that she wore a matching bra and panty set today. It certainly didn't hurt that they were lacy and the bra practically see-through.

"You could . . . but you won't." Her skirt slid down her hourglass hips as she stepped forward, still wearing cream sling-backs on her perfectly manicured feet.

"What do you think is going to happen here?"

His terse question stiffened her spine, but she wouldn't be deterred. This was going to work. It had to work.

"I want you to know that you're in charge," she purred, kneeling down between his legs. The bulge in his crotch was becoming more well-defined with each passing second. "You can use my body however you'd like." She reached for his buckle as his eyebrow rose to a point. "I just need to know that you'll take care of me . . ." Her index finger traced the outline of his hardened cock. ". . . while I take care of you."

"I won't throw out your grade."

"I don't expect you to." Their gazes were locked on each other. His buckle made a clanking sound under her manipulation as she pulled his zipper down. "I just expect that perhaps you'll consider this extra effort on my part— ongoing, if you'd like— when you take into account my grades in December."

She reached into his pants and unleashed his thick erection. The swollen, sensitive tip leaked at the promise of Isabella's lust-filled words. Her eyes hooded, she gave one final glance to her professor whose gaze was still trained on her face. After a few tugs, she lowered her mouth and swept her tongue up the side of his shaft, swirling at the head.

Dr. Hunter's head fell back on his chair, and he readjusted his hips to get more comfortable. Though he attempted to feign shock for those first few moments when she arrived in his office, clearly he had no moral issues with Isabella's proposal. While he enjoyed the sensations, she slurped, sucked and hummed her way to a guaranteed grade far above what she'd just earned on her midterm. The grunts and moans he made while she pleasured him gave her the high she was seeking. She wanted more of it. Not only was he turning her on sexually— the wetness between her thighs making itself known— but she owned him in that moment. He was at her mercy and she felt it thrum through her body. The control that she held in her hands made her soar. It was everything she'd always craved.

Pure power.

This was only the beginning.

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.

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"We should go into business together."

Isabella paused mid-chew, so as to not choke on her lo mein. "Edward, you're sweet, but you don't want to go into the business I'm considering."

"Why not?" He emptied a third packet of duck sauce into a bowl for his egg roll. "I know you struggled in Macro and Micro, but I can take care of the numbers part."

"Don't forget Finance," she added with an internal smirk.

"Yeah, but you came back and killed it in the end."

Poor Edward, she thought, if he only knew what she did to get that 'A' in Finance last semester. Not to mention her threesomes with the Macro and Micro professors.

She shook her head. "You're about to start a career as an international economist, Edward. You're a damn genius."

"But I'll need someone to go out and represent me at times. That could be your role. Take the business trips, shake the hands . . . you know."

Isabella sighed, feeling the need to be deadly honest with Edward. "I appreciate your confidence in me, but I've taken a job on Senator Whitlock's staff. I need the money as soon as possible. I can't chance starting out as an entrepreneur like you."

Edward looked completely crestfallen. It was the first outward expression of emotions she'd seen since she met him a year ago.

"We'd be great together." His words were all he had to give. If she couldn't see that, his proposition was just a sinking ship.

"You'll do fine on your own. Everything is handled on computers nowadays. You would never need to step out of your apartment. Maybe a phone call from time to time, but that's it."

He nodded with a smile nowhere near genuine. At this point, he just needed to be alone again.

Isabella, on the other hand, did her best to scramble and pull the right words from thin air. Though their working relationship had evolved over the year into a true friendship, Edward just didn't have the power and clout that she needed to harness in order to make it to the top of the game.

Their relationship was just safer if it remained friendly.

$GREED$

Felix opened the door and helped Isabella out of the town car. "What time will you be ready to leave, Miss Swan?"

Isabella pulled her sunglasses down her nose. "Felix, you've been driving me around for the last year and a half. We've known each other for almost three years through Edward. Don't you think it's time you started calling me Isabella?"

A reticent grin appeared. "Not while we're on the job, ma'am."

"But you don't even call me by my name when you're off the job," she countered, grabbing her Diet Coke from the cup holder.

"That's because I don't ever see you after hours."

Isabella wrapped her lips around her straw, making a show of her sip. "We could always remedy that, you know," she purred with a wink.

He chuckled and closed the door as she stepped away. "Edward would plot my murder."

"Oh stop," she scoffed with a wave. "He's never laid a hand on me. There's no claim there." She walked backwards in her four-inch stilettos. "I'd give you the friends and family discount." Her light-hearted tone didn't freak Felix out, but he knew there were limits, no matter how enticing Miss Swan made the offer.

He shook his head with a smile. "Call me when you need me."

She waggled her eyebrows, turning, and headed toward the elevators to meet her next client.

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.

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Isabella poured a glass of wine to enjoy while she waited for Peter to contact her. Thankfully, she'd left a bottle in the fridge when she was last here. Walking over to the sliding door to look out on the horizon, she spied the ominous cloud cover heading toward Dallas. The meteorologists were all squawking about the supposed ice storm and frigid temperatures on their way for the next couple of weeks. She'd believe it when she saw it. Yes, the temperature would dip from time to time, but it had been years since Dallas had seen any snow or ice during its normally mild winters.

If anything was going to happen, she hoped it wouldn't ruin Carlisle's Valentine weekend plans. It was clearly important to him, and in turn, it needed to be important to her. The end result . . . the bottom line was all that ever mattered. And Carlisle was the bottom line.

A sharp rap sounded at the door, forcing her mind to calibrate and bring on her game face. She'd never regret the hand she dealt herself, but she needed to make it work until the windfall arrived. As she walked toward the door, Isabella took several quick sips so as to not waste the Chardonnay.

A look through the peephole showed Peter waiting for her, hands clasped in front of him . . . looking ever the secret service agent. Isabella rolled her eyes at the display. If he ever made it as far as the White House, she'd faint dead away. For now he was simply a glorified bodyguard because he was a close friend of the Senator.

"Peter," she greeted him with a sardonic grin. "Nice to see you again."

He nodded curtly. "Miss Swan." Stepping inside, he remained at the door, glancing at his watch while she finished her wine and placed the glass in the sink. "Will you be much longer?"

"Oh, Peter . . . get over yourself. I've been here for twenty-five minutes waiting on Jasper. If he's annoyed that I'm delayed by ninety seconds because I finished my wine, he'll have to suck it up."

"He has other places he needs to be, not the least of which is back home in Houston with his wife and child."

Isabella threaded her arms through her trench coat, her head cocked. "Do you have something you need to say to me?"

"No."

She started laughing, heading for the door. "You're a lousy liar, Peter. I don't think you like me very much." He gave no response, just waited until she walked past him and pulled the door closed.

"My opinion of you has nothing to do with my job . . . and right now I'm doing my job."

"Even if you don't like it." Isabella's snarky comment was enough to push his buttons.

"You're a whore. And you're fucking a happily married man," he spat. "I don't know how you sleep at night."

She quirked her brow as they stopped at the elevators. While that all may be true, he'd need to try a little harder if he really wanted to hurt her. "Anything else?"

He rolled his neck after adjusting his tie. "No."

"Let me ask you a question." They straightened and stepped to the side when the elevator doors opened and a family with a couple of children filed out. As the doors closed again, she leaned on the rails while they traveled to the top floor. "Are you happily married?"

"Yes."

Her eyes narrowed going in for the kill. "And were you happily married last fall at the benefit?"

His nostrils flared when he realized where she was heading.

"I think we can both agree that you've been bitter ever since I turned you down."

He swallowed tightly, looking down at the woman who'd stomped all over his ego several months earlier.

"I think we remember two different versions of the story. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

She threw her head back and cackled as they reached the penthouse floor. "What version do you remember, Peter? Is it the one where you slipped your hand between my thighs and fingered me as we sat at the dinner table? When you knew I was someone else's date that night, no less?"

He stared straight ahead with no reaction.

"I was talking to your wife, looking directly into your darling Charlotte's eyes while you were knuckle-deep in my pussy. How did you sleep that night?" Isabella approached the door of the penthouse. "Because I didn't cause a scene, you expected that I'd let you fuck me for free?" She clicked her tongue a few times. "Nobody gets it for free, baby. Not even the dear, happily married Senator."

"You certainly didn't complain," he scoffed. "You were fucking soaked." Peter banged on the door waiting for Jacob to answer.

Isabella pulled on Peter's arm and tipped her head up to whisper in his ear. "I was soaked because Jasper had just eaten me out in the lounge, honey. It had absolutely nothing to do with you." She puckered her lips and kissed his jaw just as he ripped his arm away.

"Fucking cunt."

"Is there a problem?" Jacob, Jasper's chief of staff interrupted, having heard the last words Peter sneered.

"Not at all!" she chirped, stepping forward. "See ya, Pete!"

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"Fuck me, YES!"

Jasper grunted while he drilled into Isabella from behind, her pulsing walls milking him to the point where he couldn't hold out another second. He pulled out with a roar and stroked his cock furiously as ribbons of his release splattered across her back.

He fell next to her on the bed and pulled her sweaty, spent body on top of his. When they came face to face, he kissed her hard.

"You taste like sex," she moaned, as their tongues danced in and out of each other's mouth.

The senator chuckled. "You fucking love it."

She hummed and continued to writhe against him. "I do."

After Isabella rinsed off in the shower, she found Jasper, still naked, smoking a cigarette in bed. She waltzed over to him before dropping her towel and straddling his lap.

"The Surgeon General would be mighty disappointed in you right now, Senator. Not only smoking, but doing it in bed of all places. Talk about a fire hazard."

He blew the smoke out of his nose, flicking the ashes into the glass dish next to him. "Yeah, well, he's a Republican like me, so he'll probably forgive this little transgression."

She smiled as he turned the cigarette around, allowing her a puff. After they smoked it down to the filter, Jasper stubbed it out and wrapped his hand through Isabella's hair, bringing her face to his.

"I missed you, beautiful." He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and nipped it when he felt her readjusting her heated core on his lap. "How was New York?"

After their kisses slowed to a few pecks, Isabella responded. "Went really well, I think. Senator Martinson was extremely satisfied from what I gathered," she boasted with a grin.

Jasper snickered and kissed her again.

"I'm sure you'll be hearing from him shortly regarding the new bill."

"Well, good!" He dug his fingers into the flesh of her ass, picked her up and sat her directly on his crotch, his dick just about ready for round two. "You deserve some extra attention for that one."

She giggled and sighed as his hand moved to cup her, the tips of his fingers sweeping through the wetness that gathered between her legs.

"I certainly do. He was into some kinky shit, too. That man had me holding a whip and wearing Catwoman suit— no lie— and before being ball-gagged, he begged me to ram a neon green dildo up his ass while I blew him." The images she captured on that particular video made her cringe every time she scrolled past the file on her computer.

Jasper guffawed. "I should've pegged that old geezer for a freak." Isabella joined in on the laughter. "Speaking of old geezers…what's the latest with Cullen?"

"I'm seeing him on Sunday, and he's taking me away for Valentine's Day."

"Aww, how sweet," Jasper mocked, slipping a finger inside her slick pussy. "Do I hear wedding bells?"

She shrugged but shuddered, not able to completely concentrate on a conversation when Jasper was getting her off. "Hopefully. The sooner the better, right?"

"That's the plan. We need that capital to keep up the momentum for the campaign."

"Mhmmm," she squeaked, ready to tip over the edge just as he added a second finger and started to lick her neck.

"We're almost there, baby. It's all coming together."


A/N: Many thanks to my GREEDy team for their countless hours of help and encouragement: My sinful sisters from other misters, LayAtHomeMom and Hoodfabulous and, of course, my awesome Cabana Girls who've been with me since I published chapter one of Last Call, Born OnHalloween, Cejsmom and LaMomo, the most fantastic beta a Yummy could ask for. LOVE my team!

Thanks for reading! xo, Jen