She’s the ultimate madam with a heart of gold. But can she fulfill her own dreams—and stay at the top?   In the business of high-end, no-limits desire, Desdemona Dean is the best there is. This gorgeous madam can provide any sensual fantasy, ignite any insatiable hunger. She fiercely protects the women who work for her and helps them attain the lives they deserve—especially when it comes to her beautiful, troubled new protégé, Portia. But for Desi, having it all is no longer enough. She wants everything her shattered childhood denied her. And as she pursues an education and a normal life, she’s falling hard for her handsome tutor—and can’t resist schooling him in ways that are turning into more than just passion . . .   But as Portia spirals out of control, she’s exposing any number of dangerous secrets.  And as Desi desperately tries to save her and manage the damage, she’s putting everything she’s worked to build at risk. Now with her empire in peril, Desi must discover if she can survive . . . and truly be free.     Praise for the Mistress series   “Bryant’s loyal audience will love the generous doses of passionate sex, glamour, and revenge.”  —Publishers Weekly   “ The Pleasure Trap is another testament to Bryant’s awesome imagination . . . we are swept off our feet during the climactic reveal.” —RT Book Reviews NIOBIA BRYANT is the award-winning and national bestselling author of more than thirty works of romance and commercial fiction. She is a two-time winner of RT Book Reviews’ Best African-American/Multicultural Romance Award and received a Best Multicultural Fiction nomination for The Pleasure Trap. Want, Need, Love was a nominee for the Romance Slam Jam’s Steamy Romance of the Year Emma Award. Her books have appeared in Ebony, Essence, The New York Post, The Star Ledger, The Dallas Morning News, Juicy magazine and many other national publications. Her bestselling book, Message from a Mistress , has been adapted to film. A proud native of Newark, New Jersey, Niobia currently resides in South Carolina where she writes full time. For more on this author who “can’t stop, won’t stop,” visit NiobiaBryant.com, her Official Facebook Fan Page, and Twitter.com/infiniteink. Madam, May I By Niobia Bryant KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP. Copyright © 2019 Niobia Bryant All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4967-1654-5 CHAPTER 1 Thirty years later Monday, June 11, 2018 The monotony of it all may very well bore me to death ... Desdemona Dean tapped her extra-fine-point pen against the pages of her journal as she looked out the floor-to-ceiling window of her apartment in the Tribeca section of New York. "Different day. Same shit," she said aloud as she picked up her cup of tea and looked out at the views — to the right the Manhattan skyline and with a shift of her eyes to the left the Hudson River. Not that it wasn't beautiful, especially with the sun beaming in the sky and causing the water to gleam. What had started out as extraordinary when she first moved into the eighty-two-story high-rise building two years ago was now the norm. Because the building was part five-star hotel and part luxury residences, the amenities were amazing. She couldn't deny that. Housekeeping. Ordering meals from a world-class menu. Pool. Spa. Concierge. Valet parking. High luxury with low maintenance. I ain't that bored. She set the cup down on the saucer and looked around at the eleven-foot ceilings of her twenty-two-hundred-square-foot condominium with its cream décor, dark hardwood floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows. It was beautiful. Still, she was bored. Desdemona sighed, turning her attention back to her leather-bound journal. She sat at her slate dining room table with her bare feet tucked beneath her in one of the eight suede club chairs surrounding it. She struggled to find more to write for later reflections years down the line when she would finally read the journals she had been keeping for the last two decades of her life. Written memories. Her mother had always journaled; she could remember her sipping a glass of wine while curled up in her favorite chair writing away, sometimes smiling but often more reflective and sad. There were many things about her mother that Desdemona had forgotten, but others moments remained like an imprint on her life. She pressed the pen inside the crease of the journal and closed it before finishing her breakfast of ricotta hotcakes with maple syrup and chicken-and-apple sausage. With one last look out at her views, Desdemona rose from the table and dropped the silk kimono she wore to the floor as she left the dining room, crossed the foyer, and turned the corner leading down the hall to the three bedrooms. Her master suite was in the rear. She walked down the short hall with large black-and-white prints in black frames on the left and two closets to her right — one of them a walk-in — and around the corner. She paused in front of the large se