“I have an employee who’s taking over the Chicago PD infrastructure and the election voting cybersecurity.”
“Does she know there are holes in it?” Jett shot back.
“I’m sure, since it’s her work.” Cade lifted a brow at me like he thought I might fold under the embarrassment and pressure.
I chewed my cheek. It hurt to hear the flaws in my work pointed out. But I could fix them. I was going to take care of them. “I’m aware. I’m working diligently to confirm no breaches will happen this year.”
“You have the knowledge needed?” Jett asked.
It was a question for me, but I waited a beat for Cade to step in and confirm my credentials.
“She’s pretty underqualified,” he said instead.
This jerk.
When my jaw dropped, he took that moment to drag a finger across my neckline towards the bow of my blouse, like he was considering untying it. Instead, he leaned close to whisper into my neck, “Sell yourself because I won’t. I’m not doing you any favors.”
With that, he bit my neck, and I tried my best not to gasp. His hands trailed down my back to my hips, and he pulled me close enough to feel his length—rigid, long, pulsing against me like it had a few nights ago.
He wanted me to fold, to make a fool of myself, to tell his virtual assistant to hang up.
There was no way I was letting him get the best of me.
“Mr. Stonewood, I’ve worked on the infrastructure from the very first day we changed systems. I think the JUNIPER system is great, but I did tweak it because of the information stored there. With more coding, it will be nearly impenetrable, and I believe it will enable us to mirror that level of security on a larger scale in the future.”
“Exactly. This system is linked to the court system of Illinois and the voting—”
“I’m aware they’re all interconnected,” I blurted out. I hated that I wanted to cut the conversation short, but Cade’s tongue was lapping at my neck, and my body quaked with need rather than my mind reacting to the CEO who was addressing something I would have previously given an arm and leg to discuss with him.
Cade grabbed my ponytail and whispered in my ear, “That’s my baby doll. Tell him. And untie the neck of your blouse too.”
Something was wrong with me. I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have even considered it. Yet my hand went right there as I glared at him. I pulled the string. This was a battle of wills, a way to fight him, control my narrative, and win.
My enemy would not have me surrender here. Even if I was wet for him—and damn it, I was so wet—the breath I took quivered through me. Cade must have noticed because he dipped his finger into my cleavage and dragged it to my nipple under my black lace bra.
“Do elaborate, Ms. Hardy,” Jett commanded in a tone that indicated he didn’t appreciate my bullshit. Like if I had the balls to cut him off, I’d better have the ammunition to back it up.
I did. I was just struggling to breathe and not moan; to pay attention and not spiral into an orgasm. “I set most of them up because Juda had too much on his plate, so I know they are all interconnected.” It was a lie, and I caught Cade rolling his eyes, but I wouldn’t throw my team under the bus. I couldn’t expound further because my pussy was crying out for Cade, so I left it at that.
Cade chuckled, and his hands slid from my breasts to my stomach, then pushed my blouse over my hips to the ground. Next, he was on his knees in front of me. “Ms. Hardy did do most of the setup, Jett. I looked into it,” Cade finally confirmed, smiling up at me.
“And you’re comfortable working with Cade?” Jett asked. He knew Cade was no walk in the park.
I stared down at my archnemesis, a man ready to fuck me in his office but who didn’t believe in me outside of it. This was what I probably couldn’t do. The challenge in his eyes was there, telling me to back down now.
“I do work under Cade, but I don’t know that I’ll need his help on this. Like I said, I just have a few more tweaks for the Illinois—”
“Sure, but we’ll use this for the election,” Jett stated with authority. “We can mirror this code. Cade, you think it’s good enough, right? This is it. If you’re working on the Chicago PD infrastructure, I want you on the election team and flying out to meet them in a week.”
Cade’s hand gripped my nyloned calf tightly all of a sudden. “Not necessary, Jett. I can handle that on my own. Don’t even need a team there for it.”
Jett sniggered. “My point exactly. You want to do it on your own. It seems Ms. Hardy will be able to at least be a team player if you won’t. You two can fly out, meet them, work together to make sure this election doesn’t get hacked. That is, if you’re on board, Ms. Hardy?”
Cade shook his head no at me, but I didn’t have to be told twice to take the opportunity of a lifetime. I glared at Cade and said loudly, “I’d be honored to do that, Mr. Stonewood.”
It was like I shifted one block out of place in his perfect setup; I’d put a chink in his armor, a glitch in his perfect system. He ticked his head to the side and flexed his jaw before his hand started to inch up my thigh at an excruciatingly languid pace, with a glare that would bring most people to their knees.
“Cade, make sure she flies to the capital with you to confirm security and operational voting booths too.”
“Fine,” Cade blurted out. “I’ll update you soon. End call.”
“You’re an asshole.” I shoved his shoulders, but he didn’t budge an inch as he kneeled there, his eyes glued to his hands crawling up my skirt. “I’ll take a separate flight just to be rid of you.”
His fingers reached my panty line, and he rubbed back and forth. My nails dug into that tailored suit, and I hoped they ripped into those pressed shoulders as I hissed. “You scared to spend a little time with me, baby doll?”
“I don’t really know why we’re flying to meet anyone anyway. It can be done remotely.” I whimpered, moving my hips because he was lightly brushing over my pussy, like he wanted to play when I wanted to fuck.
“Jett’s old school. Most people don’t get the computer world like we do. I wouldn’t worry about it. We won’t need you there anyway.”
“Well, Jett just said you did.” I stared down at him.
“Are you always ready to go above and beyond at work?” he asked, perplexed by my work ethic.
I couldn’t tell him I had a mind that wandered if it was idle. I couldn’t let him judge me. “What’s so confusing about a stellar work ethic?”
“Well, for one, I’ve had to stop your poking around for about a year.” He shoved my panties to the side and slid two fingers inside me.
“The fact that you’ve been tracking what I’ve been doing for a year means you go above and beyond for work too.” I bit my lip to keep from moaning as he brought me closer to climax. Our hatred for one another didn’t hold up against my need to get off with him again. I started to think this would be a recurring scenario—something I’d keep going back to if we didn’t put a hard stop to it.
“You didn’t think you could keep that up and get away with it, did you? I think maybe you wanted me to come for you,” he growled.