“Reassigned?” I stuttered, the air whooshing out of my lungs. I felt like I’d been sucker punched.
“Yes, we’ve acquired a wonderful contract.” She slid it across her pristine white desk while he typed away like no one was in the room.
The fact that he was even there—after having never set foot in this office in all the time I’d been there—was him waving a red flag in my face. Like he wanted to fight.
I cleared my throat and straightened my blouse, not picking up the packet to even appear intrigued. “But what if I don’t want to be reassigned?”
“Well, this is within the state’s rights, Ms. Hardy. If you check section . . .” She droned on about distance between home and work and where I was needed and a bunch of other crap I knew wasn’t true. I just glared at him with his smug expression as he lifted his gaze to smirk at me.
Anger, swift and hot, flew through me faster than I could control. “You requested this, didn’t you? The almighty Caden Armanelli.” I wrinkled my nose at him in disgust.
Immediately, the woman stood, her blue eyes widened into orbs of concern. People didn’t just sneer Cade’s full name. Businessman, my ass. We all knew when they threw around the Armanelli mafia name they got what they wanted. “Ms. Hardy, we’ve talked with a few of your team members, and there is state work you’ll still be doing there. It’s a great opportunity for you all to be contracted there. Cassie and Braxton will be transferred too. You’ll get amazing corporate raises that the state can’t compete with. You’ll even get to travel for work, and it’s good for the team.”
“Let me guess.” I popped a hip. “If I don’t go, my team doesn’t either.”
The woman stepped between Cade and me, like she wanted to break our eye contact. “You’ve done fantastic work, and we’d like you all to stay together, yes.”
“This can’t be protocol.”
“Honestly . . .” She sighed and rubbed her eyes like she’d had a long day. Her wrinkles, testaments to the stress she faced, moved with her hands. “I’m going to level with you. It may not be protocol, but if you don’t comply, you all will most likely be out of a job.”
I leaned to the side enough so that I could see him. “That true, Cade Armanelli?”
One side of his mouth hitched at me sneering his name. “Ms. Hardy, I promise corporate America will suit you.”
The lady nodded. “Cade does run most of the data security teams here, Ms. Hardy. I do suggest you take the offer. Your salary—and the salaries of everyone on your team—has been doubled, and you probably have more opportunities there than you do here.”
I sighed.
I would have thrown a tantrum, demanded they reconsider, and maybe even thrown a pen or two around. But that was the Izzy of years ago, before I lost myself to passivity. I was better now. I’d reformed. I’d packed my emotions up into a nice, neat box so no one could say I was being a diva or indulging in that personality of mine that got me into trouble.
Everyone said I was such a grown-up now, but most days, it felt like I was simply tired. Keeping a lid on so many emotions would do that to a person. Still, I accepted my lot and hoped I could go home soon for a nap and reset. “Thank you for the opportunity,” I told her, the words as sour as limes in my mouth.
Cade’s eyebrows raised. “That’s it?”
I swear, he wanted a fight, but I wouldn’t give him one. The woman hurried on with a nervous chuckle. “I promise, it’s for the best. You’ll thank me once you’re settled into your new position. You’ll see. You’ll probably have more time on your hands there.”
What she didn’t understand was that I wanted to do all I was doing for the government. I wanted—no, I needed—to work hard for them. My mind didn’t do well without a goal or something to occupy it. It was how I kept the indulgent side of me, the side that was bottled up, from creeping out.
Cade was ruining everything, and he damn well knew it.
Three Months Later
Cade: Stop trying to hack into government property.
Me: OMG get a life and stop watching what I’m doing.
Cade: Technically, I’m doing my job. It’s national security and you’re breaching one of our firewalls.
Me: Still, you’re watching what I’m doing
Cade: Me watching what you’re doing is knowing you sold your condo to move to Greene Liberty Apartments where they have a shit security system.
Me: Seriously, stop.
Cade: Stop sifting through confidential data then.
Me: Get over it. It’s only for information on the Albanians.
Cade: That’s not your job.
Me: I’m quite aware of your reassigning my job duties.
Cade: Yeah, about that …
Cade: I’m waiting for a “thank you so much, Cade.”
Me: Fuck you very much.
Cade: You’re welcome to come over.
Me: I wonder if you think that actually works on women.
Cade: I don’t have to wonder.
Me: You do realize you’re my boss. This wouldn’t look very good to HR.
Cade: I’ll take my chances if you’re agreeing.
Me: I’m not. I have a boyfriend that’s actually a good human.
Cade: You sure? Want me to hack his data and see?
Me: You better not.
Cade: Yeah, we’ll let him have his fun while he’s out of the country.
Me: How do you know he’s gone?
Cade. I know everything … Stop poking around
Me: Fine. Whatever.
Three Months Later
Cade: Don’t you have anything better to do at 3 am?
Me: Maybe I would have more work to do if you let Stonewood Enterprises give me a promotion.
Cade: You’re not ready obviously or you wouldn’t be doing something reckless like hacking systems in the middle of the night.
Me: Leave me alone.
Cade: Then turn off your computer and do something else with your time.
Me: Nothing else to do right now.
Cade: Your boyfriend must be gone again, huh?
Me: So what if he is? Stop watching me.
Cade: Get over yourself. I built an alert for when you start digging for Albanian data. Leave it alone.
Me: You’re seriously the most annoying person I’ve ever met.
Six Months Later
Cade: They must not give you enough work over at Stonewood Enterprises.
Me: Well, you’re technically my boss, although you’re never in the office. You might want to tell the manager who’s there every day about it.
Cade: Izzy, I swear to all that’s holy, knock this shit off.
Me: Just let me be!
Cade: Go to bed. Fuck your boyfriend. Watch a show. Do anything other than this.
Me: I’m not tired, boyfriend’s out of town, and shows are boring.
Cade: Starting to think you need a new fuckboy if he’s always gone.
Me: That’s none of your business.
Cade: Well, get a new hobby. Go travel with him or is he that dull?
Me: I hate you. LEAVE ME ALONE.
1
Izzy
“It’s not me. It’s you.” My boyfriend of almost a year patted my shoulder with his soft, sweaty hand.
I wanted to tell the jerk that someone didn’t break up with that line—it was supposed to be the other way around. But all I could do was stare at his phone in shock.