“Made that pretty clear to me a year ago,” I grumbled, ready to let all my demons out of the jar. I’d rehearsed what I’d say to him if I ever saw him again. Without even asking me formally to stop doing something, he’d had me moved instead.
“Ah, the real Izzy’s out to play tonight, I see.”
My gut clenched at the fact that he noticed, that he saw how I kept something hidden from everyone else. I hated that he so easily perceived what others couldn’t, so I acted like I had no idea what he was getting at. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sighed like he didn’t want to be bothered with my antics and started to walk toward the building. “If you want a trip down memory lane from a year ago, go ahead and get your bitching out.”
“My bitching?” I stomped my foot. “You deliberately dangled a doubled salary over my whole team—essentially forcing me to agree to move to corporate for a sham of a deal—because you wanted me off the Albanian trail.”
“If you say so.” He shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, opening one of the large glass doors to Stonewood Tower’s entryway for me.
I marched past him, annoyed that he chuckled as if what he’d done was some insignificant inconvenience. “You upended my livelihood to prove a damn point.”
His eyes narrowed at my tone. “Upended? You got a bonus, more time off, and your team moved with you. I’m still waiting for my thank you.’”
“And you know I’m still going to say, ‘fuck you, asshole,’” I said, stepping right up to him and lifting my chin so my words hit home loud and clear.
He rolled his lips between his teeth. And he grew bigger, darker, meaner. Then the smile that spread across his face was wide, showing his teeth as if ready to inflict harm. That was what men in power got: everyone’s fear. I could tell he wasn’t used to my tone, used to someone pushing back at him. “I really enjoy when you say it with a punch like that. When you really mean it.”
I literally growled and brushed past him toward the elevators. “I don’t know why you’re concerning yourself with anything here at Stonewood Enterprises. We’re fine without you.”
“Yeah, looks like my employees are doing great things on the street with spray paint.” His tone held condescension.
“That was between me and my boyfriend.” I wanted to pull out my pigtails, scream, and go home like a big baby. The man could grate on every one of my nerves within seconds and I knew he was trying to.
“Well, ex-boyfriend now,” he pointed out.
I couldn’t handle him or my emotions anymore. And honestly, that little fact coming from his mouth probably stung more than the whole breakup.
“Whatever, Cade.” I scoffed. Now that the lid of my attitude had popped off, I wasn’t sure how to put it all back in the jar. “I’m not in the mood tonight.”
No one risked talking to him like this. I knew that. A good hacker could dig up dirt, the best one could ruin your life, unearth all your skeletons, or send you to jail.
It was like we all knew Cade had something on everyone. And I knew from the few times in the past I’d been around him, no one crossed him for that very reason.
That wasn’t why I despised him though. He’d acted as though I couldn’t be trusted, and then he’d literally moved me to a place where I was no risk.
And I was still striving to prove him wrong. I don’t know why. Quite frankly, it made this whole situation even more embarrassing.
“My ex-boyfriend won’t report me. It would ruin his precious reputation,” I sneered, dropping the spray can back in my purse.
“He should report you. That’s a criminal offense, ruining the dick’s car. Potentially his eyes.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. I had expected him to twist the metaphorical knife by telling me I was a fuck-up, but instead he’d called Gerald a dick. Even the slightest display of care from him had me pursing my lips, the rage dissipating. The ball of shame expanded in my gut, and the embarrassment of being caught in my childish act of retaliation was catching up to me. Let’s not forget the fact that I’d been dumped too.
I wondered if he’d heard my ex’s cruel words before I’d sprayed him.
My vision blurred, and I knew he saw my chin tremble. “Maybe he will, then. Or maybe you can send the security tapes in and file a police report yourself.”
He took one step forward and tugged on a lock of my blonde hair before rubbing it between his fingers. “I deleted it from the cameras already.”
His admission, the way he touched my hair—it held me captive in a way it shouldn’t. “Why would you do that?” I whispered, peering up at him.
“You’re my employee. It would look bad for us.” He shrugged, and his finger twined around a lock as he stared, like he was trying to crack a code. “You dye your hair for this?”
“It’s just temporary sprayin stuff.” I waved my red-painted nails in front of my face, attempting to focus on his small talk rather than the terrible start to my night or the fact that my body was reacting to a man I considered my enemy.
“It’s too much for a work party.” Cade stepped back, taking in my whole outfit. “You tried way too hard for this, dollface.”
At least I’d made the effort to dress up and come to this party. The man in front of me didn’t put forth an effort for anything. I roved my own gaze over him and tried not to sneer at his suit but the man was coming to a Halloween party without a costume. “‘Dollface’？”
“Harley Quinn’s a household name after the movies. We all know her nicknames.”
I rolled my eyes. Cade would never give us a glimpse into his life; not even if it was only to reveal that he’d read all the comics. He was happy to pry into everyone else’s life but would never divulge any small detail about his.
“Whatever. I read the comics, and I like her. And it was supposed to be cute with—”
“Gerald would have been a terrible Joker,” Cade said as he scratched at his eyebrow, the streetlight playing over the strong lines of his face. In comparison to Cade, every man would have been a terrible everything. Cade could have played Psycho, Joker, Michael Myers, Batman, Superman, or whatever he wanted and pull it off. He had the height, the sharp, haunted bone structure, and maintained a great physique—although I wasn’t sure how. He always seemed to be hunched over a device or computer when I saw him.
Except now.
“You do realize you shouldn’t even know his name, right?” I pointed out because Cade had a bad habit of prying into my life.
“I know everything about you,” he whispered, and my whole body shivered in a way it never had with Gerald, in a way it only did when Cade talked to me. “Including that you went above and beyond with this costume.”
“Well, you can’t knock me for trying when you don’t try for shit.” I snapped my mouth shut. I was still mad. I shouldn’t let my emotions control me or make me lash out at my superior. And he was that, even if he was never around.
To my surprise, he pulled a mask from his jacket pocket as he tsked. “So quick to assume I don’t do shit, huh?” He emphasized my foul language and then stuck it back in the pocket, obviously not ready to put it on.