He quirked a dark brow like I sounded ridiculous. “Hardly sneaking considering I’m stepping right in front of you.”
“Whatever. This is a family party,” I pointed out, trying to make one thing clear. “You shouldn’t even be here.”
There. Now he knew I didn’t ever want to see him outside of work, that I didn’t like him, that he wasn’t wanted.
“Technically, I’m Dante’s family.” He glanced down at his phone like he didn’t even have time to have this conversation. Then he peered back up at me, and his stare held a condescension I wasn’t ready for. “Want to go so far as to say we’re related too?”
Why did that feel like he was goading me? I turned around to scrub a dish way harder than necessary. “God, you’re so annoying.”
“If you think I’m annoying, quit your damn job.”
Yep. There it was. Him being an absolute dick. Cade didn’t want me on any team within the government. He’d had it out for me since day one because he thought I couldn’t handle the pressure of our work. It didn’t bode well for me. We all knew his ties to the president, to the Pentagon, to everyone. The man infiltrated everything because he had access to it all. A few clicks for him, a few hacks, and he’d be raking through my deepest darkest secrets.
“Start working in corporate America.”
I stopped my assault on the poor dirty plate and winced at his recommendation. I liked to think I worked as hard as he did. And I had unfinished business with the government. I’d researched enough while undercover to learn that a large Albanian family was breaking laws within our country. We’d caught them once, and I wasn’t going to stop until I had them all behind bars. “The Albanians aren’t done. You and I both know it.” I waved between us like he should understand. He’d seen what they were capable of in the past, and it was our job to make sure it never happened again. As I got better at sifting through the data, I’d found more evidence. “The drugs are a fucking cover for nuclear warfare, and I’m gonna help bring them down.”
“You’re digging where you shouldn’t be. And you may be good, Izzy, but not that good. I’ve tracked every fucking hack you’ve done,” he said, an arrogant smirk on his face. Then he leaned in and whispered, “It’s not warfare, love. It’s the laundering of so much money they would control everything. We’ve built alliances, though. It’s fine. You need to back off.”
The way his breath felt on my skin, on my neck, so close to me that I could smell him . . . I loved it in a way I shouldn’t. My body instantly gravitated toward him as if I should lean in instead of away. “They won’t honor that alliance. So either let me do my job or fuck off,” I ground out, trying to ignore everything he was doing.
He hummed low, not moving back even an inch. “If you get kidnapped, I’m leaving your ass with them.”
“Great.” I peered up into his eyes and turned my face so our lips were just a touch away from each other. “They’ll probably be better company than you anyway.”
“Say that again, and try to mean it this time,” he growled.
Our stares held, his full of something I didn't normally see. Cade was alive right there next to me, his gaze no longer dark and cavernous but wild and full of adrenaline and joy, like a kid ready to play his favorite game. That look mirrored mine when I found something to keep my mind off my own demons. We’d have worked well together in another life.
We heard the bathroom door opening and stepped away from each other. My brother-in-law came in, too, swooping Delilah under his arm, smiles a mile wide as they hurried through saying goodbye to me.
Cade ushered them out of the house without a backward glance.
Well, good riddance to him, too. Except I wasn’t proud to say I did flip him off as he exited.
Still, I went to bed with deep-brown eyes threaded with gold in the back of my mind. I tried my best not to slide my hand between my legs, imagining what it would have been like to lean in an inch farther and taste that man’s lips.
I hated myself for it the very next week.
The following Monday started terribly with rain pelting down on me as I made my way into work, drenching my navy blouse and pinstripe pencil skirt. I didn’t even have time to dry off, though, before HR called me in.
My stilettos squished with the rainwater as I made my way down the hall, hoping they had a simple update for me of some sort. I’d never been summoned like this, not even for a review of my work.
As I turned the corner and knocked on the already open door, though, understanding dawned. Cade in a black three-piece suit sat behind a small elderly woman at her desk with what looked like one outrageously expensive Berluti loafer propped on a bent knee to hold his laptop across his thighs. He was the epitome of a successful and very intimidating businessman.
To add to it, he didn’t even look up or greet me as I entered. The woman with wiry white hair whom I had never met before chirped as soon as I shut the door, “Congratulations, Izzy! We have amazing news for you. Take a seat.”
I readjusted my pinstripe wool pencil skirt and glanced between both of them with so many questions running through my mind. “I’m sorry. Is he a part of this—”
She cut me off by talking over me. “Oh, Mr. Armanelli sits in on some office procedures. He is a supervisor here. Have you met—”
“We have.” My tone gave away precisely how much I despised him.
“Right.” She shifted in her chair. “Well, please take a seat.”
Chewing on my cheek, my heart beat faster. Thinking over the last conversation I’d had with Cade, I replied, “I’m fine with standing.”
“Of course. Of course.” She chuckled. “Well, you’ve been reassigned to Stonewood Enterprises, and it was such a great contract that you’ll be starting in the next week. No long waiting period.”
“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.