Corrupted Chaos (Tarnished Empire)(10)

“Me?” He let go of my arm and took the mask from his suit jacket, then slid it on slowly. I don’t know why my breath caught as I watched him. This wasn’t a horror film. I wasn’t in danger.

Or maybe I was.

Cade could do more damage to me than anything in Scream ever could.

He leaned in near my ear and whispered, “I definitely deserve your anger. And I’d enjoy you throwing it at me, baby doll.”

I gasped at his admission and cocked my head to try to get a read on him. Yet, all I saw was that mask as he stepped back and rocked on his heels.

“You don’t make any sense.” I folded my arms across my chest, not sure I wanted to be anywhere near him, not sure why I was getting turned on by him staring down at me in that mask. He was a mobster underneath the whole businessman façade, and I needed to get out of this elevator and away from him.

He wasn’t a neat little box like Gerald. He was a ticking bomb, and I would end up collateral damage if I stayed anywhere near him.

“Does your boss really have to make any sense?” he asked.

“Well, you did just try to tear me down like my ex—”

He cut me off, his voice low and muffled behind the mask. “I said your ass was hanging out. I didn’t say if it was a good or bad thing.”

The elevator neared the top of the building, voicing the number of each floor we passed. Only ten to go, and I’d get away from him.

I shook my head. We both knew what my ex had screamed at me. “Even if you don’t repeat that I should be working out, we both know what he said right before. So if you want to insinuate it too, fine.” I shrugged, so over the night. I really didn’t care if he saw the tears swimming in my eyes. He wanted me at my breaking point, and now he had me there. I leaned in. “But you know what, I’m done being polite. So fuck you, Cade Armanelli. You can go to hell right along with my ex.”

He lifted his mask just to smile at me, as if he’d won, as if he’d pushed his insanity on me. That sinister smile—it was scarier than any Halloween mask could ever be. “You think I’m just like your ex?”

What could I say? Most men were probably like Gerald. They wanted a woman I could never be. Sweet, put together, in shape, without baggage.

Cade held my gaze, and a silent battle waged between us. Did he expect me to admit all my feelings out loud to him? Because I definitely wouldn’t.

I shook my head and glanced away. “You’re all the same,” I grumbled, more to myself than to him.

Our conversation was about to cease—five levels to go. Cade pulled out his phone, obviously he was done talking. Great. I’d go to the party and get the hell out of there fast. This night was proving to be the worst, anyway.

Except the elevator screeched to a stop.

The lights flickered, then went out.





2





Izzy





My body jerked, and my heart lurched along with it. Never had the elevators stopped suddenly like this. This was a state-of-the-art building with technology that didn’t falter.

Just as I swore, one large hand shoved me into the door of the elevator by my neck. I felt his grip on me, tight, in control, and strong enough to crush my windpipe if he wanted to. I don’t know if his other arm was around my waist to stop me from falling or if he just wanted full control of me.

I squinted into the dark, trying to see his face. “What the hell, Cade?”

“Now that we have a minute, go on, turn around and let me feel how big your ass really is, Ms. Hardy.”

I’m embarrassed to admit I got wet right then, his voice filled with gravel and edge against my skin, commanding me in a way I wasn’t used to. “What?” I whispered. His tone had already sent sparks through me—so much so I couldn’t focus.

“I’ll show you I’m nothing like that fuckboy who didn’t appreciate what he had in front of him.”

In the dark of that elevator, I almost gave in. Cade had avoided me for a whole year. My hate for him had grown and grown but it was rooted in desire. Hate mixed with passion, tangled up with lust. Every woman was attracted to his mystery, his callousness, his dominance in a room.

Yet, I knew better than to be drawn to it when he’d already inverted my life once. “Nothing like him yet so similar. You took from me just like he did. He took my love for granted, you took my passion for my job.”

He chuckled near my ear. I felt the heat of his breath, the scrape of his five-o’clock shadow brushing against my skin. “I’ll do whatever is needed to keep my team in line.”

“I’m not on your team. Your team is you and no one else. You haven’t seen any of us in a year.”

“I always see you, baby doll.” He grazed his teeth over a sensitive part of my neck, and it was like an electric shock zapped through me. My whole body quivered. “Turn around for me.”

I lifted my chin, and his thumb instantly rubbed the column of my neck where he held me. Cade wanted me to fall to my knees and crumble; I swear I saw the hunger in his eyes for me to give in to my embarrassment.

Instead, I turned. I wanted him to feel what I did, the desire, the want, the tension. There was no way I was the only one feeling this. He must too.

The growl that came from him was low with appreciation as my ass brushed against his hard length. Then he whispered in my ear, “He wanted you to work it off. Can you tell what I want?”