Corrupted Chaos: An Enemies to Lovers Forced Proximity Romance (Tarnished Empire)

I woke to the faint buzz of Izzy’s phone vibrating from the living room. Someone was texting her again, and with it being so damn early, I needed to know who. Not wanting to move from her side, though, I grabbed my phone and did what I did best.

I hacked hers.

It was a complete invasion of her privacy, something a man should never do, and yet I did it with no remorse. The woman wasn’t going to have any secrets from me for too much longer if we kept going at this pace anyway.

I took over her system so I could operate her phone as if I were holding it and accessed her new messages. Over thirteen new ones, all from her ex.

I clicked into the inbox and saw red—hot, deep, anger. The man had been texting her nonstop. Berating her. Threatening her. Complaining to her about his stupid daddy’s company. Loving her. Hating her. Coaxing her. Sending her pictures. And now there were pictures of the flowers he said he’d left at her doorstep.

He was a goddamn stalker. Said me, the guy scrolling through her phone without permission. But Izzy was mine to fuck with. Not someone else’s. She did the same to me time and time again.

With Gerald, she didn’t answer him or engage with him. He’d fucked with her long enough.

I petted the waves of her hair before I curled up next to her and extended my arm to snap a picture. When I was satisfied with the outcome, I sent it his way with a text.

Me: She’s fine. She’s asleep with me. And she doesn’t like lilies, dipshit. Stop sending them.

Gerald: Is that Cade Armanelli?

Good. He knew who I was. I knew I was photographed sometimes in the news and that Izzy had spoken to him about me. When I didn’t respond, my phone rang. And I answered with a smile on my face. “Don’t call her when she’s sleeping, Gerald. She needs her rest.”

“What are you doing in bed with her?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” I asked putting a hand behind my head on the pillow and smirking at her as she stretched with the bracelet on her wrist. It looked good there, like it belonged, like maybe something of mine had always belonged on her.

“If you’re screwing my girlfriend, I swear to God, you’ll be sorry.”

“Let’s say she was still your girlfriend,” I continued down his stupid-ass line of thinking. “What exactly would you do to me, knowing I was fucking her? Knowing who I am.”

Silence stretched over the phone. I think his brain had finally kicked in.

“Text her again, and you’ll lose your fingers.” I meant every word.

“What?” He whispered as if he was daring me to repeat myself and couldn’t believe me.

I had every threat locked and loaded though. “Don’t text her again. Don’t even think about her again. Focus on that job of yours or you’ll find yourself without it, without money, without fucking electricity. Do you understand? I can take everything away from you in seconds.”

“Are you… are you messing with my company?” He stuttered out.

So, the imbecile did actually have a few brain cells. “Hacking an idiot’s life isn’t something I enjoy doing. It’s much too easy, but if you bother her again, I’ll take pleasure in it.”

I actually was already finding quite a bit of pleasure in it, but I kept that to myself for now.

As I hung up on him, Izzy narrowed her eyes at me while she tucked the sheets in close to her body. “Someone bothering a person who’s close to you?” she inquired, having no idea it was Gerald.

I moved closer to her with a smile on my face, and she shoved me back. “Um, no. Stay on your side. We had fun last night, but if you’re that serious with someone else, we probably shouldn’t—”

I cut her off by rolling on top of her and devouring her mouth. She met me with the same fervor, clawing at my back and sucking my tongue until she yanked my hair to pull me away. “Cade, I’m not into other women—”

“That was Gerald. He now understands you don’t like lilies and that you’re sleeping with me.” I showed her my phone.

“You hacked my phone?” she squeaked and then glared.

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh my God.” She rolled her eyes, laughing.

I laughed with her, and then I fucked her until we had to get to work. She made a half-assed attempt to get me to remove the bracelet before we went out to work. She told me she wouldn’t know how to explain it.

“It’s a gold bracelet.” I shrugged. “No one is going to ask about it.”

“It’s lined with huge diamonds!” She stuck her wrist in my face. “Remove it.”

I burst out laughing and refused. She didn’t fight me much after that.

I heard her deflect when one woman asked her about it, and I’d already dismissed Heather for the rest of the trip. So, no one was any the wiser. And it was a damn near perfect setup to be in the same cabin as her after that night. We worked hard in silence, and then I made her orgasm loud later on.

The itinerary had more team building and working on systems, but JUNIPER was proving to be effective, and testing with everyone was going extremely well.

I found myself enjoying not only her but the whole team. I only took two calls from my brother to handle confidential projects, and Izzy completely understood and gave me space without hesitation.

“Is she always in your cabin?” Bastian asked the third time he called to check in.

“Are you always so up in my shit? Don’t you have a wife to bother?” I responded back.

Bastian laughed like he enjoyed giving me hell. “She just yelled that she needs me to go pick up some essential oils for God knows what, and that you should buy your girl something nice. If you want to keep her around, you might want to try doing something different instead of burying your head in your phone like you normally do . . . or are you only fucking her?”

“I didn’t say I was doing any of those things with her. She’s my employee.”

“Right. So, question still stands. Are you only fucking her?”

“None of your damn business.” I hung up.

And then I called the florist.