Page 20

Cora squares her shoulders and lifts her chin, her stance firm and unyielding as she meets my gaze head-on. The fire in her eyes dares me to try and break her.
“You can’t fire me, Mr. Hayes. Or should I call you Jonathon? Or James?” She tilts her head, a silent dare in her eyes.
I freeze, my pulse hammering in my throat.
“What did you just say?” I whisper, my voice nothing more than a low rasp. Now Iknowshe’s playing me.
She waves a hand dismissively. “Try firing me without cause, Mr. Hayes. Let’s see how well that goes over with HR. I’m sure they’ll be fascinated to hear why their CEO is so desperate to get rid of a new hire. Care to explain it to them—or shall I?”
She waits a beat, then adds with a smirk, “Exactly. I was hired to improve the public’s perception of this company and to enhance the work culture. From what I’ve seen so far, a fish rots from the head down. And in this case, Mr. Hayes, the stench is unmistakable.” Her nose wrinkles in mock disgust as she looks me over, her disdain palpable.
Oh, the feeling is mutual, my sweet slut.
My teeth clench at the way she says “Mr. Hayes” in that condescending tone. Seems Miss Submissive isn’t as submissive as she pretended to be.
“Miss Rossi—”
“In the workplace,” she interrupts, “the correct title is Ms., not Miss. Or do you struggle with basic etiquette? Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Let’s try again: You can call me Cora.”
She gives me a sweet, insincere smile that makes my blood boil.
How about brat? That’s a little more fitting.
The urge to bend her over my knee and spank the insolence out of her is almost overwhelming. My hand clenches at my side, and I have to force myself to stay still, to not react the way every instinct is screaming at me to.
I close the distance between us in a single, deliberate step, forcing her to tilt her head back to meet my eyes.
“Alright, Cora. I’m going to ignore the fact you just threatened me and say this only once. Whatever game you’re playing, it’s not going to work. Resign immediately, and we’ll pretend this never happened. But if you stay”—I lean in, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper—“I will make you regret it. You won’t win this war.”
I stare her down, my eyes boring into hers, making it clear I’m not to be fucked with. Grown men have crumbled under this look, but Cora holds firm, and her defiance only makes me more determined to break her.
She swallows hard, her throat bobbing as she processes my ultimatum. My eyes are drawn to the delicate line of her neck, and the urge to wrap my hand around it is almost too much to bear.
“Bring it on,” she snarls. Then, before I can respond, she spins on her heel, yanks the door open and marches out, her fury trailing behind her like a storm cloud.
Alone, I take a deep breath, trying to steady the whirlwind of emotions churning inside me. Her scent lingers in the air, teasing me, and I tilt my head back, staring at the ceiling as if the answers I need might be written there.
“Fuck,” I grunt.
Anger still courses through me as I stalk back to my office, bypassing Portia, my executive assistant. She opens her mouth to speak, but one look at my face has her quickly shutting it. I don’t have the patience for anything right now.
Throwing open my office door, I find Dameon, my co-CEO and best friend, lounging in one of the chairs opposite my desk.
“How was town—” he begins. “Jesus, what the fuck happened to you?”
Dameon and I have been through everything together. Our grandfathers founded Hayes & Hayward Media, and we were always destined to take over. When my father stepped down earlier than planned a few years ago, Dameon’s father did the same, leaving us to steer the ship together. We’ve faced our share of crises, especially with the Australian arm of the business, but this… this is new territory.
“We have a problem,” I say, sinking into my chair.
His eyebrows shoot up. “What kind of problem?”
“Our new senior public affairs specialist.”
“Yeah?”
“She’s also the new goddess at Eden.”
Dameon’s eyes widen. “Please tell me you haven’t fucked her yet.”