Workplace tension

The next morning, I got ready to go to work like everything was normal. I was a junior editor at a fashion magazine. I loved giving people fashion tips, and I had my own column in the magazine.

I needed to work to earn a living.

As for the contract, I hadn't decided that I was going to sign it. It was better if I left it on my bedside table. It wasn’t like I could carry it around. If people saw it, I would be embarrassed.

I didn’t want to sign it. All the things inside were horrifying, which meant I had to find an excuse to tell Nero to explain why I was at his house in a disguise and hope for the best.

I could find another way to find out what happened to my parents. I didn’t need to be a sex doll for the next six months for a man as ruthless as Nero.

I got to work after getting my coffee at a nearby café. I worked in a cubicle with tolerable co-workers. I had only worked there for the one month I had been in New York.

“Did you hear? We have a new boss.” A co-worker said. Her name was Whitney, and she knew everything that happened in the company.

I didn’t like to engage in gossip, but that was juicy. What happened to the old boss? Everyone wanted to know these issues because they directly affected us.

“Someone bought the company yesterday, and I hear he is coming today to see the place for himself.” Another one named Mark said.

“Who is it?” I asked. Who would buy a company like Bedazzle Magazine? It wasn’t very profitable. It’s not like the purchase would guarantee a return on their investment.

Bedazzle had potential to be bigger, but it wasn’t managed very well. We all hated the managing editor. She was a bitch, and she was always in a bad mood. Which also meant she was never ready to listen to any of our ideas.

“No one knows. Let’s wait and see.”

We all went back to work for twenty minutes before Grace, the Editor-in-Chief, walked in with someone. She rarely came to see us. She handled more serious matters like who was going to be on the cover of the magazine.

All my thoughts about Grace vanished when I saw who she had brought with her.

“Mr. DeLuca, this is the Editorial Department. Here, there is the managing editor, junior and senior editors, columnists, and more.”

It was like I forgot to breathe in that moment. Everywhere I turned, Nero was there. He was in a casual suit, except, he was wearing a pull-neck shirt. He had cut his hair into a military haircut.

There was barely any hair on his head. It had been buzzed out, but on the top of his head was a good amount of hair. He wasn’t bald, but he had cut most of his hair.

He looked hot like that. Something about Nero was that he always carried himself like he owned the room. It was in the way he walked and looked at people. Even in glasses, you would still cower under his gaze.

As usual, Dominic was near him. I had a feeling those two men never parted ways.

Nero looked at everyone like he was looking for someone. Then his eyes landed on me. I looked away immediately and pretended to work. I buried my face further in my desk, pretending I didn’t see him.

I hoped the partitions of my cubicles would hide me when I looked down enough. But I felt like it was too late for that since he had already seen me.

“He’s so hot, wow. I wonder what’s under his shirt.” Whitney gushed.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t mind having him on top of me.”

I closed my eyes and prayed for the nightmare to be over. Why would be buy Bedazzle? Was it because of me? Of course, not. A man like Nero would never go through hoops to get close to a disgraced heiress.

Besides, he didn’t need to. The contract on top of my bedside table was proof enough.

“Have all the junior and senior editors meet me in the conference room,” I heard him say.

We all heard what he said, so we got out of our seats and followed Nero, Grace, and Dominic. Once we were in the conference room, we all spread out. Nero sat at the main seat where he could see everyone, and he wouldn’t stop looking at me.

It made me very uncomfortable, and people noticed.

Whitney whispered, “Does he know you?”

I nodded my head because if I said no, she would start thinking he had a crush on me or something. Rumors spread around the office like wildfire. The last thing I wanted was for people to attribute all my achievements going forward to sleeping with Nero.

Grace laid out all the rules and the implications of Nero buying the company. She told us what she expected from us going forward

“If you have any questions—”

Nero held up his hand to stop her from speaking.

“Everyone leave,” he said calmly while staring at me.

I tried to hide between people as I was leaving, but Dominic grabbed my arm to stop me.

“I didn’t say you could leave,” Nero told me.

He looked at Grace as if she were a stain on his suit. She even cowered a little under his gaze. I couldn't blame her. Nero was very intimidating.

“What are you still doing here?” He asked her.

“I thought—”

“Stop thinking and just do as I say.”

Grace looked between the two of us like she couldn’t understand why Nero would ask me to stay. But she didn’t have a choice but to leave. Once she was gone, I was nervous all over again.

“Nero—”

“Did you read the contract?”

“I don’t want to sign it,” I stated. I was very nervous, not knowing what would happen after. All I knew was that there was no way he would do anything to me at work for refusing to sign it.

I would call my uncle, and he would help after Nero left my workplace.

I wasn’t as helpless as Nero thought.

“Okay,” Nero said, to my surprise.

I didn’t think it would be that easy, but I guess Nero wasn’t as unreasonable as I thought he would be. I had misjudged him. He didn’t even demand I tell him why I was at his house in a disguise.

“Dominic, take her to the police.”

My eyes widened in shock. Why would he have me arrested for refusing to sign a contract? That was absurd.

“You can’t have me arrested for this.”

“It’s obvious you were at my house to steal something. I know your parents died, and you barely have any money, so you need my items to pawn off and earn some money. You disguised yourself to get into my house, and I found you at my office trying to break in and take something.”

“You were obviously there to steal, and since you got in through false pretences, then it’s trespassing. You'll be arrested for that.”

His words cut me deep. How dare he mention my parents?

“Fuck you, DeLuca.”

He seemed amused that I dared to tell him that.

“Dominic, add a clause against cursing to the contract. This one has a foul mouth.”

“Go fuck yourself!” I yelled.

“Is that the only insult you know? Come on, you are a junior editor here. You can get more creative than this.”

He was taunting me because he enjoyed riling me up. I couldn’t believe I didn’t see that childish side of him before. It was stupid of me to think a billionaire like him would let me go free after he found out I went to his house in a disguise.

“What’s it going to be, Serena? Are you going to sign the contract, or are you going to jail? And I just added a new clause in the company that anyone with a criminal record shouldn’t be an employee of this company.”

It hadn’t even been twelve hours since I saw him, and he was already forcing me to sign a document whose words felt illegal to read out loud.

I had no choice but to agree to what he wanted. He was a bad person, and I had no doubt in my mind that he had something to do with the death of my parents. Why would he do this to me if he didn’t?

“You said I can negotiate the hard limits?” I asked.

He smirked because he knew had had gotten what he wanted. He was hot, but he was a jackass. Too bad those looks and that body were wasted on a bad person.

“You can.”

“I don’t want blood play, branding, permanent body markings, breath play, suspension bondage, absolutely no fisting, anal sex, dubious consent, monitoring my movements outside of the bedroom, and kneeling when addressing you.”

Still amused, he trailed his eyes to my neck like it was an attractive body part. When he brought his eyes back to me, they were steel. I almost apologized for saying I didn’t want any of those things.

“I can remove all others, but I’ll not remove anal sex, breath play, suspension bondage, and kneeling when addressing me. If you don’t agree with this, feel free to go with Dominic to the police.”

I sighed and looked away. On the bright side, I had gotten rid of some things. I could try with the soft limits to see if I could negotiate some.

“About soft limits—”

“Non-negotiable. Don’t look scared. I would never do anything that your body couldn’t handle.”

That didn’t reassure me.

Dominic handed me a document I hadn’t even noticed he was holding.

“Sign it.”

“But what about the amendments—”

“I removed all the things that didn’t matter to me. All the things you negotiated are not in this contract.” Nero stated, like I was supposed to believe him.

“Like I would trust a word you say.”

I grabbed the document and opened the hard limits. Sure enough, the things I didn’t want had been removed.

I grabbed a pen and signed it. I wasn’t sure what my life would hold after this, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to look into the future.

“What now?” I asked.

Nero handed me a black card.

“I don’t want your money, DeLuca.”

“I am going to take care of you during the duration of our agreement. It’s either you take the card or I make you scream here. Dominic will be picking you up later.”

“Why?”

“You’re moving into my penthouse.”

“I’m not. And you can’t make me. That wasn’t in the contract.”

He grabbed the document and opened the tenth page.

“It clearly says here that Party A decides when and where both parties will carry out their intimate dealings. Things will be easier if you do what I want. I have ways of forcing your hand. Be ready by the time Dominic comes around. If you want, I can keep paying the rent at your place if you don’t want to lose it.”

I threw the black card back at him.

“I don’t want your money.”

He wasn’t pleased when the card hit him on the head. He shot a look at Dominic, who left immediately, leaving us alone.

He grabbed my chair and pulled it to where he was sitting.

“Defiance is forbidden, and I will not have you have an attitude when you are speaking to me.”

The urge to roll my eyes again was strong. He was very controlling, and it wasn’t even funny. I hated that he had forced me to relinquish all control over all the things we would do together.

What right did he have?

He didn’t even give me a chance to figure out what I would say to him.

In one swift movement, he pulled me over his lap. I lay over him in such a way that my head was hanging, and he had perfect access to my ass.