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

They had alcohol at night, thanks to every higher power that may exist. We’d landed early Monday. The drive in was scenic enough with forests and farmland for thirty minutes as we traveled in luxury SUVs from the airport.

As we pulled onto a gravel drive and weaved through thick pines and maples, it opened up to a sparkling lake surrounded by cabins. A bright, bouncy blonde gave us name tags the moment we exited the vehicles along with accommodation instructions and itineraries.

“The election security team is already here, and we’ve paired you all with them in separate cabins. You’ll find food in your fridge, although we will have food stations outside throughout the day. Bars with bartenders are set up between cabins for beverages, and you may call the number at the bottom of your itinerary if something isn’t up to par. You each have private Wi-Fi connections with optimum security. We truly think these two weeks will be most enjoyable once you get to know everyone. So please don’t switch accommodations.”

It was four people to a cabin, and there were five cabins available. Ms. Heather—she’d introduced herself as such—handed over bags for those of us who’d requested items. Mine clinked with the spray cans I’d asked for, considering they were prohibited on the flight.

Eight of us had come from Stonewood Enterprises. Cassie and Penelope seemed pretty disappointed that they couldn’t fight over rooming with Cade, but he’d taken his own car, and it appeared his cabin was on the other side of the lake, completely isolated from us.

“Guess Mr. Armanelli gets his own cabin,” I grumbled to Lucas as we hauled our luggage to cabins 1 and 2.

“He’s probably working on some nuclear warfare stuff that he can’t share with anyone else.” Lucas laughed and pointed to the literal log cabins ahead of us with what looked like kayaks and paddleboards set up along the shore for us if we wanted. Picnic tables and grills were sprinkled over the grassy areas, and I took note of the zip lines that were attached to some of the taller pine trees.

“Guess this is going to be some real team building, huh?” I murmured, concerned about the height as I stared at the zip line. “I’d rather have someone hold a gun to my head.”

“That’s morbid as hell, Izzy Bizzy.” He nudged me, and my duffel bag and suitcase wobbled, causing the spray cans to clink together.

“Did you request painting supplies?” Lucas sounded appalled.

“It’s two weeks! I figured we’d have free time, and I might get inspired.”

He pointed to my cabin. “That’s your inspiration. Look at your bunkmate. Holy hell.”

Cybersecurity for the election was apparently buff, tatted, and dreamy. He had a light-brown man bun and was grabbing a paddleboard in his swim trunks.

“Jesus,” I grumbled.

“Goodbye, Gerald. Hello, team building, right?” Lucas grabbed my luggage and hauled it up the porch where a little wooden swing attached to chain-links swayed gently in the wind. “Want to ask him which bed he’s in so I can set your suitcase down next to it?”

I laughed. “Shut up, you jackass. He’s going to hear.”

Right then, the guy turned around and smirked. “Oh, I heard. I’m the first room on the left. Name’s Rodney, and I’m fine with you sharing my room if you want.” He glanced at Lucas. “Happy to share with you too. I’m pan, and you both seem like my jam.” Dude even winked before he turned and ran out to the water.

“Fuuuck.” Lucas let out a string of curses under his breath. “If I come out of the closet on this trip, it’s for him.”

“Izzy.” Lucas and I jumped about a mile when we heard Cade’s low voice behind us. “Heather got the room assignments wrong. We need a private IP address to work out the last kinks of JUNIPER. So you’ll be staying with me.”

“With you?” I squeaked, and Lucas quite literally gasped, both of us in complete disbelief at Cade’s words.

He didn’t really give me or Lucas time to digest them either. He just snatched my luggage and strode away as he called out, “Don’t make noise at whatever ungodly hour you get back.”

My jaw hung open, ready to catch mosquitoes, flies, and any other sort of bugs that might fly by out in the wilderness. After a moment of silence, Lucas practically shoved me. “Why the hell does he want you in his cabin, Izzy?”

Combing a hand through my hair, I shook my head. “I really have no idea. I . . . the IP address thing is . . . I don’t know.”

This would have been a perfect time to tell Lucas about Cade, except it was one thing to tell my sister who was tucked away in the suburbs and another to tell someone who worked with us. I couldn’t tell anyone else. I was going to sweep it under the rug and hope the dust stayed put.

“I wonder if he acts normal at home. Can you record him while you stay there?” Lucas asked with a smile on his face.

“That’s a hard no. I’m not going to be hanging out in that cabin unless I have to.”

Lucas chuckled. “Bizzy, I’d be in there all day. Rodney is chef’s kiss, but Cade Armanelli, that’s forbidden perfection right there.”

It took everything I had not to glance back longingly at the cabin because he was right.

“So, Cade probably knows I’m gay now, huh?” Lucas whispered as we made our way to his cabin instead of mine.

I chuckled and welcomed the change in subject. “That, I have no idea.”

“Well, you need to go figure it out. And you need to see if there’s room for me to sleep on your floor. I’m grossly intrigued by your new living situation.”

I sighed as he shoved me away from his cabin porch. “I really hate you right now.”

“Call me if you want to hang out later, but I’ll totally understand if you don’t.” He waggled his eyebrows at me like this was a freaking reality show that I was on.

The walk through the grass, around the lake, and to the isolated cabin on the other side made my heart beat like I was on my way to either be voted off or receive the last rose.

I knocked on the door before I entered, but Cade didn’t welcome me in, open the door, or say a thing. After another knock and trying to peer in through the windows, which had closed blinds, I turned the knob.

Cade sat on the living room couch with his feet up and a laptop on his lap, typing away. “You don’t need to knock.”

“You could have just told me to come in,” I huffed and waved a hand in front of myself, already irritated.

When he didn’t respond, I decided I wouldn’t even bother engaging with him. I deserved someone’s full attention, not a half-assed comment here and there without even a look in my direction.

Scanning for my bags, I noticed the furniture was new, the countertops were granite, and the AC was cooling the place even though it was autumn and we could have opened the windows. “Looks like we’re actually going to be glamping.”

“Yes, the accommodations are fine.”

“Where did you put my bags?”

“Next to our bed,” he said, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Like we did this all the time. Like he hadn’t made a colossal mistake.

“Our bed?” I whispered. “You mean my bed?”

He closed his laptop and met my eyes for the first time since I’d walked into the cabin. “There’s one room and one bed in this cabin, Izzy. If you like, you can have the couch, but I figured you’d want a good night’s sleep and it’s a king size.”

“Why would they put me in a cabin with you without two beds?”

“I told you. There was a mistake in the itinerary.”

“Well, you can’t sleep in a bed with me!” Why did I screech that? I didn’t stop there either. I stomped down the hardwood hallway to peer into the one bedroom and growled toward the heavens. The bed appeared plush, soft pastels draped over fluffy pillows with a quilt that looked as smooth as butter. The headboard had solid pine posts stained dark to match the outside feel of the wilderness. “This has to be reason enough for me to call my therapist, text my family, and maybe even fall off the wagon.”

“If you do that, it’s not going to be on my watch,” he murmured from right behind me, and I jumped, not realizing he’d followed me in.

“Oh my God. Personal space, Cade.” I stepped back.

He tilted his head, assessing me like a foreign object. “You do realize my dick was so far up your pussy, I almost felt your heartbeat, right, dollface?”

“That was a one and done thing.” I held up a finger.

“It was actually two times—three if you count the elevator, though.” A corner of his mouth lifted as he took a step back to lean against the doorframe of the room. “I don’t think personal space is needed quite as much when I know how you taste.”

I grabbed my bags. “I’m staying with Rodney. Or Lucas.”

He chuckled and walked up to me to snatch them away. “You’re not.” He pried them from my hands. “You’re going to work with me, and we’re going to get shit done because you put work first. Right, Ms. Hardy?”

Someone questioning my work ethic always got me. I’d swear he knew what he was doing, and it made me want to punch him. “I’m only working on JUNIPER, and then I won’t be here.”

“You scared to spend time alone with me?”

“I’d rather spend time with people who believe in my work ethic, Mr. Armanelli.”

He scratched his chin, and before he got a chance to tell me what a shitty worker he thought I was again, I grabbed my laptop from my bag and breezed past him to the living room to go work.

Without his help, I gained access to our private Wi-Fi and dove in. Minutes or hours later, Cade sat down next to me. I felt his heat, even though he didn’t say a word while he looked over my shoulder.

“It’s been a couple hours, dollface. Why don’t you take a nap or eat? You’ve got to be tired from traveling?”

“I’m proving my work ethic, Cade,” I ground out.

“You can’t work on these sorts of things when you’re tired. You’re missing some of the bigger issues.” He pointed out one right in front of my face, and I slammed my laptop shut.

“Did you want me in this cabin to micromanage me?” It made sense now. He didn’t want to work with me, he wanted to make sure I didn’t mess anything up. He thought I wasn’t competent enough to handle JUNIPER. And my gut twisted at his lack of confidence in me. “If you feel the need to do that, maybe it’s better you get someone else in here to work with you.”

“I don’t work well with others.” He shrugged.

“I don’t work well with you!” I screamed. “You have no respect for me, and you don’t believe I can do this. And I need—” I stopped abruptly.

To need someone’s support, to ask for it, to want their approval, was never a good thing. Especially for someone like me. I could be let down. I knew that. I knew that I didn’t want anyone but my family that close. I couldn’t afford the risk.

“You need what, Izzy?”

“I need you to find someone else to do this with.” I waved at the computer, surrendering some of the work I was most proud of because I wasn’t willing to risk the person I’d become. I could stand on my own, be happy on my own, and operate well enough on my own. I didn’t need anyone.

It had been that way with Gerald. I’d engaged with him, but I’d never really let him in. Maybe that was why he’d hooked up with someone else, why it didn’t hurt me as badly as it should have.

“I’m only working with you.” He grabbed my rose gold laptop and opened it back up. “You might miss a few things, but you’re capable enough and more tolerable than most.”

“Do you even hear yourself? I’m ‘tolerable’? ‘Capable enough’?”

It was Cade’s turn to squirm under my assessment. “Can we just work rather than pass around compliments we don’t mean?”

I decided he wasn’t worth it and plopped back down in my seat to work in silence.

Making amends wasn’t something he was good at either. Or maybe Cade simply didn’t care to make amends with me, because he sat at the opposite end of the table and got to work, tapping away at his computer, sending me tasks digitally.

The very last one said Eat some food.

I left it unchecked, got up, and called Lucas. “Are we going in the lake today?”

He whooped and said yes.

I left Cade to his devices. We weren’t friends, he wasn’t social, and I didn’t want to engage with him anymore that day anyway. Instead, Lucas and I looked over the itinerary and mingled beside the lake.

“We get three days of no work and all play,” Lucas practically sang into the blue sky like he was in heaven.

“I’m already working. Cade wants me revamping JUNIPER for testing.”

“Damn. Did you show him the itinerary? Tell him Rodney and I need some alone time with you.” Lucas smirked.

“Ha-ha. Not happening. I just want to prove I can do this and that I’m good at—”

“You’re good at your job, Izzy. Don’t let him make you feel like you aren’t. That’s a slippery slope.”

I nodded, but doubts crept in, like the ones I used to have about not fitting in when my brothers went off to college, like the ones that pushed me into bad habits rather than healthy ones. “I just need to stay occupied and enjoy—”

“The world that this retreat is offering.” Lucas pointed to some more very sweaty, very muscular men. “I think they dropped us at a Temptation Island experiment or something. How did everyone on our team get so hot? I even stared at Cassie a little too long in her swimsuit today.”

“You did?” I turned to study him in disbelief.

Lucas’s smile was as bright as the sun setting on his blond hair. He’d put on swim trunks and abandoned his shirt to showcase his abs of steel and biceps that were strong enough to carry anyone into the lake. “Well, that’s a lie, but I stared at her flirting with Rodney.”

“Now that I believe.”

He chuckled. “Anyway, tomorrow night there’s a mandatory campfire where we should know everyone’s name, as there will be a quiz.”

“Sounds like we’d better go learn some damn names.” I shrugged and Lucas pulled me along like this was his grand adventure.

We met a few at the grill. Rodney, our buff crush, made hamburgers while Melanie, a redhead who was as small as a mouse, flirted with him. Theo was quiet and scared of the lake but nice enough.

Later that night, after enjoying a few drinks and laughing with my new friends, I meandered back to my cabin with Lucas. “You don’t have to walk me back to the cabin, Lucas. It’s like two hundred yards from yours.”

Cade, still in his navy suit and his freaking hot eyeglasses, swung open the door as we stood there, arm in arm.

He laser-focused on where our bodies linked. “Thanks for bringing her back, Lucas.”

Lucas didn’t say anything for a whole second as he gaped at Cade in glasses. He practically drooled before I elbowed him and he came back from being feral for our boss. He cleared his throat and pointed out, “See, I did need to bring you back. Mr. Armanelli is even thankful for it.”

“I’m not going to be mauled on the few steps from one cabin to the other.”

“There are bears out here.” Cade shrugged and then winked at Lucas, who was smiling like they had some inside joke.

“Bullshit. There are not.” I swiveled my head around, though.

“How do you know?” Cade leaned against the doorframe. “We’re in their territory now.”

“Actually, I think I heard one growling in the forest earlier.” Lucas carried on with him.

Still, grizzlies and black bears weren’t a joke. “I watched a documentary—they will rip apart a person. So this isn’t funny. People have died.” I stepped closer to our patio, then hesitated. “Well, how’s Lucas supposed to get back now?”

Cade outright laughed. “Security has us surrounded, Izzy. No bears are getting through. Or people, for that matter.”

Did I feel ridiculous for forgetting we were actually a national asset working on election cybersecurity? Yes. Was I going to admit it? No.

I waved him off and shoved him aside to walk into the cabin as I yelled over my shoulder, “Love you, Lucas. See you bright and early for a swim.”

Cade corrected me. “She’ll see you at noon because we need to work first.”

Lucas’s eyes widened at me, then he mouthed, “Text me,” before he spun around and hurried away.

“Great,” I grumbled, “so I’m working while everyone else gets to know each other.”

“You’d really rather do nothing with everyone than something epic online with me?” Cade stood there in his suit, looking at me with a completely puzzled expression.

“I would rather be with people I enjoy hanging out with and fit in with them.” The pull to be a part of the group was about as strong as working hard for me. They were my driving forces as an adult, and I’d accepted them.

“Why fit in when you can stand out?” he asked. “You have more ability than any of those people out there.”

“Okay.” I whispered the word, not sure how to take his compliment. We threw darts at one another, not positive reinforcement. “Even if you can stand out, sometimes it feels nice to fit in, Cade. Don’t you go out and enjoy being with friends every now and then?”

His life was private, but it put the spotlight on his brother and made him out to be a hero, a reformed mobster. Cade was happy to let his brother have the attention while he kept himself buried in his phone. No one knew what he did, but they opted for keeping their distance. Everyone was aware of his brain power, his genius, and how he could snuff out a life—via technology—on a whim.

“I enjoy my family. And I enjoy work. The internet is full of entertainment.” He shrugged, turned on his heel, and went into the kitchen. I padded over to the island counter and ignored the buzzing of arriving texts coming from my phone. “You going to answer your phone?”

“Probably not.” I shrugged. “It’s either my family, Lucas, or my ex. Lilah would call if there was an emergency, and Lucas is probably just letting me know no bears got him.”

He hummed. “And Gerald?” He sneered his name, somehow knowing the man didn’t deserve our time.

I sighed. “Honestly, at this point, I don’t check.”

He pulled some milk from the fridge and got two bowls from the cabinet. “If he’s bothering you . . .”

“If he is, then what? My boss will give him a call?” I snickered at my comment. “Quite frankly, he’d probably think you stole my phone and hurt me, considering you’re an Armanelli.”

“As an Armanelli, I don’t call people that need to be dealt with,” He grumbled. “And hurt you? Why would I ever hurt you?”

“Well, you hate me—”

“I don’t hate you.” His head shot up and his brow furrowed.

“Yes, you do. We’ve told each other numerous times—”

“You’ve told me you hate me. I’ve never said that to you.” He opened the pantry door to the left of the stove and grabbed some oat cereal. “Anyway, if he’s your ex, tell him to stay that way and stop texting.”

He waited expectantly for me to check my phone and, because I didn’t want anyone thinking I couldn’t handle my own problems, I snatched it up and scrolled to Gerald’s messages.

My brow furrowed at what they said. In between all the begging and pleading for him to take me back were questions about his father’s company.

Gerald: Izzy, I really need to talk. Things aren’t going great with the company.

Gerald: I need your support. Investors have been turning down offers left and right, saying our software within the company isn’t up to par.

Gerald: Did you do something?

I scoffed at the notion that he would think I would do anything to him. I was moving on and would never sacrifice my integrity for him.

“Something wrong?” Cade asked as he poured a helping into each bowl.

“It’s nothing. Gerald just being ridiculous.” I mumbled as I texted him back that he needed to leave me alone. When Cade pushed the cereal my way, I shook my head. “I’m not hungry. I don’t eat past eight, anyway. My metabo–”

“Eat the food, Izzy.” He placed a spoon next to the bowl and carried his back to the table where his laptop was.

“If you think we’re going to live in this place for two weeks with you bossing me around, you’re sorely mistaken.”

He sighed as he sat down in that three-piece suit to continue working. “I’m sustaining your life because I know you didn’t eat outside.”

“How would you know that?”

“Aside from the fact I could look out the window? You never eat when you’re working or socializing. You didn’t eat all last week in the office. Except for candy canes.”

“Well, I like candy canes.”

“Why? It’s not Christmastime.”

I guess he wanted to keep talking while he worked. It was an interesting change, even if talking to him while his head was in a laptop sort of felt detached.

I sat down in front of him and took a bite of the cereal because I couldn’t ignore my stomach growling. “I started that habit with Lucas. It helps keep our minds from wandering to other habits we used to indulge in.”

He did that humming thing again and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he ate. His brow furrowed, and his earthy brown eyes scanned the screen. When he mumbled out a curse, I couldn’t help but ask, “Anything I can help with?”

“No,” he answered immediately, but I left my bowl of cereal to round the table, wanting a look at what he was working on.

Just a week ago, Cade would have shifted to block the view of his screen, but now he didn’t. He may have said there was nothing I could help with, but he didn’t mind me being there. It spoke volumes about the sort of business partnership we were building. I wouldn’t venture so far as to say we were friends, or even friendly, but I liked to think his trust in my work skills might have grown slightly.

“Let me see if I can break in. I’m here to test it, right?”

He was eyeing up the Chicago PD security infrastructure, comparing it with codes that had hacked systems in the past. I’d done the research, though, and knew JUNIPER was up to par. Still, I wanted a crack from the other side.

He sighed and didn’t move. “You won’t be able to do it if I can’t, Izzy.”

I let him have another scoop of cereal and studied his full head of hair. The back of his profile was almost as good as the front. Full, thick strands just long enough to grab and dig fingers into.

My mind started to wander to other things . . . like had other girls grabbed that hair since me? Did he want me to go to bed so he could call someone else? Did he think of me sometimes like I thought of him?

“Maybe I deserve at least a chance.”

“You think you can do this when I can’t?” He shoved away from the table, leaving enough space for me to walk between him and where the laptop was located. “Come over here, then.” He pointed to his lap. “Sit right here and do it.”

He wanted me to cower, to bend to his intimidation. I didn’t hesitate, though I knew having him this close would ruin my concentration. I started to think I wasn’t ever going to be able to back down from this man, and I also believed he enjoyed challenging me.

This was about to create chaos that I might not be able to overcome. Cade always wanted the upper hand, and instead of allowing me to work while he stared over my shoulder, the man pulled himself back toward the table, sandwiching me between.

My skirt bunched high on my thighs as I gasped. “Cade, what are you doing?”

His breath was at my neck as he murmured into my ear, “Watching how fast you’re able to work while distracted.”

He didn’t waste a second, pulling up a timer on the computer screen and setting it to five minutes.

I tried to protest by grumbling, “This is stupid—”

But I was cut off by him hitting start on the screen, and my drive for wanting to do it faster and better than him kicked in. I couldn’t bear to be worse than he was or to prove him right.

I read through the coding, trying to find patterns as his fingers went to the base of my neck. He swiped away my hair and then inhaled me.

“You’re corrupting me, dollface. I tried to avoid you for days, and then I switched accommodations because I saw you look at another man. And I don’t know if I can concentrate with the smell of you in every corner of this cabin.”

I felt the air being sucked in by him, felt his hand sliding around to the front of my throat, and then his fingers wrapped around my neck. I shifted on him as his cock grew against my ass.

“You wearing panties under that skirt?”

“Shut up,” I ground out as I tried to maintain my focus.

But he squeezed my windpipe as his dick twitched. My body didn’t belong to me when I was this close to him, and my legs parted a bit as I arched, wanting to feel him, rewarding his ridiculous efforts to distract me.

He hummed as if he approved of my body shifting on him and then whispered, “No, baby. I’m shutting you up.” He cut off all my oxygen as his other hand flowed over the curves of my body, taking time to trace the underside of my breasts and then skim over my stomach before kneading one thigh. “You keep pushing like you want me to break you. Don’t you know I make the world squirm for a living, that I enjoy it?”

His dark confession heated my skin, making me wetter. I rolled into him and dropped my head back onto his shoulder to give him better access to choke me out, to nip at my neck, to consume me.

He lightened his hold. “Breathe, Izzy.”

I gasped for the air he gave me and let him push my panties to the side. The codes all blurred together, but I wanted into the system about as much as I wanted that orgasm.

The seconds ticked by. His fingers picked up speed, and I was about to surrender when it all came together, when the numbers finally stood out, and I bypassed what we hoped no one could.

“Fuck,” we both said at the same time, though for different reasons.

I gave into the orgasm, and it blinded me, my pussy clenching around him like I needed him there for eternity. He probably swore because I’d decoded and broken into what he couldn’t.

He continued the slew of curses and then mumbled, “You’re better than I thought. You’re better than anyone, Izzy, and that’s a damn problem.”

I shook my head as I leaned back into him and let his suited arms encircle my waist. It was a firm reminder that I was the mess while he was all buttoned up—still not the least bit unraveled. “This can’t keep happening. I don’t even like you, and it’s a risk to my job. I’ve worked to prove I belong on this team.”

He licked at my neck and murmured, “No one’s said you haven’t.”

“But if they think I’m screwing you, then they’ll question it, and I won’t be a part of—”

“The team,” he sighed, like he finally understood me, or at least knew what my anxieties were, because he then asked, “Did you always want to be a part of something?”

“I grew up in a household full of kids. I was the youngest. I needed them to see me, even if it . . .” I’d never meant to blurt that out to him. Maybe it was the moment or the fact that I’d done something that he couldn’t, and I felt like I finally had enough of his respect to share something personal.

“Your family would see you either way. Everyone sees you, even when you’re not paying attention.”

I sat up and glanced back at him. “What do you mean?”

Cade’s eyes were melted chocolate, and his look suddenly felt approachable. Maybe in another world, it would have been. I swear we could have been friends had we met at a different time, in another life.

Here, we couldn’t.