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

One whole stupid month.

He disappeared on me for a whole fucking month.

And it was a big month too. The news went wild with our nation breaking alliances off with Albania. We couldn’t ship there, operate businesses there, fly there. It was probably in everyone’s best interest to not even utter their nation’s name.

Cade had done that. Yet, the Armanellis apologized for nothing. The president commended them and Stonewood Enterprises for finding the hack, for unearthing more, and for their patriotism in the nation. I was never mentioned, but Cade seemed to be mentioned everywhere, except in my life.

He didn’t call, didn’t text, and didn’t even email.

But every day, he sent roses. And the one and only message had come attached to them the first day. You get roses for the rest of your life, dollface. You deserve them for what I put you through.

My mother wouldn’t let me throw them in the trash.

That first week, the election went off without a hitch, but I wasn’t allowed to go back to work to be a part of it. Lucas called me screaming about how our president was back in office, how we’d done it. It was one good blip in a sea of darkness. I tried to be happy our system went off without a hitch, that there was no hacking of the election. Yet, I couldn’t celebrate without him.

Cade had left me. And nothing felt whole when he wasn’t there.

The few days at home with my family came and went. I wanted to get back into my apartment; I wanted to get back to work and establish my routine. I needed to get back to normal. Yet, that same night, the apartment company emailed to say they were sorry I was canceling my lease but they completely understood.

I called the next day. “But I’m not canceling.”

“Oh, we received your email and signature. We’ve already accepted the payment, Ms. Hardy, and we’ve been blessed with a few applications for your unit already.”

“That fast?” I said in disbelief, but I knew what was happening.

Fucking Cade.

“We really appreciate the generous lump sum you provided—”

I hung up. That’s when I started the voicemails to him. I smashed his number into my phone and waited for him to not pick up so I could leave a message.

“Listen, you dick, you don’t want to be a part of my life, then stop meddling in it. I told you I loved you and you left me. That means that’s it. And stop sending me flowers. Technically, you’re sending them to my mom because all of them would be in the trash if it weren’t for her.” I sighed and tried not to cry. “I need to go back to my apartment. I’m . . . I freaking miss you, and my heart is breaking, and I can’t do that here. I don’t want to break down in front of my family. It’s not fair to them.”

He didn’t call back.

And, of course, I then broke down in front of my sister and my mom. They held me as I cried. We ate ice cream and watched the Real Housewives, and Lucas even drove over to watch it with us. It was terrible and gross and exactly what I needed.

The next day, I got another email saying my penthouse apartment in the city was ready.

I called him again and left another nasty voicemail telling him I didn’t want it. But my dad told me to quit being a baby about it and take a nice ass penthouse when it was offered.

“Oh, should I take Bug with me?” I lifted a brow, because the man was sitting there with my cat on his lap.

He looked instantly nervous. “I’ll keep Bug for a bit, huh? She needs a vacation from you two and your chaos.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled. Yet, he was probably right. Plus, Lilah and Lucas wanted that penthouse for me, and they pretty much packed my suitcase and dragged me there.

I walked in, and on the island counter were more roses. Outrageous amounts.

But no Cade.

Lucas told me not to dwell and to just enjoy the damn penthouse. So I made him come with me to move in my belongings. Not much was needed though. Beautiful leather furniture had been placed throughout with expensive paintings on the walls, lush carpets, and a walk-in closet that held a whole wardrobe of pencil skirts and freaking nineties T-shirts. My heart hurt when I saw a folded pile of Edward Scissorhands, Men in Black, and Pulp Fiction graphics. Another pile though had Harley Quinn on each shirt. He was making additions to my freaking life, like he wanted to be in it, like he still knew me and wanted me.

I fumed to Lucas and made him stay over night after night to keep me company.

We talked about our sobriety. I told him I was scared, and he held my hand while we both cried. I think we decided then that it was best for me to go back to work, to find purpose without Cade, and to move on.

Yet, when I tried, Jett Stonewood met me in the lobby of the damn building with his wife.

He informed me that Cade really wanted me to take some time off. I tried to temper my anger and my hand went to my wrist to twist the bracelet that wasn’t there anymore.

Fury flew through me at the thought that he’d taken that too. He’d taken my heart, the bracelet, and his love from me.

So, want to know what I told the owner of Stonewood Enterprises?

“You can fuck right off, too, Jett,” I growled, because I was so done with all of them.

His wife was this beautiful tall blonde, and she looked up at him and said, “Well, she’s right. You’re all assholes.”

“Vick.” He sighed, but he was looking at her like she was the sun, the moon, and the stars.

“Come with me, Izzy.” She looped her arm in mine and didn’t wait another second to be told to stay put.

She led me to the elevators and then to my desk, talking the whole time. “They think they’re smart, but they’re so dumb. Just ignore them and do all the work here that you want. If they try to lock you out of your office, here’s my number. Cade’s being idiotic. He’ll be back.”

“I don’t want him back,” I seethed like an upset child.

“Right. My husband told me he left after a hiccup with the election system?”

I narrowed my eyes at her, and she narrowed her honey eyes back at me. “I’m not sure we should be talking.”

“Oh.” She tapped her chin. “You don’t trust me yet, but I can assure you, I know pretty much everything that goes on around here. And because I know everything, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you have a right to be mad.”

“Okay.” I dragged out the word, unsure what else to say.

She smiled wide and told me to follow her. She wore the brightest pink dress that matched the bright-pink purse on her arm, and she waved to a few of my coworkers as we walked to Cade’s office. Then, she opened the door for me and shut it tight behind her before fogging the windows so no one could see in.

Then, without saying a word, she rummaged in her purse and pulled out a red spray can. “You used this on one ex before, right?”

I cleared my throat. “That was a—”

“Well,” She hesitated only a moment. “There was the bed at the retreat, too, right?”

“I’m going to pay them back for—”

She uncapped the spray paint and shook it in her hands. “Do you think he likes his computers in here?”

“Sure.” I shrugged.

“Good.” She walked over to one screen and grabbed my arm to pull me over with her. Then she handed me the can.

“I personally think you should write coward on them. He’s being a baby and isn’t sure how to handle his love for you, but he’s been a complete dick, so it might be a good idea to write that on there.”

The woman was a little off. Maybe even a lot off. But I liked her.

I liked her a lot. And I smiled the whole time I wrote dick on each one of his screens. Vick applauded me and told me she’d take care of her husband and I should come to work every day I wanted to.

So for the remainder of that week, I worked alongside my team.

For every day I was in the office, candy canes and subs were delivered. It was always paid for at the same time and without a note. The team rejoiced, saying they knew it was Cade.

I got madder.

The next week, I still couldn’t get through to him on the phone. I couldn’t see him at work because he never came to the office. And when I checked my bank account one night, I saw extra zeros behind my balance. More zeros than I’d ever seen in my life.

I called him again. No answer.

I couldn’t even track his location because he blocked me every time I tried to hack something that led me to his IP address, which proved to me that he was alive, which pissed me off more.

But I felt my fury this time. I felt it with every bone in my body.

He’d made love to me the night after rescuing me. He’d told me I held the power, and I felt it.

Felt how it swallowed me up and consumed me.

I probably went a little crazy. In all fairness, he’d told me to embrace every emotion, and I really had. Lucas told me I looked deranged during that second and third week.

By the fourth, I’d snapped at just about everyone, and then went home to wallow in the pain of being mad at him but missing him too.

Gerald continued texting me and hounding me for one meeting even if it would be our last. He seemed desperate and willing to take whatever he could get from me. I agreed mostly just to spite Cade. I’d give Gerald the closure that Cade wasn’t giving me at all.

The day was beautiful, the late fall breeze blew into the windows I’d opened, and the trees rustled with their last lingering leaves as the sun shined through the shade right into my penthouse. I texted Gerald the address and told him to make his way over.

But guess who showed up ten minutes later?

He didn’t even knock. He had a fucking key and unlocked the door to walk right in.

I didn’t move from the cozy furniture that had been placed there for me before I moved in. “Get out, Cade,” I murmured without looking up from my phone.

I heard him walk over and sit down in the leather chair across from the couch. I wouldn’t look at him. I couldn’t. I’d mourned the man for a month, even though he wasn’t dead. But the loss of him leaving me for no reason felt the same as if he had.

“I’ll say it again, and calmly, one last time. Please leave. I have nothing to say to you.”

“Well, we don’t have to talk,” he said casually, as if it was completely normal for him to stroll into my home after vanishing on me weeks ago.

“Get the fuck out,” I screamed and threw my phone before whipping my head up to see him. I gasped at his appearance. He was thinner, with dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t been sleeping, but he looked just as formidable, maybe even more so. And he didn’t move a muscle or flinch when I screamed.

I pushed up from the couch and stomped toward him, my wrath radiating off me. I felt the heat, the pain, the waves of vitriol running through my head. There was so much I wanted to spew at him. “Did you hear me?”

He frowned at me without moving a single inch. I could see love and remorse in his gaze, but I hated it now.

The only feeling I would have died for a month ago, I now wanted nothing to do with. The hole he’d made in my heart was cavernous. So dark I couldn’t find a step to stand on to save me, to help me climb out. I’d instead dug a hole in it and made a home. I was staying there. Staying away from him.

“I don’t want you here. I don’t want to see your face. I don’t want to hear your voice. Or feel your goddamn presence. Or smell your fucking smell!” My voice shook. “Get out.”

“Izzy, I think I’m going to stay,” he said as if he’d considered all options and this was his best bet.

“Gerald’s coming here.” I threw up my hands. “Gerald’s coming to say sorry and take me out for a drink. Can you imagine . . . a sorry?”

“Seems a bit ridiculous,” he had the audacity to say.

“You would think so, considering you can send a million dozen roses and not ever utter an apology to me.”

“What would I be sorry for?” he inquired, and I considered whether I could choke him out and win the fight with the rage that pumped through my veins.

“Do you really want to be here when he comes? He was hurt by your text. Not that it really matters. He can be hurt all he wants, but he’s also mad. For all I know, honestly, he might punch you. Quite frankly, I hope he does,” I threw out, trying to get him to leave. God, I was childish.

“I hope he does too.” Cade smiled at me, like he wanted to unleash something. And my body instantly buzzed to life.

I spun around, furious that I still reacted to him at all. I knew this wasn’t right. I hated how much I loved him. How much I always would. “I’m trying here, Cade. I’m moving on like you told me to.”

“I didn’t tell you that. I said to give it some time,” he murmured.

“Yes. And we can all assume—”

“Do you always assume things, Izzy? Because I never told you I hated you when we first met either, but you imagined that too.”

“Cade,” I took a deep breath in warning and paced away from him toward the kitchen. He got up to follow and leaned his hip on the counter as I pointed a finger at him. “You told me to move on.”

“But neither of us can.”

Those five words, said with such conviction, had me turning around like the girl from The Exorcist. If my head could have spun a full 360 degrees, it would have. Instead, on one heel, I made that turn, so slow and full of fury that I knew he’d better listen. “Take it back right now, Cade Armanelli. I am moving on.”

“Shit, baby.” He cracked his knuckles as he looked me up and down. “You look more pissed than I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen you pretty mad. I’m trying not to be turned on, but don’t come near me or I’ll fold.”

The fact that he hadn’t answered my calls and had ignored my voicemails, then waltzed in here like nothing was wrong, had me seeing a red so bright I might have been blinded by it.

“You’ll— Are you kidding me right now?” I stopped, not willing to walk any closer. I couldn’t risk my heart wanting him when my mind knew better.

But both of us halted when there was a knock at the door. I was about to brush past Cade to answer it, but he grabbed my arm to say in a low voice, “I’ll be nice if I have to, Izzy, but I can only take so much.”

I ripped my arm from his grasp and glared at him. “You’ll take whatever I want—even if it means Gerald and I getting back together—considering we’re not even dating.”

That Armanelli man had the audacity to grumble like a little boy as he stomped over to the kitchen island stool and took a seat. “We could go back to being enemies, and I still wouldn’t allow that shit. He’d be a dead man walking.”