The Data Thief (Chapter 39 on 11/14/24)

[Lionsheart]

Hi everyone! Here I am again, starting a new series. I have 18 chapters written and plan to post once to twice a week. I hope everyone enjoys reading this as much as I did writing this. If you're a fan of my past stories, you can expect twists, turns and tension between the MMC and FMC. 

Teaser trailer: Emma Marie Rose is a cutt-throat and well-trained data thief, the top of her agency that is contracted to expose and blackmail their clients victims. She is given one assignment that she knew going in was risky, possibly the hardest assignment yet but the largest payout she'd ever see in her career. She was assigned not one, but four targets to blackmail and expose their deepest, darkest secrets. Like always, she'd plan to destroy a company from the inside out and then disappear. Little does Emma know, things would get much more complicated as she discovers her own deepest darkest secrets in the process and meets the CEO of a company who flips her world upside down. What starts as a mission of destruction quickly spirals into a high-stakes game of deceit and revelation, where Emma's own secrets threaten to unravel her carefully fabricated life as she knew it.

Trigger Warnings: Mental health, ED, smut

 

The Data Thief

 

Chapter 1: The Assignment

Emma fixed her makeup in the brightly lit marble lined bathroom, popping on her pink lip gloss and fixing her long soft wavy brunette, almost blonde hair, tied up in a ponytail with her bangs drifting messily to her left above her brow.

“Gabriella Simmons, you can call me Gabby. Nice to meet you.” She said in the mirror softly, moss green eyes saying with conviction and a bright smile that was playful, maybe a hint flirtatious. Her face fell flat, her mask disappearing as she was happy with her look to go into the interview with. It was cute, girly and flirty, all to charm her hopefully soon-to-be victims. She was walking into an office full of white corporate assholes, her favorite specimen of male to cyber bully and embarrass, one by one. Some would quit. Some would deny everything she revealed of their personal chats and messages. Some would have a midlife crisis and buy an expensive car when their wives broke up with them.

Emma flashed a wicked smile to herself in the mirror before swinging her purse over her shoulder, knowing she was going to quietly slow-torment an office into the fiery flames of corporate self-annihilation, just like she had many times before. She got paid a nice commission by her agency to do so and it was a rewarding job. She was the top of her agency, after all, no one was as fast nor as skilled in hacking as she was. Her targets didn’t even question or bat an eye as she tore their businesses apart, employee by employee.

Emma took in a breath before leaving the bathroom, knowing this assignment was different than the rest. Usually, Emma didn't break a sweat, she barely even felt nervous. Exhilaration and excitement was all she felt yet, since the moment she was given this assignment, something felt off. Maybe it was because it was the highest commission she'd ever get on an assignment or maybe it was because her agency was losing it's star players left and right before she accepted it. She really couldn't pinpoint it and chalked it up to the higher payout which typically meant higher stakes.

All she could remember vividly was when her coworker and best friend, Graham, announced this assignment and she confronted her manager about it. To say the least, that's how she ended up in this predicament as she was convinced by her boss to accept it, against her better judgement.

 

“Emmaleeeeeesi! Here ya go, smoke show.” Graham smiled large with a mocking tone when he said ‘smoke show’ referring to what a past target called her on her prior job. He held up a file folder as Emma walked into the office with her iced coffee, passing him as she plucked the file from his hands. His soft brown eyes bouncing at the assignment.

“Emmaleesi, queen of corporate fire, chaos and dragons is here, late as usual.” Bailey, her manager, muttered as she looked at her gold watch, waiting in Emma’s office as Graham followed behind.

“Thank you, I will take all the compliments and bonuses that come with the title.” Emma smiled, setting down her iced coffee on her desk and dropping her bag in her desk drawer.

“Your client wants to meet tomorrow at Starbucks around the corner at 9AM. Just make sure you’re on time.” Bailey said, going back to her own office, “I’m putting it in your calendar.”

Graham closed the door and raised his eyebrows to Bailey, “Think the boss is mad about your tardiness.”

Emma shrugged, “First off, I’m a contractor technically, not her employee. Not to mention, I was gone for 5 months on that last assignment and almost got sexually assaulted by the last target. Bailey can lay off me for a second, I didn’t ask for a higher commission. She’s lucky, considering I’m bringing in almost half of our clientele and getting her more referrals.”

Graham smiled, “Bailey is dealing with losing Kiara over the weekend. I don't think it’s you.”

“What happened to Kiara?” Emma asked, confused.

“She got caught by her target. He found her in his files. She had to resign from our team, in case she is turned into the police for breaching private data. Worse, if her target finds out about our agency, we can get sued and exposed. Bailey is paranoid.”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Well, I told Bailey that the assignment she gave Kiara was a suicide mission, hence why I didn’t even humor it. The target had fingerprint access to most of his encrypted data."

Graham nodded, pausing a moment as he looked at the file on Emma’s desk, “Speaking of suicide missions…”

Emma deadpanned Graham a look, “You’re not messing with me, are you?” She opened the file folder he handed her earlier and logged into her computer, looking at her email and the files Graham emailed for her new assignment. He stayed silent as she clicked through the notes, “Penn & Williams Consulting Agency, 4 targets in one office.” She scrunched her face in a cute way that if Graham was straight, he’d probably find her attractive, “What in the fuck is Bailey doing? You know what-” Emma got up, storming out of her office and across the building, passing coworkers who whispered to each other as Emma’s face was blatantly irritated.

Bailey was on her phone, pushing back a stray hair in her light blonde hair into her tight pony tail. Her blue eyes widened seeing Emma storm in and close the door. “I’ll have to let you go for a moment here, Brittney.” She said goodbye and crossed her arms and looked to Emma, “Yes?”

“Excuse my language, Bailey, but, what in the fuck type of assignment is this?” She held the file folder up, “I said I’m not doing suicide missions or attempting them. Thought I told you that loud and clear last time.”

“It’s not a suicide mission, first off. Second off, you used to love assignments like this, why isn’t this enticing you? Thought you’d like a challenge since you’ve been taking the easiest assignments lately.” Bailey said, going to her desktop and typing an email, slightly ignoring Emma.

“That was until I almost got caught a year ago, Bailey.” Emma said, her jaw tight. A silent anger bubbled in her chest, going to her neck, "And I'll have you know that last 5 month assignment was not easy in the slightest. I almost got sexually assaulted." 

Bailey crossed her arms with a sigh, “Well, we don’t have anyone else who could be up for this job. The target likes hiring petite and stunning mid-twenties women. No offense to our office mates, but we have too many guys on staff and mid-thirties women. It was either you or Kiara and, well, Kiara isn’t an option anymore.” Bailey said, sighing, “You have to pull your weight again, there’s not much we can do here. After this assignment you can take a month off. I’ll even throw in 10% extra.” She said, eyes sliding to Emma, knowing she was easier to persuade with time off and money.

“Four targets and only ten percent? 30% extra and 6 weeks.” Emma sneered.

Bailey turned to Emma, setting her hands together on the light brown desk with a sigh. After a pause of thought, she said, “20% extra and 5 weeks. Take it or leave it.”

Emma stared hard at the desk wood, it wasn’t an impossible assignment… but, it was high risk. This was possibly the hardest assignment she’d ever get but could mean the biggest payout she'd ever see. “What’s the payment and contract length?” Emma asked, eyes meeting Bailey’s even stare.

“400K and 6 months minimum.”

Emma almost choked on air, “Who even has that type of money?” Her eyes widened. Emma got a 10% split on her assignments payouts as commission. 30% meant a whopping commission of 120K. She'd never seen a six figure payout, Bailey was desperate it seemed. Emma wouldn’t need to work for a year after that if Bailey would let her.

“The client had a multi-millionaire family member pass away who owned a large company and got a considerable life insurance benefit check. She’s desperate to take down the whole company for what they did to her and heard of our work.” Bailey said, going back to her desktop, “Is that enough for you to move forward?”

Emma’s mouth was dry from being open as she stood, “Sure, but-“ She shook her head, “what did the targets do to her?” What was bad enough to pay for $400,000 in revenge? That thought would keep Emma up at night, although it really wasn't her business.

Bailey’s mouth fell in a line, “You’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

 

The next day, Emma walked into Starbucks a bit hesitantly. She ordered her iced oatmilk latte and sat down in a unoccupied corner, awaiting her new client. The client walked in and Emma waved, with a friendly smile. A girl with warm brown eyes and blonde long hair walked over after getting her coffee.

“Brittney, nice to meet you, uhm-“

“Gabby Simmons, nice to meet you.” Emma nodded, already in code name. This was a risky assignment and she wasn’t faltering, not even with the client.

“Gabby, pleasure to meet you and no offense, but-“ She blurted, “you are just nothing like I expected.” Her brown eyes apologetic immediately following her words.

Emma smiled, “You are fine, I get that all the time.” She didn’t know what it was, but a lot of clients thought she would be ugly or invisible, yet Emma was starkly visible and memorable. She had a charm to her that made her such a good asset to her assignments. She was quick-witted and undetectable, none of her clients knew what her true intentions were until she left them vulnerable and exposed.

“Can I just ask a question?” Brittney asked, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears.

“Sure.” Emma nodded.

“How did you get into this- uh, profession?” Brittney asked, curious. The girl was Emma’s age and, if not for being a client, Emma would have been friends easily with this girl.

Emma licked her lips as her smile faded, “High school bullies. Sounds stupid but, ah, fuck them. They can all fuck off.” She said, with a confidence in her voice as a tinge of pain flashed in her eyes that Brittney caught.

Brittney smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Only a shared sadness and sympathy reflected in Brittney’s eyes, “Then it sounds like I have the right person for this job.”

[Guilend]

YAY YOU'RE BACK.
Great first chapter. Enough bait to attract the fishes. I am sure the next chapter or two will something edgy or flashy to really get peoples attention and then you have them on the hook. After that it's easy fishing.
(fine, I haven't been fishing it over 20 years and even then I didn't know anything lol)

[Lionsheart]

1 hour ago, Guilend said:

YAY YOU'RE BACK.
Great first chapter. Enough bait to attract the fishes. I am sure the next chapter or two will something edgy or flashy to really get peoples attention and then you have them on the hook. After that it's easy fishing.
(fine, I haven't been fishing it over 20 years and even then I didn't know anything lol)

Hahaha!! This comment gave me a good laugh. Happy to see you found my story so quickly! Hope you enjoy this one, I'm sure the next few chapters will not disappoint. *evil laughter* 😈 

[BabyLock]

The Data Theif (Chapter 1 on 8/4/24)

Spelling THEIF should be THIEF

Unless this was intentional

[Lionsheart]

3 minutes ago, BabyLock said:

The Data Theif (Chapter 1 on 8/4/24)

Spelling THEIF should be THIEF

Unless this was intentional

Thank you for this. I can write 20K words with minimal spelling issues but it seems I can't write three word titles, haha! 😅

[Lionsheart]

I promise this is the last post to this board tonight. I was planning to post this tomorrow but I have no self-control. Here's some more for anyone diving in day one.

 

 Chapter 2: The Interview

 

Emma swallowed, eyes looking shyly to the ground in the reception area she sat. She waited with her resume in her hands as she saw in her peripheral vision a tall orange haired woman with model-like figure walk over, “Gabriella?”

“Yes, that’s me. Please, call me Gabby.” Emma smiled like she had earlier as she stood, a half a foot shorter than the 30 year old orange haired and beautiful woman in front of her. Emma should have worn heels, yet she feared that wouldn't do well. The men interviewers seemed to like the short women here. She needed to make sure there was no question about how short she was. It's not like she would be that tall in high heels anyways but Emma could not mess this up. The interview was everything for this assignment. If she didn't get hired, good bye to the $120K and probably her job. Bailey was seemingly stressed the past week about losing Kiara and the agency felt it. 

“My name’s Jessica, nice to meet you. Follow me and I’ll take you to where the interview will be.” She said with a red lipstick smile with freckles as she led Emma around the circular hallway lined with large floor to ceiling glass window offices on the 14^th floor. Emma’s eyes scanned quickly the rooms, smiling at some people’s gazes she met that wandered after her.

Mostly tall men made up the faces she saw, given, maybe a few woman here or there. It was definitely a 'bro' vibe she felt as she studied the initial feel of the office. She saw at least a diversity in the culture, which was a nice surprise. She imagined the company was at the very least 50 people large that went into the office. Those were the perfect sizes for her to break. The employee amount small enough that they knew each other and large enough that the company could fall very far down and spiral out of control. Just the way Emma liked it.

“Up this way.” Jessica walked past the circular hallway that connected to a large room with cubicles and people within them. The large staircase led to an overlooking hallway down to the main cubicle floor. Jessica turned at the second connecting hallway and walked all the way down to the end. Emma read the engraved name into the plaque on the door, blinking in surprise. 

No, she wasn’t meeting him first, was she? Emma hadn’t prepared for this. She’d prepared to meet Douglas Vandson, who usually conducted the interviews, not the CEO of the fucking company! Well, fuck me. She thought, feeling her palms suddenly becoming sweaty. Jessica knocked the dark walnut double doors and opened them, nodding to Emma for her to go forward. 

Emma practiced how she would introduce herself twenty times, yet nothing prepared her for this. She walked in with a slow breath to steady her emotions, eyes looking at the expresso colored wood floors that lead to floor to ceiling windows and the man sitting at an executive desk. There was a brown leather couch with clawfeet, upholstered wingback chair, a dark walnut coffee table and marled rug to the right of the room giving it a cozy, elegant look. 

Emma found her mouth dry, suddenly feeling warmth travel to her cheeks as she felt like she couldn’t speak as her moss green eyes met his across the room. His eyes were an intense yet warm brown that had been studying hers from the moment the doors opened, curious and watchful.  She didn’t know what was happening to her, feeling suddenly naked in his presence as if she wasn't on an assignment anymore. 

“Gabriella Simmons?” He asked, standing his full height of 6'3 and giving a handsome smile with his canines in display. Emma blinked at his height and felt intimidated by his size. He had a charming charisma about him that was completely opposite of what she expected from what she heard from Brittney. Although Brittney didn't tell her what he did to her that she'd pay $400,000 to ruin his company, she did say he was the most intense and controlling person she'd ever met. He wasn’t seemingly off-putting or giving tell-tale signs that Brittney alluded to, yet at least. It had only been 3 seconds after all and Emma had to set aside her flustered feelings that made her slightly drool at how damn attractive he was. Brittney could have at least warned her of that! 

Emma nodded, “Yes. Please, call me Gabby.” She was stepping into the room as Jessica closed the doors and left them alone. Alone. 

Humor was playing at his expression as he nodded to the seat, “Nice to meet you, I’m Chad. Chad Williams.” He extended his hand as Emma realized how far back she was in the rather large room.

She walked forward, almost tripping as she took his hand and shook, “N-nice to meet you, Mr. Williams.” She internally winced that her hand felt sweaty and made contact with his large hand.

His eyes studied her moss green ones, a thought flitting across his face as he sat down, “Have a seat, please.”

“Thank you.” She said, setting down her purse and feeling suddenly like she forgot why she was there. His intense stare gave her an intimidating feeling she couldn’t shake the moment she came in his office. She was completely thrown off her game since the moment she saw his name on the door. 

He sat back behind his large mahogany desk with a silence as he watched her for a moment longer as she looked in her own little world. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he said, “So tell me, what’s your work experience for this role?”

Emma met his warm brown eyes, blinking at the thought of how he got more attractive when she was closer to him, “I- uh,” His eyes awaited her to say more, but she was obviously flustered as she said, “sorry, I have it here.” Emma usually would recite her experience without fault, but in all honesty, she forgot who the fuck she was the moment she entered the room. She scrambled to her folder and pulled out her resume, “Here.” He didn’t move to grab it as she held the papers awkwardly in front of him.

His eyes shifted to slight annoyance as he looked down narrowly to the resume, “Hm, how about you read it to me?”

The look on his face told Emma she already failed this interview. Although it wouldn’t matter in the broad scheme if she failed, for some reason it made her face redder that he asked her to read him her resume like a child. A fucking child. She was angered at his tone but swallowed back her pride. Forget the fact that he was handsome, she now understood what Brittney warned her about.

“Sure.” She said, a bit of an unanticipated edge to her voice, “Receptionist at Kueller Firm in 2023 to 2025. I was an Administrative Assistant from 2021 to 2023 prior to then.” Her voice was shaking in a mix of emotions. Anger, nervousness and frustration she was already terribly flunking this interview with the CEO of the fucking company. She still couldn’t believe she had an interview with Chad motherfucking Williams! How did this even happen? From Brittney, she knew that it took a few interviews to get to Chad, if he even showed up. Why was he interviewing her? Didn't he have more important things to do with his time?

“Thank you.” He said with a humorous gaze like he was enjoying this thoroughly as she looked up. He paused, clearing his throat, “So you have experience in administrative work I take it?” 

“Yes, the past 5 years.” She nodded, regaining some of her control on her rapid pulse and fluctuating emotions. One moment she was flushed and drooling, the next she was annoyed. Maybe she was PMSing? She shook off the thoughts, attempting to recenter herself.

“How about being a personal assistant?” He asked, head tilting and his caramel brown medium length hair moving slightly. He looked nothing like a CEO to Emma. He was in his early 30’s, muscular and tall, if anything, she’d think a 30 year old would be at highest a midlevel manager. She was not expecting he’d be this damn attractive either and by god was she fucked if she got the job.

She realized she was staring for a second to long, blinking, “I got coffee for the law office if that counts.” She said with a shrug, fixing her bangs that fell slightly more messy from feeling so heated.

“Yes, it does.” He smirked, eyes intensely still looking at her. 

“I think I applied for the Administrative Assistant, if I had that right?” She asked, eyes looking down at her resume, trying to break his intense stare that felt like she was naked or he knew she was on an assignment. Like he saw through her facade. She knew there was no way, but his eyes were unwavering and held a confidence she couldn't describe.

“You did. We have different responsibilities for our Administrative Assistant. This role is mainly for my own personal assistance, scheduling, email management and other tasks.” He said, eyes falling to her blushing cheeks and then back to her eyes.

“Oh.” She said, shifting in her black skirt. That was not what Brittney said her role was. Brittney was an administrative assistant for management, not the fucking assistant of the CEO Chad Williams. 

“Is that not what you were looking for? An administrative role?” He asked, face turning into an unreadable look.

Emma shook her head, “No-“ She paused, “I mean, yes, I was. I just did not read those responsibilities on the job application. I can do those things, I do them now anyways.” She said with a timid smile that didn’t meet her eyes. 

His expression became cold and the shift in the room was palpable to Emma, “Good.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest with a silence following, “It was nice meeting you, Miss Simmons. I’ll have Jessica escort you back.” 

Emma’s face felt hot, “Uhm, I uh-“ She stumbled on her words, surprised that the interview was over, “When will I hear about this position?”

“If selected, you should hear from us in the next week.” He said as he texted in his phone quickly. His intense stare and attention was gone, replaced with what felt like a cold shoulder to Emma.

Emma nodded, her mask falling for a brief moment and annoyance showing on her face blatantly at the sudden shift of emotion from him, “Can I ask why you are ending this so soon?” She wasn’t going to get the job, she knew it at this point.

Chad’s face tilted up in surprise by the question as he set his phone down, a quiet rage in his eyes by her sudden attitude, “Repeat that with a more appropriate tone when speaking to a CEO of a company and I’ll answer, Miss Simmons.” He crossed his arms and Emma caught a feathering of his jaw, his mouth in a line awaiting her. He said her name in a tone that was lecturing but seductive at the same time. It wasn't even her real name, yet it made her feel all sorts of things. Emma suddenly felt heat in two areas she couldn’t begin to understand. Heat spread from her face down to her lower abdomen. What had happened to her in the course of a few moments?

Emma heard the double doors open as she stood, she found her mask quickly and carefully grinned a charming smile to him, “Thank you for your time, Mr. Williams.” She said his name with an edge to her voice, eyes sharply looking at him before she turned. She caught a look in his eyes that she’d never seen anyone give her. His face was calm and collected, yet his eyes flashed in a feral way that told her she pissed him off. 

She heard a frustrated exhale from him as she turned, not looking back as she left the sizable office. She walked out of the office, face blatantly red and frustrated as she followed Jessica to the front reception area. She was able to take a few breaths in and cool down before giving a friendly nod and leaving to the elevators. 

As she went into the elevator by herself and the doors closed in a soft whoosh, the confident mask slipped and she felt the emotions waft over her. She felt her eyes tear up and blotted her face in surprise she was about to cry. She couldn’t tell if it was the embarrassment he caused or the fact that it was the first time she ever was taken so off guard in an assignment interview that she lost control of her façade? 

It didn’t matter at the end of the day because it was safe to say she lost the $120K payout and she wouldn’t meet Chad motherfucking Williams again in person. She'd gladly destroy his business if she had gotten the chance, yet she knew that was a fleeting dream in an alternate reality, far far away.

[Snowflake182]

Oh man that's a great chapter, can't wait to hear more. I loved how much I could FEEL the aura of Mr. Chad. 

[BabyJessica]

No diapers yet and I’m already hooked!

[Lionsheart]

4 hours ago, Snowflake182 said:

Oh man that's a great chapter, can't wait to hear more. I loved how much I could FEEL the aura of Mr. Chad. 

Yes!! Chad is probably one of my favorite characters I've written. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

3 hours ago, BabyJessica said:

No diapers yet and I’m already hooked!

Haha yay!! It's a slow burn to the diapers but I promise it will be worth the wait. ☺️

 

 

Chapter 3: Far Away

Emma went out for drinks with Graham at the gay bar that night, being his wingman like usual and having a glass of wine or two after the day she had.

“So, how was the interview?” Emma had completely blacked out the interview, considering she went home feeling hot for a few hours from embarrassment mixed with failing an interview that cost her 120K payout she’d never have again.

“I fucking blew it.” Emma said quickly, not wanting to remember it or talk further about it.

“You… blew it? How? You never F up an interview.” Graham said, a bit surprised.

“I had an interview with the wrong person and got thrown off. I’m not ready to talk about it.” She snapped, looking away in annoyance.

“Fiesty tonight. Sorry I hit a nerve.” Graham said, eyeing a guy across the bar and tilting his head, “How about him?”

Emma looked across the way, a taller muscular male stood near the bar on the other side, “Definitely daddy vibes.”

“Like real dad vibes or daddy dom vibes?” Graham eyed him again as he took a sip of his drink and Emma almost spit out her drink from what he said.

“Like ‘daddy without the dom’ vibes. The in between. Dominant but not? I don’t know.” She shrugged, knowing that Graham and her had identical types in their love interests and were bottoms at their core.

“Mhm, I know what you mean. Well, dibs.” Graham said, getting up.

She laughed, “Don’t think I stood a chance, friendly reminder that we’re in a gay bar, Graham.”

“I’m sure we’ll find you a ‘mommy vibes’ girl next time.” Graham said as a joke, knowing Emma wasn't lesbian. He eyed the guy across the way that had another guy come up to him and kiss him, “Well, fuck not me then.” Graham said, frowning as he sat back down. Emma downed the rest of her drink as she trailed her eyes to what Graham was referring too.

“Maybe he’s polyamorous. There’s still hope.” She muttered.

He sighed, looking to the bartender who came up to them, “Can we get two shots of tequila?”

“Yuck, I did not consent to that.” She groaned as the bartender walked away.

“We have our safe word, consent isn’t necessary here.” Graham said teasingly.

“Ugh, I hate you." She paused, glaring at him, "I told you I would be interested in BDSM one time and now it’s spiraled into you incessantly teasing me about it.” She rolled her eyes as her friend Kylie came up behind her, touching her shoulder.

“I feel like we walked in at the wrong time.” Kylie said, her girlfriend near her with her eyebrows raised.

Graham chuckled handsomely, “Nope, it’s the perfect time!” He turned to the bartender who brought over two shot glasses, “Sorry, can we get two more? On me, girls.”

Emma looked to Kylie and Deon, throwing up her hands, “It was one time I said that on a drunken night in confidence to Graham.” She glared at Graham when she said ‘in confidence’.

Deon hugged Kylie close with a knowing smile, “Look, we’re into kinkier shit than that so you don’t have to explain.” Deon’s dark skin glowed underneath the neon lights in the tiki bar they were in as she raised her thicker eyebrows.

Kylie gaped her mouth and nudged Deon, “I don’t like talking about our bedroom stuff in public, Deon.”

“If you have a safe word, then it’s technically consent I just found out.” Emma said, as the bartender filled the shot glasses and Graham was passing them to everyone.

Graham chuckled, “That’s not how the dynamic works, Emmie.” They all went silent to take their shots.

Deon said after a wince of her alcohol burning her throat, “If roleplay is agreed to be taken outside of the bedroom and agreed upon, it is.”

“There’s a lot of gray area there.” Graham replied back quickly.

“Can we move on? I am uncomfortable now confessing my deep dark desires in a public area.” Emma said, face still scrunched from the shot.

“Look, we all know you have a lot of them. Everyone does, we all know that.” Kylie said, winking to Emma in acknowledgement of their jobs. They were all self-employed hacking consultants and hackers. Kylie and Deon had their own more 9 to 5 jobs that were government contractor anti-hacking jobs. Almost the complete opposite of the business Emma and Graham fell into.

Graham and Emma worked for the Jenkins Consulting Agency, which was a disguised hacking group that was contracted by clients who wanted revenge on people who hurt them or suffered damages that were unable to be taken to court for. Most of their clients had anything happen from being cheated on by their spouse to bullying or sexual harassment at work and losing their jobs because of the situations they were in. A lot of their clients were emotionally impacted and no way of providing proof or evidence for any serious repercussions for the HR cases or lawsuits they filed. The surprising thing to Emma was that some clients didn’t want an HR case or a lawsuit filed, they rather just deliver a slice of cold, hard karma.

That’s where the most wealthiest of clients came in. From disgruntled ex-wives or ex-husbands to harassed past workers of corrupt CEOs of large companies, they wanted them exposed and a slice of social justice served instead of a lawsuit that most places could easily pay, without long-term impacts.

That’s the predicament Emma found herself in that day. Brittney, a past employee of Penn & Williams Firm, hired Emma to become an employee of Chad Williams and expose his company from within. Her role was gathering as much information as possible to slowly cause chaos internally, which was Emma’s specialty.

Brittney wouldn’t explain what he and a few of his employees did to her, telling Emma that she signed an NDA and couldn’t disclose. Emma only knew that Chad and his employees harassed Brittney to some degree that was severe enough for her to pay $400,000 to ruin his company for decades.

It wasn’t a small task, yet it was something Emma could do easily. It began with finding one manager who cheated on their wife, that was the easiest to start. Then, Emma would find a sext, a dick pic or, even better, fetishes of the mid-level management. One little Facebook leak here or there and they lost their temper, then sometimes their jobs. Next, the CEO would be the target, easy to hack since he was looking for a personal assistant. What Brittney needed was not an outsiders job, it had to be within and that’s why Emma was the best in the business, after all. So Emma thought until the interview today.

She had to get the job in order to infiltrate. She’d ruined 4 companies lives, lost their investors and exposed their higher level management until the targets got fired or left their own companies. She was no novice and knew her craft well, yet she had failed that day on the only task that was usually the easiest. She had easily gotten hired at every job she applied, yet this one was different.

It was difficult, belittling and most of all, unsettling how fast she lost her mask. She was typically good on putting on her peppy and professional persona, yet Chad broke it within minutes. One jarring question, that’s all it took. Her brain flashed to that look she couldn't get out of her head prior to leaving the room, the one that was calm, cool and collected yet his eyes were feral. She gulped, feeling the heat in her face and down her abdomen again, just like earlier that day.

“You okay, Emmie?” Graham nudged her as she was mute for a few moments, lost in her own world like she typically did during the work day.

“Yep. I think I’m going home. Long day and I’m tired.” She said, standing, “I’ll Venmo you my part, see you at work tomorrow.” She nodded to Kylie and Deon who frowned and gave her a hard time about leaving early.

“Leaving so soon? We just got here!” Kylie said, dancing into Deon a bit.

“Yeah, sorry. What are you doing Saturday? I think I’m going hiking near that waterfall we did last month.”

Deon said, “We can’t, we have our friends concert Saturday night.” Emma was on her phone, requesting an Uber to her apartment.

“Next time then, see you guys!” Emma said, seeing the Uber 2 minutes away.

 

Emma went home and stripped out of her clothes, taking a hot shower before getting in her pajamas and laying in bed. Despite the alcohol in her system, she couldn’t go to sleep. He mind kept thinking about Chad and the way he made her feel earlier. He made her… feel excitement down there. She didn’t understand it and it was the first time that had happened ever with a target. She was always disgusted, and, if anything, had to work on not showing how disgusted she was. Yet, this was different, so very different it was jarring. It almost gave her a feeling she’d hadn't felt in quite some time, one she still hadn't even began to understand and ignored most of the past few years.

The way he commanded the room, the controlling nature of his she could pick up in small tells, and the confidence he held without falter. It was flustering for her in the moment and every time she thought about it. She’s never met anyone who did that too her with a second deeper layer of intimidation. Her brain kept playing through how he did fucked up things to Brittney that she couldn’t even say aloud to Emma and someone who breathed toxic masculinity in large red flags. Deep down, a fleeting thought kept her mind reeling that night. She couldn't let go of the fact that her mind wanted to allow the thought that there was an alternate universe she could entertain the idea of her liking his intensity during the interview and the things she'd let that man do to her.

Unfortunately or fortunately for her, she wasn’t in that alternate reality. She was in the one that the reality was should stay far away from that type of person. Good thing she didn’t have a chance for the job, she’d be fucked if she did get hired in breaking her contract from failing the assignment, or, worse, getting caught hacking his company.

It was a suicide mission from the start, and, luckily for her, it wasn’t meant to be. He made that blatantly clear during the interview today and Emma should we be okay with that.

Yet she wasn't and that thought made her not able to sleep that night.

[Lionsheart]

Chapter 4: Fuckity Fuck

That Saturday, Emma took a long 2.5 mile hike to a waterfall by herself. She sat near the waterfall rocks, watching a couple take pictures underneath it near where the waterfall fell in a scenic cascade behind them. She sighed, ignoring the sad lonely pull she felt in thinking about being single. It had it’s perks, yet there were downsides like hiking by yourself when your friends were busy. Not to mention the boredom that follows.

She’d been single since a toxic high school situation-ship, not real relationship, with a quarterback that lead to her being humiliated by the cheer squad. It was simply the fact that she was weird and bullying ensued from the jealousy of the lead cheerleader. That was a later thing that Emma would unpack, but, ever since then, Emma had the an unsatiable desire for a partner who she felt safe with. The insecurities and mental challenges she’d faced made her not even attempt dating, and, not to mention, she found through her corporate hacking career that men were just filthy anyways with their cheating, dick pics and sexual harassment at the workplace. It wasn’t worth her time and as much as she tried to convince herself into being lesbian, she still craved a man. It was fucked in her head, really. She was hit on a lot by lesbians from spending time at gay bars with her friends, but it never worked out. Emma had been on a date or two, even got to second base with a girl. The emotional connection just wasn’t satisfying to her internal problems and desires. She truly believed at this stage, she could live without a partner. It may just be her destiny, really.

Emma walked the trail back, on her last half mile, she slipped and twisted her foot. She gasped and cursed under her breath in pain, “Fuckity fuck fucky!” She groaned as she got up, knowing this meant she’d have to go to the doctor. She hobbled back to her car in pain with every movement.

After driving to the nearest ER, she got imaging and found her ankle was a Grade 1 sprain that required a boot and an orthopedic follow up in two weeks.

“Sure, that’s fine.” Emma sighed as the pain meds set in and she was given a boot to wear the next two weeks. Great, this is just great, Emma thought to herself. The only benefits was she got a good kick of pain meds that made her sleepy and she could get in a well-deserved nap once she got home. The nap would make her single bored life go away for another few hours, that was certain.

 

The next day she called off of work, telling her boss that she had to be on bed rest the next two days for her sprain. After she took a strong pain medicine, she fell asleep watching the Bachelor. She woke up to her phone buzzing and answered it.

“Hi, is this Gabriella Simmons?” The woman on the voice said. She knew it was Jessica from the familiar voice.

Emma blinked, realizing it was the Penn & Williams Firm in her pain medicated post-nap state, “Uhm, yes?” She winced at herself, realizing she sounded too confused on a simple question.

“We have great news; our management choose your application for the Administrative Assistant role starting at $22/hour and would like to go forward with your onboarding process. Start date would be April the 12^th.” Emma’s jaw dropped, not expecting to receive any type of job invite. Her brain waking up faster as the realization hit her.

She realized she kept her waiting a moment later, “I think Monday would work.” Emma said over the phone, looking at her phone calendar and seeing it was next Monday. She blinked to her ankle boot, realizing she spoke too soon. Well, fuck, maybe she should have checked her calendar first before agreeing. Idiot, Emma thought to herself.

“Great! I will tell management. We will forward the onboarding documents through email that need to be signed in the next 24 hours and a drug test will need to be completed before end of this week.” Jessica said.

“Thank you and will do. Excited to start soon.” She said, tried to put her voice in a higher octave to make it seem like she was actually excited when, deep down, dread and anxiety crept into her about seeing Chad again. Part of her craved seeing him, but another part of her was terrified.

Fuckity fuck fuck, Emma though to herself at the situation. She now just entered a very dangerous game of cat and mouse. She thought when she spoke to Brittney she’d be the cat, but now she’s suddenly feeling like the mouse. She was a sneaky mouse, yet it seemed like Chad was perhaps not like other targets she worked with. She wouldn’t give him that much credit… yet at least.

Things seemed to suddenly get much more complicated, that was sure.

[Guilend]

Oh god, so entertaining. So on edge. I can't wait for her first day.

[Lionsheart]

 

18 hours ago, Guilend said:

Oh god, so entertaining. So on edge. I can't wait for her first day.

I'm happy to hear this! Sometimes I feel biased in writing my own stories and thinking it's just me catching feelings of being on edge while writing, haha. I'll post some more chapters  this weekend, hoping you enjoy them!

 

Chapter 5: So We Meet Again

Emma scrolled through the 10 page personal assistant contract, carefully reading every line to make sure she wasn’t signing her soul away to the devil himself. Everything looked fairly normal and formal. She had an NDA to sign but it was the typical corporate NDA when working as an administrative assistant. Non-disclosure agreements didn’t affect Emma anyways since she signed under a fake name. She was already illegally entering the contracts, it didn’t really matter if she leaked all of this companies data at the end of the day.

Her eyes narrowed on one part of the contract. She read a line in the NDA about not sharing or speaking about office conversations in public settings or with anyone besides other employees. The employee must bring their issues to management to alert human resources.

“Interesting.” She mumbled, expecting some verbiage that was different. She’d read that line a few times, knowing full-well the way Chad talked to her was condescending.

She e-signed the NDA and moved onto the Administrative Assistant roles contract. She read greedily the roles from email management, personal assistance to management, to scheduling. Her eyes glared when she scrolled down to the dress code. She saw in the dress code that all employees should be kept professional, trimmed down beards for men and makeup or hair done appropriate for the workplace for women. She groaned, seeing that they required skirts and dresses for women, no allowance of pants.

What place was so sexist that women had to wear dresses and skirts? Luckily, she wore her only skirt in her wardrobe for the interview but damn, did she hate wearing them. It was hard to not show a panty line, let alone wear underwear. She much preferred to wear pants, or, better, jeans.

She signed the contract with a sigh of annoyance, knowing she’d have to go shopping over the weekend for new skirts and dresses. Her eyes glanced to her boot, frowning that her goal was to hide it by pants but it didn’t look like that was an option anymore. She threw her head back in another groan, knowing she’d look like a child hobbling into work with her booted ankle and a skirt. She was hoping for some dignity and confidence in pants, now the realization hit her she wouldn’t have even that in facing Chad a second time and possibly multiple times a week.

Emma completed the e-sign document with a bitter taste in her mouth and the frustrated feeling she felt in Chad’s office bubbling up to her cheeks, thinking back to her interview. She shook off the feeling, going back to her rom com book she was reading prior to filling out her forms, accepting her new fate and bracing for impact.

 

The next week crept by too quickly for Emma’s liking. Before she knew it, it was the night before her first day of work. She set out her clothes and tried going to bed early. It was a failed attempt as she tossed and turned, anxious about the next day. About seeing him again. His intense stare, that look he gave her. It kept replaying in her head as she laid in bed with her eyes closed and ruminating thoughts.

She grumbled after a few hours, peaking at her phone to see it was 3AM. She sighed in annoyance with herself, wondering why she couldn’t sleep. This was the first assignment she ever felt… nervous. Usually she was confident and relaxed, enjoying her craft of hacking into data she was never supposed to get into, yet this assignment made her weary and she hadn’t even began it yet.

Chad’s warm brown eyes flashed in her head again, making her palms sweaty as she tossed on her bed. His stare. His body language that day that intimidated her. The look of calm mixed with a feral energy within his eyes brushed her mind like a soft caress as she finally fell asleep at 3:30AM.

 

She woke up to her alarm a few hours later, groaning and reminding herself that every moment was closer to $120K commission. She got up, hobbling over to her clothes and taking off her boot to shimmy into her mermaid black skirt that hugged her curvy hips with a scalloped lining. She pulled on her satin white camisole top, tucking it into her skirt and shrugging on her soft white cardigan.

She brought her boot back on, looking into the mirror and frowning. She looked too cute for her liking and like a damn intern on their first day with the boot! She eyed her closet, contemplating changing into the other long sleeve top that was a bodysuit to give her a less cute, more professional look. Since her plan was to show some cleavage on the first day she had decided against it. Her best plan of action was to get some male and maybe even female attention on her first day like she always did. It wasn’t like she had big breasts anyways but she was at least blessed with C-cups and they looked great in her pushup bra. If she leaned in the right way, she was almost a surefire aim and sink for one or two of the single managers to get close to her. Then she’d strike when they least expected it’d be her. 

Emma sighed at her uncomfortable attire and boot, grabbing her purse and reaffirming in her head that this was the best outfit choice for on day one. She had a few other outfits already set aside for the week and this one was the most eye-catching she could put together.

Emma drove for 20 minutes into the city of Charlotte, pulling into the parking deck and scanning her printed parking pass she was sent via email. She pulled into where the employees of Penn & Williams parked in the blue zones, getting out and walking, no, hobbling to the elevators. Emma was fifteen minutes early and didn’t want to make a bad first impression, it was her signature strategy that always got her in the good graces of her future management. She had a lot of ground to cover from her first interview, after all. She’d have to make herself a stellar employee, there was not room for any more slip ups of her facade like she had during the interview.

Emma hobbled into the elevator and pressed the 14^th floor button, taking a slow breath in as she prepared herself mentally for the day ahead and who she'd see. As the doors began sliding closed, someone's hand caught the elevator doors that she didn’t see earlier and walked in. Her eyes widened for a moment as she met familiar warm brown eyes.

“Gabriella, up bright and early for your first day, hm?” Chad’s intense stare looked down to her, a smirk placed on his face. Humor played on his expression like the first time they met, as if he was thinking something and not saying it aloud.

Emma gulped as her pulse quickened, she hadn’t realized how tall he was until they were directly next to each other. At Emma’s height of 5’2, he towered over at a steady 6’3. He was built and muscular, that was apparent under his white dress shirt he wore. He was large in comparison to her petite frame and she felt so tiny in his presence, it was insulting.

Emma realized she had lost her whole train of thought in an instant, her mask disappearing from seeing him. She expected to see him that day, but not this soon. She saw the doors close. Her heart racing at the thought that they were now alone in an elevator together. The elevator hummed up the building as she realized how quiet she had become, “I-“ She took in a slow breath, “I prefer Gabby, by the way. I try to be in early.” She gave a small, timid smile. His eyes never left her, studying her expression almost like he was a human lie detector.

“Good, we expect you to be early every day. Our team likes coffee started before the rest of our office clocks in.” His eyes trailed down to her outfit and boot briefly. “Is your leg okay?” He asked, tilting his head, a trace of concern hinting his voice.

Emma looked down at her ankle, forgetting she even had the damn boot on. She blushed deeply and frowned, “Yes, just sprained it hiking the other week.”

There was a flicker of intrigue in Chad’s eyes, “Hm. Where do you usually hike?” She had a feeling he also hiked from the look he gave her. 

Emma bit her tongue, realizing she made a grave mistake in sharing a personal hobby. If she quit in 6 months, she didn’t want to come across Chad again. She said with a grin up to him, “Places where I like to trip and sprain my ankle.”

Chad’s smirk on his face suddenly disappeared and his jaw tightened as a calm anger flickered in his smoldering brown eyes. Emma didn’t know how his warm and charming eyes could change so quickly, yet they did in an instant.

Emma realized the mistake she made as his features changed. Emma said it in a way that she was trying to be funny and playful, yet her playfulness seemed to mistranslate to Chad as a smart aleck response. She felt tension build in the elevator like a thick, invisible fog. Emma had hit a nerve with Chad unknowingly, that was certain. So much for trying to redeem my interview. She thought to herself, staring at him like a doe in headlights.

The elevators opened, saving Emma from Chad’s quiet wrath that made Emma feel suddenly very very small. He left the elevator, saying in an authoritative tone, “Gabriella, how about you sit in the reception area. Jessica will be in around 6:55AM and you will shadow her the next week.” He walked away without a look back to her as she took a moment to absorb what in the fuck just even happened within 2 minutes.

Sit, he said to her, like a dog. Emma felt the frustration simmering under the surface again as she nodded, not saying a word as she hobbled over and took a seat. Not to mention, the audacity of him to even to say ‘Gabriella’ still after she corrected him earlier! It wasn’t even her real name but it still upset her. The way he said her name was so low and seductive that it was insulting. She felt like she was in trouble, yet she felt exhilarated at the same time. That feeling of heat traveled from her chest to below her stomach, but also rose to her face. What in the fuck was wrong with her? She thought, looking at her nails she got manicured over the weekend. They were French tip nails and cleanly polished that she picked at the sides of in anxiousness as she waited for Jessica.

A few new coworkers walked in and then Jessica came in, a standoffish look on her face as she put her purse in her desk and looked over to Emma. Emma stood, walking slowly over as Jessica didn’t even look at her. Weird, she was super friendly when Emma met her.

“Hey Jessica. Chad said I’d be shadowing you this next week.” Emma said, a bit quieter than she intended.

Jessica logged into her computer, “Great.” She said, still not looking at Emma. “Since it's your first day, I'll let you in on some unspoken rules here." She paused, clocking into work and looking to Emma, "The first rule is do not talk to me until I clock in. The second rule is to not piss off upper management unless you want a hell of a time here." Her blue eyes shifted, studying Emma's face, "Which you’ve seemed to already have done this morning that now you’re shadowing me. Not sure why they selected you, but here we are.” Jessica said, deadpanned to Emma.  

Emma’s smile faded, the façade disappearing the second time that day. She blinked, “Was I not supposed to shadow you this next week?”

“No, Mr. Williams wanted you shadowing Derek or Sav in management. Lucky for you, I’m much more-“ She paused, looking for the right word, “pleasant to work with.”

Huh, that was interesting. Emma thought to herself. Emma was beginning to suspect that this was a much more complicated office than she anticipated. “Well, I look forward to getting to learn from you.”

“I don’t think I’ll be teaching you as much for your role, but I’ll try my best. You’ll be reporting to Mr. Williams eventually, best of luck to you with that one.” She said lowly as she sat and opened her email. “You can sit there.” She nodded to the swivel chair behind her, “Feel free to stuff your purse below the desk or in a drawer.”

“Oh, what’s that supposed to mean?” Emma asked curiously, putting her purse in the drawer.

Jessica smiled flatly, “He’s never kept a personal assistant more than 6 months since the position opened. That’s all I’ll say.”

Well, that made her assignment a bit more complicated considering her contract was 6 months with the Agency. 

[Lionsheart]

Chapter 6: So It Can Get Worse

It repeated over and over again in Emma’s head as she sat silently next to Jessica until lunchtime:

He’s never kept a personal assistant more than 6 months.

Six. Fucking. Months.

That was her minimum contract length! Was this a cruel joke? If not one personal assistant made it more than 6 months, how would she? She was barely surviving the tense exchange this morning with Chad!

Emma got broken out of her thoughts with a tour of the office building before lunch that Jessica could introduce her to most of the staff. Jessica introduced Emma to most of the office workers on the first floor before going up the stairs and across the glass lined balcony area to where executive level employees were. Jessica didn’t go into any of the offices and walked to the last hallways where a large semi-opaque black glass lined meeting office with floor to ceiling windows and a beautiful view of Charlotte looked out.

Jessica knocked on the black glass door and one person behind the door said, “Come in.” Jessica walked in with Emma trotting with her boot behind her as Emma felt hot again, seeing a large dark glass table full of executive level management and a familiar set of intense brown eyes. She glanced at his eyes, then to Jessica uncomfortably.

“Sorry to intrude on your meeting. Thought I’d introduce the new hire. Everyone this is Gabby, our new office personal assistant.” Jessica nodded to Emma who’s cheeks were suddenly red in the introduction. She felt the stage fright, although she wasn't even on a goddamned stage.

“Hi, I’m Gabby.” That was all she could get out.

Jessica pointed to the first person in front of them, “This is Doug, the creative director,” Doug was a middle aged man with thick square black glasses who smiled and nodded to Emma, “Derek, our Chief Financial Officer.” Emma connected her eyes with a handsome guy with black medium length hair casually styled back and green eyes who was almost as handsome as Chad to Emma and, coincidentally, her 2^nd target for her assignment, “This is our Chief Executive Officer, Chad Williams who you’ve met already,” Chad sat at the head of the table, his white dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and his arm veins showing with a serious look on his face as Emma met his eyes again. She wanted to die from embarrassment by one look that she had to break the eye contact, it was too hot in here suddenly. Why was she even embarrassed though? She realized she didn’t even nod or smile at him as Jessica continued, “This is Savannah but prefers Sav, our Chief Marketing Officer.”

The third target of Emma’s, a mid-thirties woman with wavy long dark brown hair, almost black eyes that were black lined and cold connected with Emma’s. She smiled with her mauve lipstick to Emma and gave a nod. The realization hit Emma hard that she was in a room full of intimidation and snakes. It was beyond unsettling and Emma had failed to keep her facade in the instant she had entered the room.

Emma snapped back into the present moment as Jessica kept going, “This is Adam, the Operations Manager,” Emma’s eyes connected with large brown eyes and a wide smile with short brown hair, her 4^th and final target. Jessica nodded to the last mid-forties Asian guy, “Lastly, this is Eugene, our IT manager.” Her eyes drifted to him who looked introverted as he nodded in her direction but kept his eyes glued on his laptop in front of him. In past assignments, it was easy for her to get into data by seducing an IT manager. She had feared that she would need a different approach this time around because he looked quite uninterested already. Bummer.

Emma grinned charmingly, grasping her mask that slipped far away, and nodded to the room, “Nice to meet everyone.” The room was a cold silence as Emma looked to anyone else but Chad, avoiding his stare like the plague. Jessica nodded and walked out as Emma hobbled as quick as she could behind her.

“Think they like you.” Jessica said, with sarcasm dripping from her words.

“Ditto.” Emma said, feeling shaky from the day and needing food. Jessica saw her phone light up and reading a text.

“They want a food order pickup and I have to stay at the desk. I’ll text you the order to place and pickup. They need it by 12:30PM.” Jessica said, her blue eyes looking to Emma.

“Okay, uh, sure.” Emma said, not knowing what time it was since her phone was in her purse in the drawer, “What time is it?”

“It’s 11:45AM.” Jessica said, pausing, “You get a lunch of 30 minutes but it looks like you probably will be walking most of it, especially with your boot.” Jessica said, her eyes looking down for a moment in pity of the poor girl as she looked back up, “Pro tip: bring protein bars for lunch. This isn’t the first time nor last you will be working through it.” They got back to the front reception area and Emma scurried to get her purse. She was hungry and skipped breakfast. She didn’t have much room to skip lunch too. After not sleeping well, she really needed something to get her though the rest of this day.

Emma looked at her phone and saw Jessica’s text of the order. It was a long list of sandwiches, salads, soups and cookies with different add-on’s at Potbelly. She went to the Potbelly app and saw the closest Potbelly was a ten minute walk. She cursed under her breath, knowing with her boot it'd be probably 15 minutes at her new pace.

Jessica handed Emma a card, “This is Chad’s company card, charge it on there. I’d make sure to be back in time, you may lose your job like one of the past assistants did. The last girl was only a minute late.” She said without a trace of emotion, “Goodluck.” She said, before going to lunch separately.

Emma cursed under her breath, scrambling to place the order and hobbling quickly to the elevator. She went down to the ground floor and walked as fast as she could to the Potbelly. She was there before the order was even ready.

She saw a long line and said, “Fuck.” She was hoping the line was small so she could get a cookie or something before going back into her new work.

“Order for Gabby.” The worker announced as Gabby hobbled up to the counter.

“Yep, that’s me. Thanks!” She said, looking at her time and seeing it was already 12:15PM.

She walked as fast as she could to the office, almost taking a wrong turn as she walked to the elevators in a sticky sweat from the hustle and weight of the bags she held with beverages and food. She tried to cool down in the elevator as she got to the 14^th floor, walking to the staircase and staring for a moment, realizing she needed an arm to go up the staircase with her boot when she was doing the tour earlier.

Emma put her elbow on the side rail and leaned into it, pulling her leg up and getting her bad ankle into a swinging momentum up the staircase. She felt a dull pain, but it was worth it as she got to the top. Her eyes fell down to her camisole, seeing that the chocolate shake she carried in one of the bags sloshed on her shirt and stained the white satin material.

“Fuck.” She grumbled softly to herself before hobbling to the large office room where she walked in, finding only Chad inside. His expression was amused as his eyes trailed from her stained camisole to her flustered face and messy hair. Her heart was racing from the climb of stairs and her walk, but seeing him by himself in the room jumped her heart rate to cardio levels. She set the food and drinks on the table, trying to ignore his stare as she stood straight and was about to leave. She was feeling hangry, after all, and she didn't want her attitude to slip near Chad. At least, not after their exchange that morning.

“Someone made a mess.” He said, eyes trailing to her camisole in an intimidating tone, “Have you considered wearing a bib when you eat?”

Emma’s mouth fell open and her already red face turned brighter at the mention of bib, “I-“ She heard someone enter the room behind her and she swallowed, “I didn’t eat anything, just got some of someone’s shake on me while walking here.” She said in a quiet fume. The audacity of him. A bib, really? Was she a small child? She felt like one in his presence suddenly. It was jarring to her as she realized her mask had slipped again, for the third time that day. Maybe if she wasn’t hangry she’d be more pleasant, yet that wasn’t the case right now.

Chad stood to his full length and walked over to the large bag of food, picking up a double chocolate chip cookie, “Here.” He stuck out the cookie to her, “Thank you for picking this up and being on time. I'm impressed you made it on time with your boot.” He mused, humor playing on his expression. It was like he wanted her to be late. Like this was a game and she survived this round unscathed. Emma's mind seethed at that thought, storing it away to unpack later.

Emma looked at the cookie in his hand, taking it and saying, “Uhm, thank you.” That was strangely nice. He didn’t have to, but he did.

He grabbed a napkin and passed it to her, “Be careful eating, you wouldn’t want to make any more messes on your cute little top, hm?”

Emma blinked a few times, staring up at Chad in confusion by how he could fold an insult into the blanket of a compliment and hand it to her so casually, “Sure.” She said shortly, an edge in her voice as she turned and left the room, passing Sav who watched the new assistant leave in a red faced state.

 

Minutes later, Emma was eating her piece of cookie as she walked into the bathroom on the first floor, looking to see there were no paper towels, only air hand dryers, “Fuckity fuck.” She growled in a whisper, going to the stall to grab a few pieces of toilet paper. She blotted her camisole and cardigan that the chocolate shake got onto in a small drop. The stain was still there after a few blots and she could only hope it’d come out in the wash.

Emma sighed and went to the stall, peeing and eating her cookie at the same time as quickly as she could, knowing she was supposed to be back with Jessica already. She ate the last of her cookie as she stood and pulled up her skirt, a chocolate chip piece falling and going on her camisole on the opposite side of the shake spill.

“Oh, so this day can get worse.” She mumbled to herself, trying to dab the piece and only smearing it on her camisole even more. Emma's brain replayed Chad's words moments before. Be careful eating, you wouldn’t want to make any more messes on your cute little top, hm? Talk about adding insult to injury, huh. 

She buttoned her cardigan, but it didn’t fully hide the stains peaking out. Emma splashed water on her face and fixed her hair before going back to the front reception. She slowly walked up as Chad was laughing with Jessica at the front, saying something with a wickedly handsome smile as Emma walked around the corner. He was still half-smiling as his eyes traveled to Emma briefly who quietly sat down.

“I’ll let you get back to work. My meeting starts in 5.” He said to Jessica, giving Emma a cold shoulder as he walked down the hallway back to his office.

Jessica’s smile quickly faded as her eyes looked at her, “Well, you somewhat passed the first test." She paused a beat as her eyes rolled, "Besides being late getting back here.” She said.

“Sorry, I had to go to the restroom.” Emma said in response.

Jessica shrugged, “I don’t care if you’re not back in time, not like it affects me.” She logged into her computer, “It was Chad who noticed.” She said, going to the office’s calendar.

Emma swallowed, not responding. She had a feeling Chad Williams would be the death of her and possibly make her quit her hacking job after this assignment.

$120K payout, $120K payout, $120K payout. She repeated that in her head, hoping it’d make the simmering heat in her body in unwelcomed places and contradicting feelings to who she thought she was go away.

Yet, she couldn’t stop the feelings. They made her feel things she hadn’t since high school and it was insulting.

Utterly insulting, really.

[Lionsheart]

Chapter 7: The Ballad of the Nobody & the High School Quarterback

 

Emma didn’t grow up as confident nor as pretty as she eventually became. Contrary to popular belief, she grew up going through puberty and the awkwardness that came along with it. For most of her school years, she had acne, messy hair, was overweight and socially awkward. Emma didn't have wealthy parents, well, at least not financially responsible parents, and she never had new clothes like other girls or could get her hair cut and dyed like everyone else that made her different. All this to say, Emma was considered a nobody in high school and had only one friend, that friend being Graham Miller who was a theatre nerd she met in her freshman year first hour.

The only reason she found one friend was because Graham was a pain-in-the-ass extrovert that wouldn't leave Emma alone during first hour and he asked her to hang out after school their first day. She hesitantly agreed, afraid of having friends again since being bullied in elementary school and middle school by one group of mean girls who thought she was 'weird' that just made her not want friendships any longer.

From their first walk home from school and hanging out at the park, Emma and Graham quickly became best friends, sharing a mutual liking to each other, issues with their toxic parents relationships and pasts with being bullied. Graham was no stranger either to bullying. From telling a boy he liked him the year before, the popular guys bullied and harassed him about being gay. Both of them understood each other, even if Emma was an introvert and Graham was an extrovert, the friendships bond would only grow stronger with time.

Lucky for her, her life transformed over the course of her Junior Year going into Senior Year of high school when she got her first job at a local fast food chain that was a 10 minute walk away from her home. She saved every dollar and finally could afford a cheap laptop at the beginning of her second semester of Junior year. That's when her entry into online side hustles began, leading her from doing online surveys for cents to a few dollars, to affiliate blog websites she began and then creating 'how to' Pinterest posts that linked to her blog website. That surprisingly did so well and some of her articles began gaining hundreds of views per day. By the summertime, she quit her fast food job, making double the amount she made in a paycheck in fast food every week in recurring referrals from her affiliate programs. From that discovery of online incomes, she went deeper into other opportunities to make money and leave home as soon as she graduated high school.

By the end of the summer, she had found a company who was looking for intern in website coding for a pay of $20K/year with flexible hours and commissions on projects she'd complete. Emma didn't have a college degree, but at this stage she had so much experience that she decided to apply, inputting her resume of her affiliate business she had started on her own. After one Zoom interview with a woman named Bailey, she got the job and little did she know that this was the entry into the world of cybercrimes and hacking. The online world giving her an income that was more than her high school teachers.

From her quick increase in money from the affiliate business and new internship she started, she afforded her first used car. Her mom was surprised she saved so quick and Emma was careful to tell her she got a loan and a good monthly rate. Little did her mom know, Emma paid in full when she visited the dealership. By the summertime, she invested in a gym membership, began working out and watching what she ate. Graham took note of Emma's busy schedule and sudden influx of money that he interrogated her on how she did it. Emma told him and Graham would soon apply the next year the internship opened and join Emma. 

When Senior year hit, she walked into school with a complete 'glow-up' transformation when her acne disappeared, she wore high-end makeup, she got her hair done and her curves showed from her strength training at the gym. She changed her wardrobe completely from finally having money to shop on her own and not get the hand-me down clothes from her cousins anymore. For the first time, she was wearing form-fitting clothes to her perky bottom and small waist line that she worked hard on achieving.

That's when guys around her high school started noticing her and a lot of the sporty cliques boyfriends turned an eye. People didn't even know her name nor that she even existed until her senior year, yet everyone began to know who she was overnight from rumors and gossip. Seemingly overnight, she became one of the hottest and most interesting girls in school with her 2018 black Honda Civic and a designer purse.

It was in senior year that she started catching looks from the star quarterback of the school, Brecken Peterson. As Emma passed him in the halls, he'd make eye contact with her and she'd feel hot, blushing back with a small smile.

On her last semester of high school, she walked into day one of her AP History Class and sat down. A few moments before the bell rang, Brecken walked in and found the last seat available that was right near her, smiling to her before sitting down. During classes they'd have small talks here and there about random things and she began to develop a crush that was entirely dangerous since he was dating the head cheerleader, Rebecca Nolen. Coincidentally, Rebecca was the part of the same clique that bullied Emma in elementary and middle school.

She knew they had a publicly toxic relationship and they broke up and got back together just about every week. She had only found out this information from Graham since, well, Graham talked to everyone and just also happened to be secretly hooking up with one of Brecken's teammates, Luke Wilson. Emma ignored her feelings every time she spoke to Brecken, although her heart hurt after every time he smiled at her in the most handsome way.

One day in the spring during a lecture, Brecken looked to Emma and then down to his notebook and wrote:

Hey Emma.

Emma was all-consumed by the lecture, highlighting and writing notes as he nudged her and she looked down to the notebook and saw the note. She grinned, her beautiful smile catching Brecken’s eyes. She wrote in his notebook:

Um, whatsup?

He grinned handsomely and wrote:

I’ve been thinking for a while now, I think I like you.

Emma swallowed as she saw him write the words and froze. Were Rebecca and Brecken broken up? Emma wasn’t looking for a relationship with a cheater nor a messy one at that like how Brecken and Rebecca were. She even could have sworn she saw them kiss the week before and she didn't know how to stifle her butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t want to cross a head cheerleader of the school, especially one who used to bully her in elementary school.

Rebecca used to make MySpace posts of 'Emma the weirdo' back in 5th grade going into 6th. By middle school, it turned into starting rumors about Emma looking at Rebecca's boobs or that Emma was a lesbian. Her clique would give her looks in the hallways and ignore her during group projects. Once, Rebecca 'accidentally' bumped into Emma while Emma was walked with her tray of lunch food to her table and half of her food fell to the floor. Little to say, Emma was here to get through high school with impeccable grades, not try finding a love interest that was tangled with someone who bullied her previously. She went this long without a boyfriend and could endure longer, that was sure.

She tapped her eraser on the plastic filmed desk as he looked to her crossed look she gave. She finally wrote:

Let’s talk on the phone later?

She wrote her phone number down and he grinned knowingly, as if he got a ‘I like you too’ back. Emma wanted to say that she wasn't confirming she liked him by giving her his number. If she could speak, she would have told him that she wanted to talk about his relationship with Rebecca. Emma just wanted to see if he was truly single and wasn't playing her. If he wasn’t, she wouldn’t waste her time. Part of her felt like it was a mistake to write her phone number down, yet the other part of her wanted to flirt with the idea of dating Brecken Peterson and if she had say no, she didn't think she'd ever have another chance to talk to him before they graduated.

She had butterflies in her stomach as she left school that day and kept checking her phone that night, awaiting his call. The call never came though and, instead, the wrath of Rebecca Nolen and her cheer squad did within the weeks that followed.

 

~~~

 

Emma woke up in a sweat, her brain flashing through her time in high school. Flashbacks of her changing into her clothes after swimming class in the pool locker rooms. She saw girls walk in out of the corner of her eyes, recognizing Rebecca Nolen and a few members from her cheer squad. Before she knew it, she was stripped naked. The next moment, phone cameras were on her, flashes of light and her brain blacked the rest out.

Part of her enjoyed the embarrassment, the humiliation high that came with it and her first time experiencing the pleasurable buzz she didn't know could be unlocked deep down, yet the other part wished it never became public. Reality hit hard of how far the pictures went.  

Before they let her go, the pictures were all over social media and group texts. Snapchat mainly, since Instagram and Facebook didn't allow nudes. Every friend and person that knew her saw it. All of it. Even her parents saw them when it got to the principal.

 

She grabbed her water and took a few gulps, looking at the time on her phone. It was 5AM and she had a feeling she wouldn’t go back to sleep. She waited until 6AM to shower, do her hair and makeup, then pull on her light pink flutter sleeved dress. It was girly and not her usual style but it was her façade’s style, Gabby. She caught a few glances during the week with the management and office coworkers and knew it was soon she’d be able to wiggle into someone’s office to start her process of ruining the company. Emma was waiting for someone to catch her bait, then she'd reel them in for their personal data. If no one took her bait, she'd have to go with her 2nd and 3rd plans of hacking. They were a bit more work than usual, but could be done.

Emma got in her car and sighed in relief that it was Friday, considering she survived her first week in the office located in her own personal hell. Lucky for her, Chad was busy with so many meetings she barely saw him or was graced with his intense presence the most of the week. She still remained on edge most days, but that simmered down slowly as the week progressed. The more she met and talked to people, she realized that the office was like being back in high school. There were the jocks, the theatre nerds, the introverted geeks, and the cheerleading team, just like when she was 18.

She studied the office culture and realized she felt back to her younger self again, yet this time she wasn’t as naïve. She saw the jocks and cheerleading squad quite vividly and identified every member. Chad, the star quarterback. Derek, his teammate and catcher. Sav, the head cheerleader. Adam, the member of the cheerleading squad. Eugene, Ed and Douglas were the introverted geeks and theatre nerds, her type of people. She could infiltrate that. The others, not so much. The others she’d have to do some ass-kissing, something she’d been working on since she began, yet it wasn't going well thus far.

Emma walked into the office with coffee and boxes of donuts for the whole office, taking it to the break room with a large ceiling to floor window that overlooked the city of Charlotte, green, flowering and lush trees in the spring. She unscrewed the coffee jug to pour herself a cup and as she poured she heard a deeper voice behind her.

“Donuts and coffee, hm?” Chad said as she jumped, the coffee in her cup sloshing hot liquid onto her light pink dress.

“Fuckity fuck.” She said, the hot coffee stinging her fingers.

“Watch your language, Gabriella.” Chad chastised, coming over and grabbing a napkin. Emma froze in confusion by his tone, talking to her like she was a child again. Did she hear that right? Before she could protest, he dabbed the spot on her dress near her abdomen before she could sputter a word, suddenly flustered by how close he was and his touch. Her head tilted up to him as his warm brown eyes drifted to hers in a flicker of humor before switching back to his usual intense stare, “I see you still are having issues making messes, hm?”

She took a step back as he looked down, awaiting her reply, “No, the messes make themselves.” She said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. Chad’s jaw tightened and she saw his features shift to contemplating to do something or walk away. His neck vein bobbed as he stared at her and said nothing. Emma felt like the next few moments could go south if she didn’t choose her words carefully, “Sorry for the language. I’ll go to my desk now.” She was about to walk away as she grabbed her coffee cup but he quickly grabbed her wrist as her eyes went down to his firm grip and up to his eyes flickering in irritation.

His grip loosened and he grabbed a lid, placing it on her coffee, “Don’t want any more accidents, do we?” He smirked with humor twinkling in his eyes as Emma forced a grin.

“Thanks.” Her grin disappeared as she walked past him and to the front desk where Jessica showed up at 6:55AM on the dot.

Jessica looked at the iced caramel swirl large coffee near where she sat and to Emma, “Who is this for?”

“You. I got it, you like caramel swirl right?” Emma asked as Chad left the break room with a donut and coffee in his hands, passing the front desk. Emma saw him taking a donut and coffee as a small win. The second win of the week came when Jessica smiled at her for the first time since the interview day.

“I do. Thanks. Maybe you may survive here after all.”

“Yup, I’m trying.” Emma said, sitting down and knowing she had already started her infiltration. Jessica didn’t know it yet, but Emma already knew her passwords. She had been watching closely and already had access to the front reception desk information.

One small battle had finally been won. Now it was time for Emma to win more battles until she won the war.

[Lionsheart]

Thought I'd post a few chapters today. I have a busier work week this next week so hoping you all like this so far and let me know your thoughts on the story. I love hearing discussion on the characters and plot, it definitely motivates me to post a bit sooner when I'm able too. 

 

Chapter 8: Phase 1

 

Three weeks had passed and Chad was on a business trip the second into the third week of Emma’s training. It was a relief as she got to shadow the other assistant of Adam, Sav and Derek named Charity. She gave Emma access to their calendar’s and she watched Charity type her passwords. The only unfortunate thing was when she shadowed Charity in an executive meeting, she watched Sav sign in to her Macbook laptop with her fingerprint. Thankfully, not all the executives had a Macbook to sign in per fingerprint. Chad had a windows desktop and that was her only saving grace at the moment.

She cursed Bailey in her head as she turned her head to Eugene during the meeting. He typed in coding as her eyes looked away, trying not to stare. She knew the coding software he was using and it was close to impossible to infiltrate without direct access. Their security was obviously in tip top shape. The only way she’d be able to get through is by cutting off a finger or, better idea, sending out a phishing link to their emails. If not, she’d have to do the direct access route and plug in her external hard drive to install her software into the admin user's computer underneath a guest user account. She had a strong feeling that the admin user was probably Chad. Emma knew it was much more risky to try going the direct route that she decided on the email phishing route first. 

Emma went to work that night, creating a few emails to send to the executive emails she gathered from Charity’s login. She smiled at the links and hit ‘schedule’ for the emails to send Friday morning to the whole staff as a fake pseudo email sender, showing it was an @pwfirm.com address as the sender. The emails sent to the executives was from chad@pwfirm.com and she smirked, feeling a sense of control in an environment she’d recently felt  out of control and her normal element in. 

 

That next morning Emma walked into work for the first time without her boot. She walked to the elevator and waited for the door to open. 

“No boot anymore, huh?”  Chad said behind her, walking up to the elevator door as it chimed open. Emma felt her pulse quicken as he stood next to her. The fuck was he doing back so soon? She thought to herself, once again caught off guard. She finally had access to his calendar through Charity’s login and knew he wasn’t supposed to be back until next Monday! Why did unexpected things keep happening when it came to anything related to Chad? Ugh. 

Emma walked into the elevator with her Starbucks coffee in hand, “Yup.” She said, taking a sip as Chad pressed the button to the 14^thfloor and put his hands in the pockets of his black pants, eyes going to Emma’s awkward quiet stare to the metal doors. 

“What type of coffee do you get?” He asked, a smirk on his face and that stupid humor twinkling his eyes again as he looked down to her. 

“The kind that keeps me awake.” She mumbled in her still half-asleep state. 

“You’re a brat, you know that?” He said in an observation rather than a question as he turned to her fully in the elevator, rolling up his white dress shirt sleeves in a way that screamed he was a male model. Emma’s eyes traced the veins in his forearms, completely forgetting the fact he just called her a brat. What did that even mean anyways?

“That didn’t sound like a question that I should answer.” Emma said as the elevator doors silently whooshed open and relief flooded through her that she didn’t suffer longer of Chad’s silent fury he had.

Chad followed silently as she set down her coffee at the front desk and he stood in front of the desk, placing both his hands on it and leaning down to meet her halfway on their height difference, “Next week, you’ll be shadowing me. I would keep your smart mouth in check if you wanted to have a good week next week. Am I understood?” His face was serious and cold as her moss green eyes searched his in surprise from the sudden mood change. Emma felt the familiar heat again travel to her face and below her stomach. 

Emma gulped, her cheeks flush, “Understood.” 

“Good girl.” He said, standing straight and walking away with confidence she didn’t know could exist in human form. She blinked at his words and the way he treated her. Emma had this fleeting feeling he was dominant and liked the power and control. She just didn’t know to what extent that branched out too. She’d dealt with micromanagement and sexual harassment bosses prior that disgusted her to her core… yet, for some strange reason, a part of her liked the attention he gave her. She liked the way he spoke to her. Most importantly, she liked the way she felt around him. 

It was thrilling to her, like watching a scary movie. You wanted more of it, even if you knew what you were walking into. Emma was the girl walking into the basement, thinking she’d be different or survive the poltergeist. Little did Chad know, she was also a poltergeist.

A smile crept on her face after a few moments, knowing that she’d be seeing him and his company humiliated sooner or later, giving a taste of his own humiliation medicine he liked to give her in belittling remarks. The part of her that was mischievous and wanted to see his demise, yet part of her wanted to toy with the idea of being caught and learning what the wrath of Chad would look like, the one he kept inside that no one saw but the flickers of it in his eyes when she struck a nerve. 

It was something she never even humored the thought of… until the moment she met him.

Yet, then she’d just be another victim of his. He obviously had dark secrets protected by NDA’s. Maybe Emma was just another victim like Brittney thinking she was different, entering the basement, and thinking she could make it out alive and unscathed. 

[Lionsheart]

Chapter 9: The Bait

 

That morning went by with Emma shadowing Charity’s work at scheduling the executive’s meetings and sending emails. An email popped up as a final reminder by the automated training system about an email security training that employees are required to watch before the end of the week.

She glanced over to Charity’s email header:

FINAL REMINDER: Complete Your Email Security Training Before End of Day

“Huh, I don’t remember seeing this in my trainings the past week.” Charity said, clicking into the link as Emma suppressed her smile.

Eric, a consultant in an adjacent cubicle stood and came over to Emma and Charity, “Did you get the email about the training? I never saw it on my list of trainings this month, wondering if it’s some type of system glitch. The training isn’t even in my portal.”

Charity looked at her desktop as the link lead to the training portal and asked for her login information. She said, “I’ll check if it’s shows in mine too.” Charity typed her username in password that was now being collected by Emma’s tracker program now embedded into her desktop. Emma watched, acting just as confused as Charity logged in, not seeing the training either, “Weird, it’s not there.”

Eric shrugged, “Must be a glitch, I’ll email Eugene. Definitely don’t want another meeting with Derek that I’m behind on trainings.”

Emma kept looking at the clock and Charity’s desktop, waiting for the company wide announcement about the suspicious link. If Eugene was good IT support, he’d catch it quickly. If he wasn’t, he’d know his data and the company’s would be potentially compromised from an unknown phishing source.

Emma waited, knowing that the emails to executives sent thirty minutes earlier. She knew Chad and his team may be in a meeting about the phishing scheme in their own emails, not even paying attention to another phishing scheme was going live in the full office. Emma would be up tonight collecting as much data as she could over the targets she got exposure too. Eugene would be investigating where the threat was from in the meantime.

Fifteen minutes passed and she saw out of the corner of her eyes the executives filing out on the large office and Chad standing at the railing, “Everyone, we have an important announcement, if I can have everyone pause what they are doing.” Emma blinked at him, for once feeling not the center of his attention and having a moment to take in his commanding presence among his employees as the CEO of this company. His eyes trailed the room to see people go silent and look up, “We’ve had a data breach this morning. A few emails were sent with phishing links that were disguised as myself or an automated training system reminder that was a phishing attempt. Everyone is asked to sign off your computers and leave for the day who is not management. This is a huge data leak for our clients and our business that we need to close the office for the day besides our management teams to mitigate this. You will all be compensated for the day, please enjoy your days off and we may ask for those of you to pick up hours next week.”

Eric said lowly to Charity and Emma, “So much for happy hour tonight.”

“I know right.” Charity agreed. Emma was looking forward to going to the Jenkins Consulting Agency office after this to boast about her win and pop a beer in the break room with her coworkers in celebration of her first phase complete of the assignment and updates to text Brittney about.

Emma bit her lip, suppressing her small victory in seeing Chad’s body language, rigid and clearly infuriated in his calm anger again. His eyes scanned the room and fell upon Emma who began standing to leave with her other coworkers.

Chad looked directly to her from above, “Gabriella, please come to our office, you are not dismissed today.” There he went, saying her name with a low and seductive tone that almost seethed she was in trouble.

Emma nodded, instant paranoia setting in. Could they know it was her? There was no way, but she did execute her plan a little earlier than usual. She should have waited a month, yet she knew that the security here was so high she only had the phishing attempt. The only thing they’d have on her was her recency, nothing else. She shook off the paranoia, not admitting to anything even if they said it was her. They didn’t have evidence and wouldn’t, she was sure of it.

Emma walked up the stairs as the other executives and manager filed into the large office meeting room with black glass lining it. Chad waited for Emma and as she met him at the balcony, he said, “Since you’re in training, I’d like you to stay to learn more about email phishing and security from Eugene. He is currently going to be working overtime on this but if you’re going to be doing my email management eventually, I expect no link clicking nor anything without my permission, understand?” He asked, an authoritative tone that left no room for any other response.

“I understand. I’ve been through extensive security training working for my last office but I’m sure I can learn much more from Eugene.”

Chad gave her a long look, as if he didn’t believe her words, before he walked forward into the room where management and executives sat and stood around the room. Emma took an awkward spot between two managers of the consultants, Michael and Jered, who stood near the back. She felt so out of place as Chad sat at the head of the table and Eugene went to the front of the room, connecting his laptop to the projector. He showed his screen and the emails sent for phishing.

Eugene spoke with a bit of shyness, “So, um, we’ve had some data breaches today I’ve tracked to an unknown source so far.” Emma let a slow breath out of relief, “Here are two emails sent today by emails encrypted to look like our company executives or automated systems. If you go to your email and click this dropdown underneath the sender email, you’ll see it’s a grz314@offvz.com which is a phishing email disguised as a company one. Today we had 30 links clicks within 30 minutes, a few from management.” He paused, showing the second email, “This is just a reminder that no one is to click links the next few weeks prior to some more training only through the portal, no link clicking through email. We also will look into contracting a company for monthly tests to practice our trainings and prevent future hacking of our company.”

Emma bit her lip to prevent a smile, knowing that Eugene was too late. The cancer of their company had only just begun. Without knowing the source, it would go untreated and she could spread it. It was only phase 1, after all.

 

 

Chapter 10: Corporate Chaos & Dragons

 

“Emmaleesi does it again.” Graham said at her two-story loft apartment that night.

“What’s this Emmaleesi nickname, I don’t get it?” Deon asked, taking a sip of her whiskey. Kylie cuddled into her, watching the TV in her edible induced state.

“She is like Khaleesi from Game of Thrones. Chaos, conquers corporate offices, fiery and is merciless who do wrong to her people.” Graham paused, “We began calling her that after her 4^th assignment. She’s had the best record in our agency in the shortest time.”

“Ahh, now I kind of get it. Man, I didn’t know you caused so much turmoil.”

“Lot’s of NDA’s with clients I can’t disclose but, yeah, Graham isn’t wrong about what I’ve done. I’ve ended countless marriages with cheating husbands and wives, exposed sexual predators, money laundering, illegal drugs, the list goes on and on.”

“Woah, our job isn’t that interesting and fun.” Kylie said.

Emma scoffed, “Don’t get it twisted, it’s not that fun right now. I am working with the most difficult CEO I’ve ever met. He’s…” She trailed off, thoughts of his stare, his intensity and his dominant nature made her blush.

“Do you have a crush on him or something?” Graham asked, sipping his beer.

“What? God no- he’s morally corrupt. I wouldn’t get this high of a commission if he wasn’t.” She said, instantly defensive.

“Is he hot though?” Graham asked, “Like dad like hot or daddy dom hot?” He teased her from the other week at the bar.

Emma felt heat travel to her lower abdomen as she felt hot everywhere, her body tingling at the thought of her in the bedroom with Chad. Why did that turn her on? She knew she was the submissive type, but would be terrified with someone of his nature.

Her friends stared at her, mouths opening, “Dude, you 100% are crushing. Look at you, you’re a hot mess thinking about him!” Kylie said what everyone was thinking.

“No- nope, I can’t and I won’t. He’s condescending, belittling and a dickhole. Period.” She said in defense.

Graham laughed at that, “That never stopped you from liking men like that before. C’mon, your describing that one guy in college you crushed on for a few months.” He paused, interest peaked, “How does he look like? How tall we talking?”

Emma sat back on her Lovesac, crossing her arms, “I don’t care to continue this conversation.”

Deon started guessing, “Over 6’1, muscular, brown hair, white tanned dude that looks like he lives in the gym.”

Emma grimaced, “Close.” They all clapped and laughed at Deon’s guess being right, “Okay- okay. He’s probably 6’3 maybe 6’4, a literal athletic build, caramel brown hair, brown eyes and really fucking hot. I’m fucked, okay?”

“Correction: You would like to be fucked by him.” Kylie chirped.

“Nope. That’s breaching my contract with my client and I’m pretty sure he’s bipolar. Also, did anyone pickup on he’s literally morally corrupt? He probably sexually harassed multiple past assistants. I can’t and won’t.” She said, huffing at their incessant pressuring to have sex with her new manager.

“Emmie, look, we know you. You haven’t been this flustered in a long while. Maybe this guy is a dick or maybe the client is morally corrupt and has a revenge mission for him breaking up with her. We have those clients all the time too. Neither party is good people, nor us for exposing them. We’re all morally corrupt technically.” Graham said, shrugging.

Emma swallowed, considering his words for a moment before saying, “Drop the subject guys. I’m suffering enough daily, I asked to hang out to escape my new job, not remember it.”

With that, the group didn’t tease or press further, letting Emma sit and sulk in her corner while she processed how she’d been hiding her true feelings from her own self. Did she actually like Chad and had developed a small crush?

That was… dangerous. She never developed a crush on a target. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It should be the opposite. If anything, the targets crushed on her and she’d destroy everything they ever built. She shook her head, convincing herself that it was just around ovulation and she was hornier than usual. It wasn’t him, really.

She reminded herself: he was the enemy and target, nothing more nor less.

[Lionsheart]

 

Chapter 11: Shadowing the Devil Himself

 

The next Monday morning she woke up to no alarm. She looked at her phone, thinking that maybe she woke up before her alarm but that wasn’t the case, her phone didn’t charge the night before and was dead. She plugged in her phone and moved the cable a bit, realizing the charger wasn’t working.

“Fuck me.” She said as she went to her laptop, opening it and seeing the time was 6:40AM. “Fuck!” She was going to be late on the first day shadowing Chad, how worse could this get!

She grabbed her clothes and pulled on her tight grey pencil shorter above the knee skirt and flutter sleeve light yellow polka dot top, sliding on her heels and fixing her hair but grabbing her makeup to do on the road. When she got in the car, she plugged her phone into her charger in the car, seeing a dead battery sign but the charging bolt, meaning that it would hopefully charge enough for some battery at work.

She did her eyebrows, blush and highlighter in the mirror at stop lights. When she got on the expressway, she looked at her phone as it came on and she had a text from an unknown number. She looked down at the text sent at 6:30AM and blinked, feeling her heart skip a few beats:

Hey, this is Chad. Can you stop by Starbucks and pick up this order for our meeting this morning: Pike Place Hot Coffee, Iced Café Latte, Vanilla Foam Cold Brew 5 pumps vanilla, and a Tall Decaf Caramel Machiatto.

She saw the another text below it:

I expect you to be here before 6:55AM. Thanks.

Emma did the voice to text in response, seeing the time was already 6:55AM:

Hey Chad, my phone died last night and my alarm didn’t go off. I’m on my way now and can pick up the coffee, just know I’ll be late.

She saw his texting bubble appear and disappear, trying to keep her focus on the drive but feeling nervous to his response. His text bubble showed within a minute:

Pick up the coffee still, please. We will discuss your tardiness when you arrive.

“Would have been there on time if not for the last minute ask for a coffee pick up, asshole.” She grumbled to herself as she drove, shaking her head. “$120K, Emma, $120K, you can do this.” She said to herself, taking slow breaths.

 

She arrived at 7:15PM with the coffee with her hair slightly messy and down in natural waves. She didn’t have time in the morning to fix it and delivered the coffees to the executives she passed on the second floor.

She entered Sav’s office first, decorated in plants and colorful books on a book shelf, “You’re late.” She murmured, typing on her laptop. Luckily for Emma, she hadn't had to be around Sav as often since beginning there. She was lucky, as Charity had warned Sav was pretty cold and off-putting.

“My phone died and my alarm didn’t go off, sorry.” She said, handing Sav her cold brew.

“Good luck telling that to Chad.” She said coldly with an eyebrow raised in warning.

“I fear the luck is not on my side.” Emma murmured, leaving the room as she saw a glimpse of a smile by Sav. Since she’s met Sav, she hadn’t seen her smile once. It was shocking, to be honest. She didn’t think she had a pleasant bone in her body until now.

She delivered the other coffees to Derek, Adam, Douglas and Ed. She hesitated at the last dark walnut door at the end of the hallway, taking in a slow breath to steady her emotions and keep her mask strong. She knocked before entering as she peaked in, slowly going in the door as Chad waved her inside, an impassive expression on his face as he was busy typing. She brought over his Pike Place black coffee, setting it on the desk in front of him.

He was quiet, barely acknowledging her as she stood awkwardly there for a few moments as he typed on his computer. Emma decided to sit in the upholstered black leather seat in front of him, waiting for him to get his work done.

Chad’s eyes slid to hers as she sat, “Did I say you are allowed to sit?”

Emma was taken aback by his words; it was as if he were treating her like a kid in timeout. “Uhm, you didn’t really say anything.” Emma didn’t move, continuing to sit and feeling the only ounce of dignity in holding her bottom to the chair.

Chad went back to his typing, a click or two before closing out of his email. He stood, taking off his blazer that was over his white dress shirt. He unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up as he leaned on the front of his desk, still not looking at her. The silence was eating her alive as she fidgeted a bit by his proximity, standing above her with a power and dominance that made the heat below her stomach grow. She crossed her legs, staring up and trying to hold her composure as his eyes skimmed her face and humor played at his expression.

“Why were you late today, Gabriella?”

Emma shifted, seeing a flicker of anger simmering behind his eyes, waiting to give him a reason to do something. What would he do if she said the wrong thing? She didn’t want to think further. Her brain went to dark, dark places and fantasies. She was fucked up, truly.

She gulped, her mouth dry as she opened, “My phone charger didn’t charge my low battery phone last night so my phone died. My phone is my only alarm.”

“And do you have anything to say for your actions and tardiness?” He asked, tilting his head, eyes smoldering in a handsome but intimidating way.

Emma stuttered, “A-actions?” She paused before saying what she really thought but, fuck it, “I’m not a child, I’m your employee, Chad. My phone died, it was something out of my control.”

Chad crossed his arms, his jaw feathering as all his features were calm, “I’ve lost patience with your attitude, little girl. If you want to keep your job, you have 3 seconds to come onto my lap and get a well-deserved spanking.” He walked around to his executive dark brown leather chair, taking a seat.

Emma opened her mouth, “Wait-“ Ah, so this is what she was sure Brittney signed an NDA on. Out of all the assignments she had, this one was a new level. Was the spanking worth the $120K?

“One.” He began, eyes watching her crossed face. She stood, feeling the heat from her face to her lower regions. This was the moment she could quit, leave this fucking job and assignment. She could stop all of this. Sure, she’d lose an assignment, but her dignity was worth it. Yet, the dark part of her wanted this more than anything. More than the $120K. 

“Two.” He said, patting his lap as an invite.

Emma looked to the door, knowing she should leave. She should run far away and let go of this assignment. It was a suicide mission anyways.

As the milliseconds passed by like minutes, Emma finally looked back to Chad, cheeks blushing as she walked around the desk in obedience. It was already the 3^rd second, but she caught the look in his eyes. A glimmer of pain mixed with the calm anger. The pain of her considering leaving. The calm anger of her daring to defy him. Maybe he also had a crush like she did, or maybe she’d be another victim of his insufferable need for control.

She didn’t know, but she was certain she would find out the hard, painful and stinging way.

[BabySofia]

This is a different tale, I caught up this evening with where you're at. Good solid writing and an intriguing plot here. No doubt Chad is about to become 'Daddy' to a girl who may not be able to live on her own if she can't wake up on time. 

A part of me is genuinely curious if this was just happenstance or another hacker finding a way to disable the charger... 🤔 He seems a little too inclined to push there. Definitely put that NDA for his shenanigans. Only good thing is that should apply to all of the other coworkers who are probably about to get a show.

[Lionsheart]

10 hours ago, BabySofia said:

This is a different tale, I caught up this evening with where you're at. Good solid writing and an intriguing plot here. No doubt Chad is about to become 'Daddy' to a girl who may not be able to live on her own if she can't wake up on time. 

A part of me is genuinely curious if this was just happenstance or another hacker finding a way to disable the charger... 🤔 He seems a little too inclined to push there. Definitely put that NDA for his shenanigans. Only good thing is that should apply to all of the other coworkers who are probably about to get a show.

I like the thoughts here and your theories on what's going on with the characters! There seems to be a lot at play that you may or may not be onto, I guess we shall see as the plot thickens.🤔 I'm writing Chapter 30 now and can't wait to hear your thoughts on the character dynamics later on with not just Chad but other characters. It will get... interesting. This is definitely one of my more 'fleshed out' outside of the main characters written story and I've fallen in love with multiple characters through writing this.  I took a hiatus in writing and read like 5 fantasy, rom com and romance books this year that I attribute to learning to write a little better. Your stories have also inspired me to improve too! Thanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts here!

[Lionsheart]

Chapter 12: Fucking Hormones

 

As Emma walked around, time slowed and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer. He slid down her skirt as she gasped at the sudden cold air and pulled her into his lap, her perky and perfect peach bottom in view underneath her light pink panties.

His hand grazed her bottom as she trembled by his touch, “I don’t think you could understand how long I’ve been wanting to do this, Gabriella.” He growled above her as she shifted on him and his arm held her down in a steel grip. Emma felt it again, the sudden warmth and heat in her lower regions. His body was hard and chiseled as she squirmed over his lap, feeling a pleasurable swirl of humiliation and arousal as she awaited her fate. She swallowed, staring at the white marbled ground and memorizing the lines, furrowing her eyebrows at why she was suddenly so turned on.

She broke out of her troubled thoughts as his hand landed in a hard spank and she gasped in surprise. The sting radiated in a sharp pain, spreading warmth quickly. Another one landed moments after, the pain now doubling on both of her cheeks. The pain spread, but her arousal made her want to moan. She didn’t know what was more embarrassing: the fact she had to suppress moans or the fact that she was being spanked like a literal child in the office of a CEO of a multimillion-dollar company? The more troubling thought came next to why did the second thought just make her shudder in pleasure on his lap? Fucking fuck, she thought, biting her lip hard at the next spank.

When she thought it wouldn’t hurt more and maybe her bottom would numb, she was mistaken. Tendrils of swats landed without mercy, and she bit back her gasps in pain until she wouldn’t and whimpered. The embarrassment, the pain, the humiliation was shocking her system. Then there was something entirely different that contradicted her whole existence: the heat, the excitement, the pleasure came with it all. It was dizzying as tears welled and fell between her whimpers as his hand landed softer until she was braced for more, but he stopped.

Chad helped her up, off his lap, as his eyes trailed to his pants that had a wet stain from her excitement where her front section pressed, “It looks like someone wet during their spanking.” He mused, humor playing at his expression and a trace of slight surprise from her body’s reaction to him spanking her. He’d file that thought away for later on how wet she actually was, trying to calm himself. Chad was a man of many things, but he didn’t cross the line sexually with his employees. That was his one rule he had always stuck to.

Emma was still wiping away tears as embarrassment flooded her senses. Not only was she spanked like a toddler, but she managed to stain Chad’s pants. Could it get any worse? She needed to stop asking that question because with Chad, it always seemed too.

“Do you were protection for your accidents?” He asked, seriousness shadowing his eyes, as if she had a problem she didn’t know about yet.

Emma shook her head in confusion, “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Like pull-ups and diapers for when you wet like this.” He said gesturing to the spot on his leg, a thought tugging at the corner of his mouth. Emma blinked at Chad, feeling so in shock of suggesting a diaper, she didn’t know even how to respond. Did he really just say that word? Her brain felt fuzzy from embarrassment by him saying it so casually and calmly, like he really thought she needed that. Was he playing with her?

Emma felt beyond humiliated he’d even suggest that. She didn’t dare to say anything smart, instead she shook her head, pulling on her skirt as his eyes hovered to her exposed panties for a moment then to her red, flustered face, “N-no, I don’t.”

“Hm.” He said with a pause and an encouraging smile, “Well, if you have another accident on me at work, then maybe it may mean a new dress code for you.”

Emma’s mouth dropped open, not even able to hide her shock of his words. She immediately felt frustrated and flustered, with a mix of the excitement at the idea and… butterflies? Why in the fuck did she have butterflies?

Emma decided she needed to go see a therapist again. It had been a few years and there was obviously something wrong with her that she felt a hum of excitement in her core, liking the way he spoke to her. As if she was a literal toddler. As if she needed to be treated like one. Why did that thought make her… wet? Like the spanking, she’d be lying to say she didn’t enjoy it outside of the ghost of pain she felt still trailing along her soft flesh.

She just nodded, understanding what he meant. If she made a mistake again or was tardy, it seemed Chad was willing to go to a new level of humiliation. She was beginning to understand the game he liked to play. It was degrading for her, yet a part of her wanted to continue this new dynamic with her boss.

Chad watched her in her own little world for a few moments, lost in thought as she stared at the ground, “How about you get cleaned up and go potty, hm?” He asked nodding to the door with an encouraging smile.

Emma nodded, quietly leaving to the restroom on the second floor in between the hallways leading to executive offices. She quickly walked to the mirror, patting her face with water, before heading to the stall and pulling down her skirt and underwear to pee. She didn’t feel like she had to pee, but felt wet. Like, really really wet. She gasped when she sat and looked at her panties, blinking at her excitement. Good god, she knew she didn’t orgasm but it looked like she did. She blushed, dabbing toilet paper on her underwear to dry them. It didn’t do much because she grimaced when she pulling her panties back up, almost wishing she took them off the rest of the day since they felt sticky and wet still.

Emma went to the hand washing station, fixing her makeup with toilet paper and patting her cheeks with cold water, in hopes her face would lessen in redness. Part of her wishes she wore foundation and concealer to hide her cheeks. She had great skin and didn’t need much makeup, yet she wished she wore it to hide how fast her cheeks flushed and how it only made her look younger.

Emma swallowed in thought of Chad’s stare to her in her almost always flushed state in his presence, she only imagined that treating her like a child must’ve been his kink. She’s dove into the depths of many executives fetishes and from that she knew most had multiple shocking ones. She was sure Chad would be no different.

Emma gulped at the thoughts of Chad being into dominant/submissive roleplay and other kinks, feeling herself tingling in excitement from that thought as she gripped the sides of the marble counter, taking a few slow breaths to calm herself down, to regain her mask and façade.

As much as she hated Chad’s belittling since she met him, she couldn't shake the feeling of pleasure from the humiliation of it all. Why did this keep happening to her? Her brain searched the depths of herself to understand it. She needed to understand what childhood trauma could lead to her being this way around him and almost wanting it, wanting all that he had to give her in humiliation. She was beyond nervous around him, yet it made her tingle in ways she never knew she would experience.

Man, Emma had to schedule a therapy appointment soon, very soon, before she got worse. Emma didn’t know what had happened to her and the only thing she could pinpoint to her undoing began the moment she met Chad fucking Williams.

She wished she could say the way she was acting was just her façade. This could have just been Gabby Simmons. Yet, none of it was a façade or her mask, it was just her raw self around Chad. Without the fake smiling or life she typically lived during assignments. 

She lived a unauthentic life since after high school, scared to show anyone her true self in the event of it being used against her. The only person she ever trusted with this dark twisted side of her was Graham, and that was only when she was drunk enough to share. Lately, she’d opened up to Deon and Kylie a bit more but there was a part of herself she never showed to really anyone, not even her friends.

This part of her, the part that was still hurt, insecure, vulnerable and raw was hidden by a self-confident, edgy and badass woman she became over the course of five years. In the last few weeks, that part of her was unraveling and she was losing grasp of the woman she had convinced herself to become to hide her real self and desires. No one truly knew her deepest, darkest desires, not even Emma. She hadn’t dated or given it much thought in the past years because she knew how weird her true thoughts were and that no one could love her for who she truly was, deep down. That’s why she built a new identity to shield her and why she was so damn good at her job.

Well, that was until Chad Williams came into the picture. In the matter of a few seconds of meeting him, he seemingly found the threads of lies and deception she's weaved in the past 5 years and he had only begun to pull her world apart, one thread at a time. If she let him continue pulling, she'd soon be left in the separated pieces she'd never fixed, only bandaged or stuck tape on. Emma knew the game she was in and should have ran, yet the thought of her letting someone in made her feel like life was worth living without faking her identity and acting a part.

With Chad, she was unbefittingly and inexplicably herself. Not Gabriella Simmons nor her past persona's. That was a dangerous place for her to be with not only just any person but her assignment's target. What was more dangerous was that in those fleeting moments she forgot that she was working on hacking a company from the inside out, not contemplating her inner dark workings and why she was catching feelings with her new boss.

Nope, I don't have feelings! It's just hormones, you idiot. Emma thought to herself as she blinked in the bathroom mirror, walking back to Chad's office and fighting the swirling feeling ever-so-present in her head that traveled down to her body in a heat.

Fucking. Hormones. It had to be. That's what Emma told herself, at least.

[D503]

Very nice! 

[Snowflake182]

Oh man I had a chance to catch up today, and I'm loving the way this is shaping up.

I love Emma's "I really need to see my therapist again".

Really looking forward to more!

[Lionsheart]

51 minutes ago, Snowflake182 said:

Oh man I had a chance to catch up today, and I'm loving the way this is shaping up.

I love Emma's "I really need to see my therapist again".

Really looking forward to more!

Haha yes!! Happy to hear you're enjoying it so far and more chapters are coming later this week. 

 

Chapter 13: Boredom is Boring

 

Emma walked back to his office as slowly as she could, already feeling embarrassed about what had happened. She knocked, hearing him behind the door say, “Come in.”

She nodded timidly as she re-entered the room. Chad was typing on his computer, not even looking at her as she walked next to the chair in front of him, standing and waiting. Emma looked at her purse on the chair and then to his desk awkwardly, hearing the silence between them as he seemingly ignored her for a few minutes. She shifted on her feet, not daring to look up at him as she waited for him to speak first.

Emma knew the game she was in now, she just got a spanking for sitting without permission and he was testing her obedience. She’d excel this time around, waiting patiently.

He murmured, “You can ask Adam for a rolling chair. He has a spare. You can bring it next to me here and shadow while I work.” He didn’t even move a hair to her direction, his features cold and quiet as he kept typing.

Emma nodded, walking out the door and feeling his eyes on her as she walked out of the room. Although he was acting cold, she could still cut their tension with a knife. It was frustrating, really.

Emma walked down the hall to the last room before the balcony area and knocked on the door, “Yes?” She heard from the other side.

Emma peaked her head in, “Uhm, Adam. Sorry, if I can just grab your spare chair?”

Adam’s wide smile appeared on his face, “It’ll cost you a donut run on Friday, but sure, have it.”

Emma pursed her lips, annoyed by his comment as she took his chair and rolled it back to Chad’s office. She sat down silently next to him as he still wasn’t acknowledging her, working away in his email. His ultra-wide curved screen had a perspective privacy darkening film so she couldn’t see anything. Emma bit her lip to stop herself from groaning in annoyance. Was this how the whole day was going to go? She felt like a child at the ‘take your kid to work’ days, like she was helpless and bored.

Emma sat silently as he worked, glancing at the antique clock on his desk every now and then to check the time. She watched as minutes ticked by and became a half an hour. She fidgeted in her seat after it passed an hour, repeating in her head in was worth the $120K payout and humiliation she’d deliver to Chad one day. The silence and nothing to do just made her have to face her internal problems. It was her own personal hell of boredom that made her theorize and debate herself more. The boredom she faced only make her wished she appreciated her phone screen time more. What did people even do before electronic devices? Emma didn't know but was fucking blessed in this technological era because she was dying of boredom and attempting to ignore her inner chatter that wanted to think about things that made her blush.

Unfortunate for her, there was only so long she could count backwards in her head from 1000 until those things crept up again. Her brain kept doing somersaults. One moment, she was daydreaming about her spanking her and doing other things that weren’t vanilla in the slightest, nor should be help in a semi-public setting. The next, she was scheming how she would ruin his reputation and company. Then, she’d feel guilty, like she already did something wrong.

The one thing her brain kept trailing back to was when he said diaper to her. Insinuating that she should wear one to work, like a child. He mentioned her dress code too, was he really serious? She doubted it… but, then again, he seemed to be a man of his word, which was scary to Emma. He spanked her that morning after he said he was going too, after all.

She almost laughed at the absurd thought she had. A CEO of a company would really put her in a diaper? Would he really get out a changing matt, baby powder and wipes? That was weird, a new level of weird she couldn’t imagine the 6’3 chiseled man seating at the desk in front of her doing. Emma gulped, staring a moment too long at Chad, his eyes focused on his work as she felt warmth travel down to her lower stomach again at that thought of him with a supplies in his hands, going to diaper her like a real baby. She blushed deeply and looked back to the clock, trying to shake the thought as he finally looked to her.

“Do you need something?” He asked, turning his chair where his knee almost brushed hers.

Emma stuttered, “Uh-uhm, no. I just…” She lost her train of thought from meeting his eyes for the first time in an hour, amusement tugging at his expression as she said, “Should I be taking notes? I don’t really know what to do just sitting here.” She felt like she was caught red-handed, as if he could read her mind and know that she was just fantasizing about him diapering her. Good god, that thought again from another wave of heat to her face as she couldn't believe how weird and cringey her brain dove in fantasies. She shook it off, knowing that would never happen and he wasn't serious. He was just teasing her about the diapers earlier because she literally wet on his pants. It was a fair jab. Given, it was unwarranted, but still fair. She'd give him that much credit, although she'd never admit to it.

Chad’s jaw feathered as he stared quietly for a moment down to her, “I didn’t think to get crayons or toys for you on our first week together, I guess I should have known better.” He said, more to himself as a thought, “We have a meeting in 30 minutes so I’m sure you can just relax until them, hm?” Emma blinked at his first sentence, caught off guard again by another jab at her. Did he really think she was a small child? First the bib reference, then the pullups and diapers, now the toys and crayons? Emma was trying to figure out and it only made her more frustrated.

Chad went back to his work as Emma stifled a frustrated sigh, wondering if it was still worth the $120K. Part of her told herself she already had made it this far, how much worse could it get, right?

Wrong, Emma knew she was so wrong, yet it made her feel better in the moment and that’s all that mattered.

[JJDaddy]

I'm loving this story,  keep up the great work. 

[Guilend]

Omg I absolutely love it. I've finally caught up. My theory, she will get the next spanking because she deliberately breaks the rules hoping for another spanking that she craves