MasukLAYLA’S POV The memory of the night before was a live wire under my skin, humming with equal parts shame and a dark, thrilling power. I hadn’t just been with Michael in his office after dark. I had been a thief in his arms.The plan had formed in a desperate, silent flash as he’d kissed me, his hands already pulling at my clothes. His sleek, encrypted work laptop sat open on the conference table, discarded in his hurry to have me. As I climbed onto his lap, as I sank down onto him with a gasp that was only half-performance, my own pocket was within reach. While he was buried inside me, while his mouth was hot on my neck and his grip was tight on my hips, my fingers had found the zipper. I’d fumbled, breathless, for the sleek shape of Miller’s pen drive.His eyes had been closed, his head thrown back in pleasure. “Layla…” he’d groaned, the sound raw.That was my moment. My body moving over his, I’d reached past his shoulder, my arm trembling not just from the rhythm he set. The USB po
MICHEAL’S POVThe morning followed me into the office.Not the city noise or the meetings waiting on my calendar, but the memory of her. Layla taking control last night replayed without warning. The way she moved with intention, climbed onto me like she had decided something and wasn’t asking permission to feel it. There was no hesitation in her body, no uncertainty in her eyes. She rode me like chaos and certainty fused into one moment, and it stayed with me longer than it should have. I had let her lead, let her take something from me, and that shift lingered beneath my skin as I took my seat behind the desk.The office lights adjusted automatically, screens waking one by one. I was halfway through reviewing overnight summaries when the alert appeared quietly in the corner of the main display. Aegis flagged unusual after-hours activity. I didn’t react immediately. Aegis flagged things often. The system noticed patterns humans ignored, sometimes to a fault. Still, I opened the repor
NARRATOR’S POVThe question lingers in the air, soft but heavy, like smoke that won’t drift away. “Wanna talk about your mom?”Layla’s body tenses against his chest. Old hurts flare up inside her, sharp, bitter memories of loss and a lack of resources that pushed her into this dangerous game. She swallows hard.“No,” she whispers, the word rushing out too fast. “Not… not today.”Michael doesn’t push. He nods, his fingers pausing in her hair before they start stroking again, slow and warm. The silence wraps around them again, thick with things neither wants to say.But Layla can’t stay still under that quiet weight. Heat still throbs between her thighs, her skin damp and tingling, every nerve alive from everything they’ve done. The scent of sex hangs heavy in the air, sweat, skin, and something darker. She pushes herself up, letting his jacket slide off her bare shoulders. His eyes meet hers, dark, tired, but still hungry, and a fierce spark ignites in her chest. She needs to take cont
NARRATOR’S POVFifteen minutes stretch into an eternity inside his private office. Layla sits exactly where he left her, in the center of the room, hands resting loosely at her sides, her pulse still hammering from the raw brutality she witnessed in the boardroom. A fleeting thought crosses her mind: should she begin her mission the proper way now, while he’s gone? Fear clamps down hard, freezing her. Instead, she fixates on the way he looked at her just before he walked out, dark, commanding, and absolute.Don’t move.She hasn’t. Not even an inch.Every second feels deliberate, as though he’s orchestrating the silence to let the full weight of what she saw sink deeper into her bones. Letting her feel, without distraction, the unfiltered force of the man behind closed doors: powerful, merciless, magnetic.When the doorknob finally clicks, the sound cuts through the tension like a blade.He steps inside and closes the door with the same controlled precision. No hurry. The jacket was ab
NARRATO’S POVForty-five minutes later, Layla’s focus shattered when her screen dimmed slightly, and a call request flashed across it.Eleanor.Layla straightened instinctively before accepting. “Yes?”“The board meeting is ready,” Eleanor said, her voice calm but clipped. “Mr. Wade expects you in the main boardroom immediately.”Layla’s stomach tightened. “I’m on my way.”She ended the call and stood, smoothing her blazer as she exhaled slowly. Her pulse quickened as she walked, heels echoing sharply against the polished floor. This wasn’t just another meeting. This was where power gathered, where decisions were made without mercy.The boardroom doors opened into a cathedral of glass, steel, and money. A long obsidian table stretched across the room, surrounded by men and women dressed in tailored authority. Screens lined the walls, glowing with projections of financial data and security reports. The air felt heavy, charged, expectant.Michael sat at the head of the table.He didn’t
NARRATOR’S POVLayla’s eyes stayed locked on the screen as her fingers moved across the keyboard. Her heart pounded too loudly in her chest, every line of code feeling heavier today, like it carried weight beyond logic. She could feel Aegis watching,measuring every pause, every breath, every hesitation. She had just finished tagging anomalies when a slow knock echoed against the glass wall. She flinched.“Ms. Costov?”Layla looked up to see Eleanor standing outside her workspace, tablet tucked neatly under her arm. Micheal’s assistant never wasted movement; everything about her screamed precision.“Yes?” Layla replied, steadying her voice.Eleanor stepped in and placed a slim black folder on the desk. “Mr. Wade would like you to review this immediately.” Layla glanced at the cover—INTERNAL THREATS – CONFIDENTIAL—and her stomach tightened. “This is a priority,” Eleanor added calmly. “He wants your findings reported to him as soon as possible.”Layla nodded. “I’ll start now.”As Eleanor







