Bittersweet Discipline E-Book

Mia Kingsley

• Herausgeber: Black Umbrella Publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Bittersweet Submission
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 128

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Ethan So Alexa Caine—or whatever her real name is—claims to have been working for me for the past nine months. No way in hell. I could definitely remember her curves and that sassy smile. I don't know how often she's gotten away with robbing people blind, but she's not going to get away with it this time. She tried to screw with the wrong guy—and I have something else planned for her!   Alexa We've been robbing rich companies for seven years now, and so far we didn't run into any problems. Get in, get the money, get out. We usually disappear before anyone even realizes what has happened. Until now. Ethan Cohen has figured out our scam, and to make matters even worse, he's threatening to turn me in. There's one way out, though, he says: I can work off the debt. In his bedroom.   This is a dark romance with no cheating and a guaranteed HEA.

Leseprobe

BITTERSWEET DISCIPLINE

BITTERSWEET SUBMISSION 1

MIA KINGSLEY

A DARK ROMANCE NOVELLA

CONTENTS

Bittersweet Discipline

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

About the Author

BITTERSWEET DISCIPLINE

Ethan

So Alexa Caine—or whatever her real name is—claims to have been working for me for the past nine months. No way in hell. I could definitely remember her curves and that sassy smile. I don’t know how often she’s gotten away with robbing people blind, but she’s not going to get away with it this time. She tried to screw with the wrong guy—and I have something else planned for her!

Alexa

We’ve been robbing rich companies for seven years now, and so far we didn’t run into any problems. Get in, get the money, get out. We usually disappear before anyone even realizes what has happened.

Until now. Ethan Cohen has figured out our scam, and to make matters even worse, he’s threatening to turn me in. There’s one way out, though, he says: I can work off the debt. In his bedroom.

This is a dark romance with no cheating and a guaranteed HEA.

PROLOGUE

ETHAN

That fucking bitch!

I leaned with both of my hands on my desk, staring at the computer screen. The email confirmed my worst suspicions.

I wasn't even sure if this outrage made me feel hot or cold, but I certainly felt a lot—a damned lot of emotions.

How could she believe she would get away with this?

Since I was in danger of smashing the laptop, I abruptly turned away from it, crossing my hands behind my back, and stared out the window. Usually, the sight of those tiny people down on the street had a calming effect on me.

Like ants, they hurried along, rushing to a destination known only to them. Normally, as I watched this spectacle, I could feel my heartbeat slow and my breathing relax.

But not today. Today I was too furious.

Could I have been wrong? Had there been a mistake in the calculations? I flipped through the papers I had printed out for myself. No, there was no question what had happened. My assistant had deceived me, and over the course of the last nine months, she had stolen a little over a million dollars from me.

She was either extremely clever and jaded—or a complete idiot. Which it was, I was on the brink of finding out. I could hardly wait to get her into my office.

My teeth were grinding as I clenched my jaw. I would not allow her to make a fool of me. Nobody had the right to steal from me.

I thought it had been a clever move to hire Alexa to cover during my off hours. Initially, it had worked out very well, but I would never have anticipated that she would siphon off my money. A hell of a lot of money!

After forcing myself to do nothing but inhale and exhale deeply for five full minutes, I grabbed the phone.

"Alexa?"

"Yes, Mr. Cohen?"

Something in her voice was . . . different. More seductive than usual. She normally sounded cool and distant, not breathless like she did now. My cock had never before reacted to the way she almost moaned the word mister.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and steered my thoughts in a different direction. Instead of indulging in sexual fantasies, I needed to focus on the problem at hand.

And Alexa Caine was a fucking problem I should deal with as soon as possible.

"Cancel all my appointments for today and inform reception that we do not want to be disturbed under any circumstances. Then I expect you to come to my office."

At my core, I wanted to just call the police immediately. I absolutely did not tolerate liars, fraudsters, and thieves. It was crazy and I had serious doubts about my sanity, but something in Alexa's tone of voice had calmed me slightly.

If I was honest, I didn't just feel soothed, but also aroused. I had never heard this submissive tone from her before.

I sat down in the large leather chair behind my desk and waited. During that time, I had to remind myself repeatedly to not immediately rip her head off, but to listen to what she had to say.

Maybe I had misunderstood the situation. There was probably some explanation as to how that million had vanished from the business accounts.

When I heard a short rap at the door, I called grumpily, "Come in."

The large double doors swung inward and temptation personified entered my office. Her black blouse stretched taught over her breasts, the black skirt hugged her seductively rounded hips and her red hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders.

She wore red high heels that screamed "fuck me" rather than giving the appearance of a serious businesswoman, and a lipstick color to match.

She was gorgeous, everything I could want in a woman and more—but she was not my goddamned assistant. I had never seen her before in my life.

"Good morning, Mr. Cohen. Here's your coffee—one dash of milk, no sugar, as always."

1

ALEXA

Although Cameron had explained everything to me repeatedly, I still felt the familiar tingling deep inside my stomach. There was nothing better than this.

The name of the guard at the entrance was Hugo, and all I had to say was, "Hi, Hugo," the same way "I"had every morning for the past nine months.

Behind the garish-looking marble counter in the entrance hall sat Betsy, from whom I would collect the mail.

"Good morning, Betsy. How is Charlie doing today?"

Charlie was Betsy's basset hound. He had been having some stomach problems and had to take cortisone for the last few weeks.

"Better. Thank you for asking, Alexa. Here's the mail, and a muffin for you." She winked at me and smiled.

"Thanks. Because of you, I'll have to go and hit the gym again today.”

We both laughed and I turned to my right to get to the elevators. So far, Cameron had done a fantastic job and everything had gone completely smoothly. Nobody seemed to notice that the Alexa who had turned up at Cohen Industries LLC today wasn't the same Alexa who had shown up for work yesterday.

Then again, over the last seven years, nobody had ever noticed—and if they did, it had already been too late.

I pulled the little chipcard out of the pocket of my black trench coat and pushed it into the slit to call the private elevator, which would deliver me directly to the top floor and the boss's door. Ethan Cohen was my direct supervisor, with whom I shared the entire floor.

Cohen Industries LLCcapitalized on every third software deal throughout North America and every fifth deal in Europe. For sixteen years, Ethan had singlehandedly run the company like a tight ship, amassing a fortune that made even some sheiks jealous.

However, at our last meeting, Cameron had informed me that Ethan might look super hot, but he was all work and no play.

More than once she had tried to flirt with him, but he had dismissed her attempts mercilessly. According to her, Ethan seemed so buttoned up that she wasn't even sure if her actions had registered with him as flirting.

I entered the elevator and typed the eight-digit code I had memorized into the pad: 7-6-7-5-7-8-7-9.

The elevator shot upward and the tingling in my stomach grew stronger. God, how much I loved this moment. The excitement, the nervousness, the thrill of possibly getting caught.

Cameron and I had switched roles for the first time when we were still in high school and she was in danger of failing math. We had always looked very similar and the idea had simply been too obvious. In turn, she had saved me from failing Spanish. Once we got away with that, we were unable to stop.

When we finally met Ryanne, who was extremely gifted with computers, hacking, and all that nerdy stuff, but who'd rather die than set foot outside her front door, we knew we would make an unbeatable team.

After all, we didn't hurt anybody. Men like Ethan Cohen wouldn't even notice one or two million dollars missing from their accounts. And to silence our consciences, we always donated a quarter of our spoils to charitable organizations before moving on and exploiting the next company.

I stepped out of the elevator, put my bag down next to the desk, unbuttoned my coat, and hung it neatly in the closet before peeling the paper off my muffin so I could eat it.

The fact that both of the large double doors were closed behind me told me that Ethan had already arrived. Cameron had said that the doors would only be open if he wasn't in his office.

I quickly looked through all the desk drawers, but everything looked exactly as Cam had described it.

Admittedly, I was curious about Ethan Cohen. I had only seen him in photographs, which was never the same as actually meeting someone in person.

Although I already had a copy of the calendar, I flipped through it once more to make sure I knew every single one of his appointments. The first day was the most important. It was imperative that I not give anything away through stupidity or forgotten knowledge so we could pull off our plan without a hitch.

Much like we had done right up until now. We had everything under control.

When the phone rang with a shrill tone, I jumped even though Cam had warned me about it.

I picked it up and listened.

"Alexa?"

Wow. His voice was much deeper than I had imagined it. Alexa was my real name, which is why I felt a shiver run down my spine when he said it. Stupid, but true.

"Yes, Mr. Cohen?"

There was no reason to panic, I kept telling myself. Still, the flutter inside my stomach grew even stronger.

"Cancel all my appointments for today and inform reception that we do not want to be disturbed under any circumstances. Then I expect you to come to my office."

Okay. I hadn't known him long enough, but he sounded tense, maybe even angry. Cameron had said that everything was normal when she left yesterday, so it wouldn't have anything to do with me or our plan.

I would do what he said, and if necessary, I'd improvise. That was my specialty, after all.

I made the calls quickly and got up to get coffee. Men were easier to placate when they had the feeling someone was taking care of them.

I felt a shiver running down my spine with the acute realization that we were alone on this floor. The thick carpet beneath my shoes swallowed every noise; one would probably be able to scream bloody murder without anybody hearing it.

Irritated, I pushed those morbid thoughts aside and picked up the full cup of coffee. Exactly as Cameron had instructed, I rapped quickly against the door and waited for his "Come in."

Looking down, I spontaneously decided that a little more cleavage wouldn't hurt, so I opened the top button of my blouse. The more distraction, the better.

He sounded as if he were in a bad mood when he barked that curt order through the closed doors, and I walked in.

“Good morning, Mr. Cohen. Here's your coffee—one dash of milk, no sugar, as always.” I offered him my brightest smile.

But the longer the moment dragged on, the harder it was for me to keep smiling. Ethan Cohen stared at me as if I had just landed in a spaceship.

His eyes raked across my body from head to toe and back, both times hovering over my breasts a little longer than what would have been considered decent.

In that very second, I knew I was in serious trouble.

He lifted his gaze and observed me through piercing green eyes, and although I stood a little too far away, I could still make out the gold speckles in his irises.

He had pressed his lips into a thin line, and between his dark brows, a deep crease appeared.

His suit was tailored to perfection and I wondered how Cameron could possibly forget to mention that Ethan Cohen was the most attractive man on this planet.

But even more impressive was his charisma. Although he hadn't said a word since I had entered the room, there was no question that he was the boss. He was in control and I absolutely had to follow his instructions.

His dominant aura made my knees buckle and I felt a slight tremble in my hand as I held the coffee.

As much as I tried to remind myself to stay calm and collected, I found it impossible to pull myself together. This was not my first rodeo when it came to tricking someone out of their money, but the painful realization that it could very well be my last entered my mind.

"I do have a question. I'll only ask it once, and I better like the answer," he growled, and with that I felt a pull deep inside my abdomen.

The cup between my fingers seemed to get hotter and hotter. I needed to put it down, or I would end up dropping it.

Everything in me bristled at the thought of approaching him, but his desk offered the only option to get rid of that coffee.

"Who the hell are you?" His eyes were glued to me.

I put down the cup, pushed my hair back the way Cameron would, and quickly shook my head, giving him a lopsided grin as if he had said something absolutely absurd.

"As far as I know, I'm Alexa Caine, your assistant, Mr. Cohen. And I have been for nine months.” I looked down at the calendar that was laid open on the table, pressing my fingertip onto the paper. "Nine months and fifteen days, to be precise."

He grabbed my wrist so suddenly that I gasped for air, terrified. His grip was ironclad and painfully tight.

"Bullshit," Ethan growled and pulled me closer to him. Inches away, his eyes were even more intense, and I would likely have enjoyed this moment if my heart wasn't beating all the way up in the back of my throat.

"Mr. Cohen, you're hurting me."

Derisively, he raised one eyebrow and looked down. I followed his gaze all the way down to my hardened nipples, which pressed against the fabric of my blouse ever so treacherously.

"Who are you?"

His tone of voice had changed and my alarm bells began ringing almost deafeningly.

"My name is Alexa Caine. Mr. Cohen, is everything all right with you?"

He sighed and abruptly let go of my arm before snapping his fingers and pointing toward the wide leather chair in front of his desk.

"Sit down."

Everything inside me rebelled against his imperious tone of voice, but I couldn't help it and sank onto the beautifully soft leather. I pulled my skirt down before it showed Ethan too much of my thighs and quietly cleared my throat.

"Mr. Cohen, I⁠—"