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When I took a job at Blackwell International, I thought I was escaping my past. I never expected to fall into the arms-and the bed-of Sebastian Blackwell, the enigmatic billionaire CEO with a stare that strips you bare. We're fire and gasoline behind closed doors. But there are rules. He's my boss. I'm his forbidden weakness. And his younger brother? He's the reason I ran in the first place. Secrets unravel. Loyalties shift. And when desire becomes war, only one of us can walk away unscathed. Welcome to Blackwell... where love isn't just forbidden-it's dangerous.
Chapter 1 New Identity, New City
Sienna's POV
They say reinvention is for the brave. But what they don't tell you is that reinvention also requires destruction. Burn the old version. Bury the name. Start again like it didn't almost kill you.
So here I am-Sienna Hart. New ID. New apartment. New rules.
New York City didn't care who I used to be, and that was the point. It didn't flinch when I stepped into its chaos. It just swallowed me whole. Perfect. I wanted to disappear in plain sight.
The old me had been naive. Soft. Willing to believe promises spoken in the dark. But she died in that courtroom. Along with the man who swore he loved her. Now I was steel beneath skin.
The temp agency said the position was urgent. Confidential. High-paying. Which usually meant dangerous, and exactly my kind of gig.
"Sienna Hart?" the receptionist asked, eyeing my fake Chanel with suspicion.
"Yes. Here for the executive assistant interview."
She handed me a clipboard without a smile. "Sign this NDA."
No hello. No welcome. Just an NDA thick enough to choke on. I smirked. This had Sebastian Blackwell written all over it.
I signed without hesitation.
His empire sat like a glass god in the heart of Manhattan. Blackwell international`. Real estate, venture capital, tech, and enough rumors to sink Wall Street.
"He's a devil in Armani," whispered the woman beside me in the elevator. "Fires people with a look."
"I hear he never hires female assistants."
"Then what am I doing here?" I murmured.
She shrugged. "Maybe you're the exception. Or the next casualty."
"Miss Hart?" His HR director stood like she was afraid to breathe wrong. "Mr. Blackwell will see you now."
I stepped into the office.
And there he was.
Sebastian Blackwell.
Tall. Dark. An aura so potent it pulled the oxygen from the room. A charcoal suit, it was sharply cut to fit and can be wound. The part where I was most impressed was not just his power and wealth, but also his eyes and heart. Cold. Calculating. Curious.
He didn't rise. Didn't offer a hand.
"You're not what I expected."
"I get that a lot."
"Your resume is impressive. Too impressive for someone applying to be an assistant."
"Maybe I like being underestimated."
He leaned back, hands steepled. "And what would you say is your greatest weakness?"
"I don't believe in weaknesses. Just leverage."
A flicker of a smile. "Clever. Dangerous."
"Is that a compliment or a warning?"
"Both."
I held his gaze. Didn't flinch.
"You start Monday. Seven sharp. Don't be late."
I rose. "You haven't told me the salary."
He smirked. "If you're good, you won't care."
My new apartment was barely legal. Half a window, no fire escape, and walls so thin I could hear my neighbor cry herself to sleep. Still, it was mine. Paid for with forged credentials and borrowed confidence.
Monday came fast.
So did the rain. I stepped into Blackwell Tower drenched, but alive.
His office was already buzzing. Phones. Emails. Stress in stilettos. And me? I was calm in the storm.
"You're early," Sebastian said without looking up.
.
"You said don't be late. I don't do half-measures."
He handed me a list. "Cancel these meetings. Call my tailor. And I want coffee that doesn't taste like corporate tears."
"Noted. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Don't sleep with anyone in this building."
I arched a brow. "Planning on testing that rule yourself?"
He looked up, eyes unreadable. "Temptation is best kept at a distance."
I smiled. "Good thing I'm not easily tempted."
That was a lie.
By noon, I had rescheduled six meetings, humiliated one intern, and found a coffee shop that served espresso like liquid sin.
Sebastian barely looked at me. But I could feel his presence like a storm brewing.
"Miss Hart," he said around three. "Join me."
We walked into the boardroom. Executives straightened. Phones disappeared. The room shifted around him like gravity.
"We're acquiring CainTech," he said. "Their CEO doesn't know it yet. I want you to draft the internal memo and leak the acquisition to select press. Controlled chaos."
"What tone?"
"Power. With a smile."
I nodded.
One of the VPs frowned. "Is she cleared for that?"
Sebastian's tone sliced air. "She is what I say she is."
The room went still.
That night, I worked late. Drafted the memo. Crafted the leak. Sent it with a burner email.
At nine, the door opened.
Sebastian stood there. Tie loosened. Tension crackling.
"Most assistants leave by six."
"Most assistants aren't me."
"Clearly."
He stepped closer. Too close.
"Why are you really here, Miss Hart?"
"To build something."
"Lies don't look good on you."
"Neither do expectations."
We stared. And the world narrowed to just us.
"Go home, Sienna. Before I make you forget your own name."
I didn't blink. "Maybe I want to."
His jaw flexed. But he stepped back.
"Tomorrow. Seven. Don't be late."
I walked past him, pulse a thunderstorm.
I'd just stepped into the lion's den.
And I wanted him to bite.
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