Three Billionaire Alphas on Their Knees

sk control office happened s

office just outside the CEO's suite. Her new workspace was separated

rror. But on the other side, all Asher had to do was look up, and

ial cage, blatant

the polished desk. She could feel it. That gaze cutting through the glass from the other side. Hot. Heavy.

ike frost spreading across a windowpane. The primal shudder of being locked in by an apex predator was maki

fingers moved before her brain had fully caught up, slipping into the underlying communication protocol and beginning h

r pupils cont

r, silently bypassing the firewall, trying to overstep its permissions and access her original entry reco

digging in

began a quiet reverse trace, following the data link with practiced precision. Layer by layer, she peeled back the encryptio

ore server. Asher Kings

like a stone. She'd thought Asher Kingston was just keeping her under his thumb out of corporate paranoia. She'd thought the gl

uspiciou

h a sharp click, and rose from her chair. Her heels struck t

A

ly into Asher's private office without hesitation, her spine ram

ng scent of cedar and snow pine. Asher leaned back in his massive leather chair, one hand pinching the bridge of his nos

ore entering is basic workplace etiquette. I'd expect s

access a subordinate's private files. Is that Kingsto

ike a gunshot. Her voice was cold enough to freeze the air between them. "Or does the CEO of Kin

ep behind his own. A flicker of recognition, perhaps, or something darker. He lowered h

he edge of his desk, meeting those dangerous steel-gray eyes without flinching. "If you want to dig into my past, you can ask me d

refused to submit, refused to give him an inch. He tapped his fingers twice a

ed by emotion sometimes. You came in here ready for a fight

nd unreadable. "Take a look at the protection logs at t

. Her eyes moved quickly across the lines of code, parsing the inform

beneath that malicious retrieval command, Asher's highest-level security had already dropped a thunderous lockdown minutes earlier, crushing t

putting

s wall and stewing in her suspicions, he'd been using his top-level permissions to shield her from a lethal in

nters have already ma

hoosing his words with careful precision as he laid out his "cold logic." B

hadn't taken over your data under the pretense of an internal audit, Miss Clark, you'd already be a target on every black-market tra

r throat, and for a moment, the walls of the office seemed to close i

lently in her pocket. The vibration cut throug

a message from an unknown number. Just a single vo

dn't heard in eight years but would recognize anywhere. The voice of the man who'd torn up their ma

d you,

d from her face, her lips parting slightly as the old te

e. The cold mask he'd been wearing shattered on the spot. The distant CEO was gone. In hi

om the windows, casting her entirely in his shadow. His presence wrapped around her like a wall of heat and

a low, dangerous rumble, "do you still think k

e lifted her chin and met his gaze, her amber eyes

and seal the system from the outside. Mr. Kingston, that doesn't require you to stay in the office to overs

do it. Saw the exact moment he pulled the mask back over his face. He straightened up, smoothing the cuffs of

s Cl

his cuffs, every inch the co

this merger. Tonight is the final twelve hours of data packaging. If they can't

t her, voice fla

he system. I tru

e weight of those wor

nts. I sit here and make sure no claws from

ge, Miss Clark.

gaze for a

t back t

The ghost of his warmth still lingere

, Mr. Ki

of the office, settling ba

on the other side of the glass, the man lit a fresh cigar, his