Chapter 1
Jake Blackwood slept at his desk like a man who had outlived his glory. At thirty-two, his face carried the shadows of both privilege and ruin, sharp lines carved by years of having everything and then nothing. Screens glowed across the floor, rows of cutting-edge hardware humming softly, the entire office a polished façade built on money that was not his. His parents had poured investments into this place not out of love but out of strategy, a neat little cage to keep their disgraced son out of the public eye. The company looked modern, even enviable, but Jake knew it was nothing more than exile dressed in brushed aluminum and tempered glass.
He was the sole male employee among a sea of women. The company did not advertise it, yet somehow every new hire brought in was female, from developers to designers to managers, until Jake stood out like a misplaced piece in an otherwise curated set. Sometimes it amused him. Other times it felt deliberate, another subtle cruelty his parents had arranged, surrounding him with reminders of temptation and distance, distractions that would never quite belong to him.
His head lolled back, and in the darkness behind his eyes he was a boy again, crouched beside his mother on the living room floor, wires and screws scattered like treasure. Her hand guided his, patient and sure, as he connected the last cable that would breathe life into his first computer. The monitor flickered on, a simple BIOS screen, but in that moment it was magic. Her laughter wrapped around him, warm and proud, a sound that clung to him like sunlight through cold glass. He wanted to stay there forever.
But then a voice cut through, sharp and immediate.
“Jake.”
His eyes opened, dream torn away, the office snapping back into place. He blinked once, twice, dragging himself upright, and turned toward the figure leaning at the edge of his workstation.
Alexa.
The latest hire, barely a month into her role, fresh blood among veterans who had already grown jaded. She was white, early twenties, her figure more lithe than lush, yet she carried herself with the unconscious sway of someone who knew how to catch eyes even without meaning to. Her badge still gleamed new, her laptop fresher than anything else in the room, and her gaze locked on him with just enough boldness to stir something restless inside him.
Jake let his attention sweep over her slowly, unashamed. Not the kind of woman to stop a room with her curves, but she had that other quality. The way she tilted her head, the way her lips tugged at the edge of a smile, the way her presence lingered just a second too long. Whether intentional or not, she had been playing that edge since her first day.
And Jake did not mind.
Every exile needs something to claim, and Alexa was already marked in his mind as a conquest waiting to be taken.
Alexa leaned closer, voice dropping into that conspiratorial softness that always seemed to tug Jake out of his own head. “Jake, can you... help me with something?” Her laptop was tucked under one arm, her eyes flicking nervously toward the glassed-in office where Keisha, their team leader, perched like a hawk.
Jake’s mouth curled into a smile that was not exactly kind. “What’s in it for me?”
That threw her. For the past month, she had grown used to him playing guardian, stepping in whenever Keisha sharpened her claws. He had done it without a word, always there like a shadow shielding her, and now he was suddenly asking for payment. Her brows furrowed, lips parting, caught off guard.
“Please,” she whispered quickly, almost breathless. “Just... before Keisha notices, before she rips me apart. I can’t let her see this bug, she’ll make it sound like I don’t belong here.” She shifted her weight, leaning forward a little more, her charm unspooling whether she knew it or not, voice sliding into a tone halfway between begging and teasing.
Jake let the silence stretch, savoring her unease. Then, flat and direct. “Give me a reward.”
Alexa blinked, visibly thrown. “A reward? What do you mean?”
“Let me take you out,” he said simply. “A date.”
Her mouth fell open, stunned. That was not the game she expected him to play. “What? Jake, I can’t. I have a boyfriend.”
Jake tilted his head, that small smile still tugging at his lips. “And.”
She stared at him, confused. “And what?”
“I’m not trying to steal you away from anyone. I don’t want the drama. I’m just... bored. I want a little piece of something normal. Dinner, drinks, conversation. That’s all.” His eyes lingered on hers, heavy with something she could not quite name, a hunger he did not bother to disguise.
Alexa searched his face as though trying to decode him, uncertain whether he was serious or mocking her. “Why are you even telling me this?” she asked, voice softer now, uneasy.
Jake shrugged, breaking eye contact, his hand already reaching for the laptop. “Never mind.”
He slid it from her arms, the screen glowing pale against his face. She bent in close beside him, her arm brushing his shoulder, one hand resting lightly there as though for balance. The faint scent of her perfume, something floral and sharp, slipped into his lungs and sat heavy. Her hair tickled his cheek as she leaned forward, whispering unintentional distractions while he worked through her code. Lines scrolled, error by error, until his eyes caught the bug. He corrected it with a few swift keystrokes.
Just as he leaned back, satisfied, the air shifted.
He did not need to look up to know. Keisha was there.
Her heels clicked against the floor, deliberate, her shadow spilling over them. The team leader’s expression was unreadable for now, but the timing was poison. Alexa still leaning over Jake’s shoulder, her hand still resting lightly on him, the screen between them glowing like evidence.
