The Billionaire's plaything

Chapter 3

Another day at the office — except not in the office. In a boardroom as quiet as a graveyard, with firm faces in expensive suits arranged around a long glass table.

Cole sat at the head, large window panes revealing the city behind him. He sat with his head resting on his fist on the armrest, his attention drifting in and out as Elizabeth moved around the room, heads turning to follow her voice. Her eyes never left Cole, who played idly with his pen on the table.

"That's enough, Elizabeth — thank you. Call in Jade. She works here, doesn't she?"

He uttered it without looking up, still toying with his pen.

His words struck the room. Confused faces turned to one another — most especially Elizabeth's, who stared in bewilderment at how he even knew that name. He never knew anyone's name. It had taken him nearly six months to learn hers, and now he was casually calling out Jade, out of nowhere.

Elizabeth fumed inwardly, her face holding it together with a tight smile as she walked out to fetch Jade.

Jade was scrolling on her phone, sipping steamy coffee at the edge of her organized desk. She wore a white office shirt and dark blue pants that hugged her legs, showing off her impossibly slim waist and curves. Her hair was wound into a bun with a few loose strands framing her face.

"Jade!"

Elizabeth's voice echoed across the room. Jade froze with a flash of guilt at being caught on her phone.

She turned slowly in the direction of her name and stood up, smoothing her clothes.

"Yes, ma'am," Jade said,

struggling to swallow the lump of pride in her throat.

"Well, don't just stand there — come here,"

Elizabeth called from across the room, beside a separate door in the workstation.

Jade strode toward her, shuffling through thoughts about why she'd been called. She remembered seeing several board members and investors file through that same door earlier.

"What's going on?" Her mind raced.

The door clicked open, and Cole's head rose slowly. Over a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on Jade as she walked in with Elizabeth. The tension in the air was almost thick enough to touch.

Jade scanned the room and stopped at Cole, who was staring at her as if he wanted to see the color of her soul through her eyes.

"Jade — tell me, and our investors, what we could be doing better."

Jade froze.

"I'm sorry — excuse me?" Her voice steadied the anticipating room.

"This makes no sense, Mr. Hartwell," one of the board members said.

"She's in no position to—"

Another member was cut off as Jade began to speak.

The room grew quieter with every pause she took between her words. A smirk crossed Cole's face — one no one else could see.

"Just as sharp as I suspected," he said under his breath.

The room slowly broke into applause. Jade let out a breath of relief. Elizabeth stood shell-shocked, astonished at how much Jade knew — nearly as much as she did, if not more — in just a year.

"Meeting closed," Cole dismissed the room.

"Except you, Miss Jade," he added, as she reached for the door handle.

She turned and declined immediately, now alone with him in the room.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have work to do, Mr. Hartwell."

"You're free for the rest of the day. Let me have a word with you."

He stood, hands clasped behind his back, walking toward the windows.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't." She turned back to the door and walked out.

The door closed behind her with a definitive slam, leaving Cole alone in an empty room.

"What the hell did I just do?!" Jade panicked, hesitating just outside the door, second-guessing herself. She had just walked out on a billionaire. More importantly, her boss.

Elizabeth glared at her from across the room as she made her way back to her desk, then walked over.

"This thing you just pulled — never do it again," Elizabeth said in a tone too soft for anyone else to hear. "I can make this place feel a lot more like hell for you."

Jade collapsed into her chair in regret. "You could have just laid low, Jay. Why did you have to go too far?"

She judged herself quietly until she got tired of it and returned to work. An hour passed. She picked up her phone to find a text and a missed call from Drew.

"Wanna hang out after work?"

"Sorry, I can't." She set her phone down and typed away at the keyboard.

Cole soaked in his soapy bathtub, trying to wrap his head around why Jade had said no. It was a word he hardly ever heard.

"Who was this woman?" The thought unsettled him — but also intrigued him.

He stepped out of the tub and grabbed the towel from the luxurious glass door leading into his enormous bedroom. The sheets were undone — black under-sheets, a white blanket — and Elizabeth's naked body lay asleep, wrapped in them.

He walked over to the empty side of the bed and slid in, staring up at the ceiling. Elizabeth stirred and crawled closer, wrapping herself around him and kissing his neck.

"Can't sleep?"

She murmured against his skin, her fingers tracing circles on his chest, her lips moving to his neck — trying to draw him back to her once more before dawn.

"It's nothing, Elizabeth. You've got work tomorrow."

He removed her hand from his body and turned away.

"We both do," she pressed.

"You work for me, remember? Goodnight. See you in the morning."

He felt her arms wrap around him again, and a kiss pressed behind his neck.

"Whatever you say, love," she said softly, drifting back to sleep.

Jade froze after answering the door.

"Hey, Jade. Mind if I come in?"

Drew stood casually in a black T-shirt and grey pants, a bouquet of roses in his hand.

"Hey, Drew. Of course — come in," she said awkwardly, dressed in a short house gown she had put on after work.

"I know you didn't want to see me, but I just had to."

Drew said, handing over the flowers and settling into the brown minimalist couch in the living area. Jade stood for a moment.

"Why is he here? It was just one night. Was the s*x really that good?" Her mind raced. She joined him on the couch, trying her best to look pleased to see him.

"I know this is a bit awkward for you, Ja—"

"Yep. Very," Jade cut in, glancing around the room to ease the tension.

Drew cleared his throat.

"I see something between us, and it's not just the s*x. I think we could give this a real shot."

"I'm not really looking for something serious right now, Drew. We barely know each other."

"That's exactly why I'm here — so we can get to know each other."

"You don't understand. My work is too demanding, and honestly, the s*x is my way of switching off. Commitment is too much for me right now."

Jade concluded, avoiding Drew's eyes.

Drew reached out and pulled her into a hug.

"You'll be just fine, Jade. If you don't want to, that's okay. I'm here as your friend. And maybe for the s*x too — as long as you're all right."

Drew pulled back and looked her in the eyes. For the first time, Jade felt something twinged in her chest.

"Wanna watch a movie?" She lightened the atmosphere and reached for the remote.

"Yeah, sure. What are we watching?"

They spent the entire evening drinking and watching a random series they stumbled across on Netflix. Later, after Drew left, Jade lay awake re-examining her own choices — her patterns, her walls, the trauma from past relationships she kept dragging into the present.

"Sorry — who is this?" Jade replied to the voice on her office phone the next morning, still nursing a mild hangover from the previous night's drinks with Drew.

"Come to my office, Miss Jade."

The voice revealed itself clearly now. Cole Hartwell. The question was — why her?