Power: Power Series #1

by Victoria Woods

  My heart was racing as the elevator halted and the doors opened to reveal a tall and tanned figure with gorgeous black hair. He had been looking down at his phone before he heard the elevator ding, announcing itself. Jai.

  I let out a sigh of relief. I’d had little interaction with this Sethi brother, but I couldn’t have been more glad to see him. I wasn’t ready to face his sibling just yet.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Sethi,” Jessica greeted him in a most professional manner.

  “Hey, Jessica,” he replied casually, flashing her a bright smile. Jai was handsome, just like his brother. They looked so similar, with beautifully golden skin and dark features, except Jai had dark-brown eyes—like coffee. His boyish charm led me to believe that he was the younger brother. Shyam always looked serious and pensive, just like an oldest child. Jai was more jovial, which made me feel more at ease standing in front of him. It also helped that he was dressed more casually than any of the other people in the building—in a pair of jeans and a fitted white t-shirt that clung to his muscular torso.

  He eyed me as Jessica made the introductions. “Mr. Sethi, may I introduce to you Amelia Becker, formerly of IP Innovations? Ms. Becker, this is Mr. Sethi.” She redirected her attention to Jai. “I was just showing Ms. Becker to her new workspace.”

  Jai hesitated as he considered what Jessica had just said. His eyebrow raised after a couple of seconds as he seemed to reach his conclusion. His lips spread into a sly smile.

  “Of course. Hello, Amelia.” He offered me his hand. “I hope Jessica hasn’t been boring you with all that HR red tape.” His voice carried a similar Indian-mixed-with-British accent to Shyam’s, but it was less pronounced. I could also hear a little more of an American accent come through, unlike when Shyam spoke.

  “Not at all,” I answered quickly, noticing Jessica shift uncomfortably next to me. HR wasn’t exactly exciting, but that wasn’t her fault.

  “Well, come on. I’ll show you the fun part of the tour,” he said as he motioned for me to follow him. “I’ll take it from here, Jessica.”

  “She is in thirty-eight F,” Jessica offered and stayed behind as Jai showed me the way.

  The entire building was impeccably designed, but the thirty-eighth floor was beyond magnificent. There was a large fountain in the entrance way, right in front of the elevators. The fountain flowed into a large infinity pond filled with water plants and koi fish leisurely swimming around. It was an extravagant sight, but it fit with the modern style of the building.

  Sensing my astonishment, Jai joked, “I know. Not a bad place to go to work, huh?”

  “Not at all. This place is beautiful,” I replied in awe.

  “We hired the city’s best architect to be able to structure a koi pond on the top floor. Trust me, it was no easy feat.”

  We continued along the perimeter of the pond, passing a set of large glass doors that opened to a large room with a shiny conference table and several leather office chairs inside.

  Jai pointed to the doors. “On the right is one of our conference rooms. We have two on this floor. The other is on the opposite side.”

  The conference room seemed much bigger and more lavish than the conference room at IP Innovations, from what I could see through the glass windows. I blushed, remembering the old conference room and what Shyam had done to me in there.

  “Now, this is my favorite part.” Jai made a sharp right and led me down a shorter hallway. We entered what looked like an industrial kitchen. There were cooking stations set at several kitchen islands, each with its own chef working efficiently over the flames.

  “You can order almost any meal you’d like to eat from one of our chefs, and they will prepare everything for you in-house.” Jai wandered over to one of the chefs and patted him on the back as he worked diligently.

  “Wow! This is so impressive! I pretty much just ate at the food trucks next to my old job every day for lunch.” Even though I loved tacos, it wasn’t as good as having a private chef at work.

  “Hey, now, food trucks aren’t half-bad. I like that new taco truck that moved in there a few weeks ago,” Jai said as he walked to one of the deluxe espresso machines and drew himself a shot in a small cup. “Want one?” he offered.

  I declined. “I don’t take you as a food truck aficionado,” I teased.

  “Hey, don’t judge. They are life savers at two in the morning when you’re wasted and starving.”

  I giggled at his response. I couldn’t imagine a rich and powerful Sethi brother coming down with the munchies.

  “But seriously. Feel free to order anything you want to your office. Here, catch!” He tossed me a snack bag, and I caught a glimpse of silver on his finger. It looked just like the ring Shyam wore.

  “Gummy bears?” I asked, examining the bag in my hands. “Who orders gummy bears on this floor?” I chuckled. I couldn’t imagine any of the “suits” indulging in gummy snacks.

  “The chefs are always prepared for any request. You’d be surprised at what you’ll find in here if you raid the pantry.” Jai placed his empty espresso cup in one of the sinks and led me back into the common area.

  With my gummy bears in hand, we stopped at another glass door. 38-F Amelia Becker. I opened my eyes wider to read it again, in case my eyes were playing tricks on me.

  “Welcome to your new office,” Jai announced as he opened the doors and strolled inside.

  My feet barely responded enough to bring me past the threshold. A gorgeous white desk with platinum legs stood at the far end. On top of the desktop were white and platinum accessories that matched each other perfectly.

  Opposite the desk was a seating area with a dark-blue velvet sofa and a sleek glass coffee table. Two matching armchairs sat across from the sofa. It looked like a living room featured in an architectural magazine.

  The far wall of the office was made up of tall windows. I stepped closer to them to peer at the view of the city. I could see yellow cabs zooming down the street and people hustling to get to where they needed to be.

  “This must be a mistake,” I managed to say. This had to be a dream. “Are you sure I’m supposed to be in here?”

  “Your name is on the door, isn’t it?” Jai replied coolly. He leaned against the wall, looking like a model with his hands in his pockets and one leg crossed over the other. “Let’s get IT on the phone and get your desktop set up, shall we?”

  “Um, sure.” I wasn’t ready to stop staring out of the windows, but I gave in as I followed him to my new desk.

  XI. Shyam

  Work had been a shit show from the moment I stepped foot into the office this morning. The most recent data-tracking reports showed that Tarun’s network was growing rapidly on the West Coast and in the Midwest. We still had an extensive stronghold on the East Coast, but map data implied that his network was closing in on us at an alarming rate.

  I had spent an hour on the phone with one of my men, going over logistics for our next product shipment to Spain. Saran had assured me that we were on track to finish production within in the next week and then ship directly from our port in Staten Island.

  Since we were officially known as a tech company, we often shipped computer parts that we produced cheaply to hide our product in the cargo. This time, we planned to send ten crates of central processing units and monitors to conceal our product. We needed this shipment to be received without error if we wanted to break even.

  With all the issues needing my attention, I had not been able to see Amelia yet. Security had alerted me of her arrival, but I had been tied up. I knew that Jessica had kept her busy all morning with orientation procedures. I looked at the clock—right about now, she should be with the IT department, setting up her computer. Just thinking about her stirred a desire to seek her out. To check on her. To touch her.

  My need won out. Leaving my suit jacket hanging on the back of my chair, I pushed back from my desk and wandered out of the office to find my new employee.

  As I approached
her door, I heard a feminine laugh, followed by a deep male voice. I pushed my way in without knocking to announce myself.

  Amelia was seated in front of her computer, while Jai hovered behind her with his elbow resting on the back of her chair. They were both looking at something on her monitor. Her face looked bright and relaxed as she looked up at Jai while he pointed to her screen. I had never seen her look so at ease. Every time she was around me, she seemed tense—even scared. Anger bubbled inside of me that Jai was experiencing a side of her that I had yet to see.

  I slammed the door closed behind me, shaking the walls as the door hit the frame. Amelia and Jai turned their heads abruptly in my direction. The smile on her face quickly faded when she realized where the noise had come from.

  “Hey, man. You found us.” Jai stayed hunched over her chair as he smirked at me. I didn’t appreciate his proximity to her, or the stupid cocky expression on his face.

  “Why are you in here?” My voice was tight with anger I had failed to suppress.

  “Just helping Amelia here get settled into her new office.” Jai lowered his gaze to her and gave her a wink. She smiled awkwardly back at him, unsure of how to react with the tension in the room.

  My blood was boiling. Jai was a flirt by nature, which didn’t bother me. However, I didn’t like that Amelia was now the subject of his flirtation.

  “Don’t we have an IT department to do that?” I barked.

  “Why bother them when she could have the Chief Technical Officer of the company help her set up her hardware? Gotta make the new hires feel welcomed, you know,” he jested.

  “Leave,” I growled.

  Amelia clasped her hands in her lap and shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

  Jai raised both of his hands in front of his chest in surrender.

  As he passed by me on his way out, he lowered his voice so only I could hear him. “So, now we’re keeping employees a secret?”

  I didn’t have a response. How could I answer him when I wasn’t even sure why I had brought her on? I had told myself it was because she was a good developer. But was there another reason?

  Just after he walked out of the door, Jai stuck his head back in and flashed his biggest smile at Amelia to tease me even more. “If you need any more IT help, you know where to find me.” The door clicked behind him.

  Amelia rose from her chair and stood facing me from behind her desk. “Shyam…I mean, Mr. Sethi. I’m sorry for taking up so much of Jai…um, Mr. Sethi’s time,” she stammered.

  I liked seeing her nervous around me—seeing the effect I had on her.

  I stalked closer to her, as if I were a predator closing in on my prey. “I trust you are ready to work now. You and Jai have wasted enough time for one day. The next time you need help with setup, contact our IT department instead.” I couldn’t hold back my aggression.

  She stared at me with a look of disbelief. “He was just helping!” she snapped as her hands balled into tight fists at her sides.

  My eyebrow arched with curiosity. This kitten has claws. Hearing her raised voice was another first for me. Clearly, she had some fight in her. She just needed to be pushed.

  “Talking back to your boss? And on your first day? Not a great way to make a good first impression.” I continued moving in until I was near enough to feel her forceful exhalations of anger on my skin. Her frustration spurred me on even more.

  “Only when I think he’s being unfair,” she shot back. Her attitude surprised me, yet it made my dick hard. I wanted her to obey me and fall in line, but her fight made me horny as hell.

  She had to tilt her head back to show me the venom in her eyes because I was so much taller than her. A lock of her thick hair had fallen over her face during her tantrum, and it blew back and forth with each breath that huffed from her nose. I lifted it gently with my fingertips, feeling its smoothness. I tucked it behind her ear and let my finger slide along her cheek, which was warm with anger.

  I studied the beautiful face before me. Her glossed lips were full, just waiting for me to sink my teeth into them. Her breath slowed to almost a complete stop as I lifted her chin and moved my face closer to hers. My fingers slid to her neck. Her bruises had disappeared, but I still remembered them vividly, along with the asshole who had given them to her. I stroked her neck gently, silently apologizing on behalf of her attacker.

  Her hands moved to my forearms as if to tell me, Don’t stop. I did not want to stop, either. Her hold over me was inexplicable. I had never felt the need to be in control and yet be so out of control at the same time before. What is she doing to me?

  Her delicate hands slid from my arms to my chest. Can she feel my heart beating faster?

  Rising onto her toes, she closed the gap between us. She took control. My control. Her plump lips pressed against mine. Her kiss was gentle, as if to test my desire. I needed to taste her. I needed to consume her with my mouth.

  I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips, seeking an invitation. Ever so responsive, she invited me in. Our tongues met with fervor. She tasted like strawberries. The heat between us was so strong.

  Gripping my shirt with her fingers, she pressed her body against my hard length. I sucked her bottom lip between my teeth and bit down hard. She breathed out a pleasured moan, bringing me back to my senses.

  I released her lip and stared into those dark-green eyes. Fuck. I needed to get a hold of myself.

  Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

  XII. Amelia

  My body was buzzing from our kiss as Shyam’s eyes, hooded with desire, stared into mine—mirroring my need. I had been upset that he rejected me before and had even wondered if I was the only one who felt the attraction. But in this moment, I knew he felt it too.

  He had stormed into the office and forced Jai out when he was just helping me get settled, and then he had ordered me around like a child until I couldn’t take it anymore. He had pushed me, and I had snapped—but not enough to resist the spark between us. The man could kiss. It was the best kiss I had ever had, and I would never forget it.

  A knock at the door pulled him out of our trance. Stepping back from me, he smoothed the front of his shirt and wiped the remnants of my lip gloss from his lips with his fingers.

  Anxiety shot through my body at the idea of being caught in a compromising position on my first day. I already felt out of place in this luxurious building. Getting caught making out with the boss would only make things more awkward.

  “Come in,” Shyam commanded in his usual authoritative tone, but his voice was laced with irritation.

  The door cracked open and Jessica stepped inside. “Oh, Mr. Sethi.” She glanced nervously between Shyam and me, probably unsure of what to make of her boss being in my office. Whatever she was thinking, she didn’t expose it. She maintained her professional manner. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  “Do you need something?” Shyam asked, not bothering to disguise his impatience.

  Sensing his mood, Jessica answered hurriedly, “I just received Ms. Becker’s keycard and I wanted to deliver it as soon as possible.”

  She held out a small card with my name and photo on it. I looked like I was twelve years old in the photo I had taken only hours earlier. I always looked much younger than my age. And standing next to a confident man like Shyam while I was still flushed from our make-out session probably made me look like jailbait right now.

  “Thank you,” I said as I took the card from her. “And, please, call me Amelia.”

  Jessica looked to Shyam, uncertain of how to respond. He glared back. His annoyance at how long this conversation had already carried on was obvious.

  “You’re welcome, Amelia,” she said, visibly uncomfortable with this level of informality. “You can wear this one instead of the guest badge that you have right now. It controls access to the elevators and labs.”

  “Labs?” I asked. Why would anyone need to use a computer lab when they had a huge private office to work from? I already kn
ew I would be more productive in my new office than I had been at my tiny desk at IP Innovations.

  “Thank you, Jessica,” Shyam cut her off before she could respond. “That will be all.”

  Jessica must have been used to his curtness because she didn’t flinch. “Yes, sir,” she said and exited the office, leaving us alone once again.

  Shyam directed his attention to me again as he tucked both hands into his pants pockets.

  Searching for something to say to break the tension, I dropped my gaze to my hands. The keycard. “Do you really have computer labs here?”