POV Mira "Mr. Stern wants to see you." I looked up from my desk. The front desk girl was leaning against the doorway ready to leave the office after late hours, smirking like she'd just told me the sky was falling. I still didn't know her name-Bethany? Brianna? Bitch-something. My stomach tightened. "Did he say why?" "Nope." She popped the 'p.' "But if I were you, I'd hurry. He's in one of his moods." Great. Exactly what I needed after last night. My fingers still ached from typing, correcting the spreadsheet disaster I'd created yeaterday-a simple formula error that had cascaded through the entire quarterly report. Leo hadn't said a word when he'd discovered it. That was worse than yelling. I'd watched the muscle in his jaw tighten, seen his fingers drum once, just once, against his desk before he'd turned away. "Fix it," was all he'd said, voice like winter frost. So I'd stayed until midnight fixing that stupid error. He'd been in his "arctic era," as Amber would say-cold voice, clipped tone, eyes like glass. I'd seen the irritation under the surface but he hadn't said a lot about it then. Which meant he'd saved it for today. I knocked on his office door. "Come in." Leo was behind his desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled, reviewing a file. He didn't look up right away. "Miss Kensington." I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. "Mr. Stern." "Close the door." The click echoed too loudly. He set the file down and leaned back in his chair. "Your mistake yesterday cost us twelve hours of productivity." His voice stayed level, controlled. "The board meeting is tomorrow morning. If I hadn't caught your error, we would have presented false data to our investors." "I know. I'm sorry-" "Sorry doesn't fix incompetence." He stepped around the desk, each movement deliberate. "You understand there are consequences for such failures?" "I stayed late and fixed everything." "That's the bare minimum." He stopped three feet away. "You need to be punished." The word hit me like ice water. I froze, staring at him. "Punished?" "Yes." My mouth opened, then closed. I understood my mistake, the gravity of what could have happened, but the way he said that word made my skin prickle with something heated. I laughed once, but it came out more nervous than sarcastic. The air between us seemed to shrink. My throat went dry. "You're kidding." "Do I look like I'm kidding?" His voice was calm, almost conversational, but there was something in it-an undercurrent that made my stomach twist. Leo moved closer, circling behind me. His presence radiated heat despite his arctic demeanor. "Sit on my desk." I turned my head, confused. "What?" "You heard me. Sit on my desk." "That's-" I started to protest, but he cut me off. "And take off your panties." The words landed like a slap I couldn't feel yet. For a beat, I thought I'd misheard. "Excuse me?" "I'm not repeating myself twice." My eyes narrowed. "Is this some kind of joke? Because if it is-" "It's not." His tone didn't waver. He was close now-close enough that I caught the warmth of his body seeping through the inches between us. "You signed a contract, Miss Kensington. That means you follow my instructions. All of them. Without question." My pulse jumped hard enough to make me swallow and I spun to face him fully. "No position requires that kind of-" I gestured vaguely, heat creeping up my neck. "That's completely unprofessional." "Is it?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes! No job contract could possibly-" His hands gripped my waist suddenly, lifting me with startling strength. Before I could process what was happening, I was on his desk, my skirt pulling tight over my thighs, his hands firm at my waist. The shock of cool polished wood under my palms made my breath catch. "What the hell-" He grabbed a folder beside me, my employment contract, and slapped it against my thigh with enough force to make me jump. "Read it." He flipped it open to a page he clearly already had in mind, his finger stabbing at a specific section. "Right there." I looked down, and there it was, printed in neat, undeniable black and white: The assistant will immediately execute any and all tasks assigned by Mr. Stern, of any nature. I stared. "Of any nature?" "You didn't read it before signing?" The corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn't a smile. "How remarkably foolish." My voice was quieter now. "I... trusted you." "Mistake number one." Heat crept up my neck and into my face. He moved between my knees, his hands landing on my thighs, gripping firmly enough that I knew he wouldn't let me slide away. Not that my traitorous body wanted to move. "You're unbelievable," I said, the words sharper than I felt. "You're my father's-" "Your father," Leo interrupted, his grip tightening incrementally, "specifically requested I give you real-world experience. He wanted you to understand how business actually works. The consequences. The power dynamics." His thumbs pressed against the fabric of my skirt, and I fought to keep my breathing steady. Professional. I needed to stay professional even as my panties were already wet. "This isn't business," I barely managed. "Everything is business." His voice dropped lower, more intimate despite the harsh words. "Every interaction. Every contract. Every agreement. You wanted to escape your sheltered life, didn't you? You begged for this position." "Not for this-" "For exactly this." He leaned closer, his breath ghosting across my lips. "You'll thank me later." His hands slid higher on my thighs, just enough to make my breath hitch. "Lesson one: Always read before you sign. Because once you do-your body, your choices, even your life... can end up in someone else's hands." The office felt airless. My skin burned where he touched me, even through fabric. Every professional instinct screamed at me to push him away, to leave, to report this. But the contract-that damned contract I'd signed so carelessly-bound me as effectively as chains. "I'm a man who keeps his word." His thumbs shifted, brushing slowly against the sensative skin of my inner thighs. "I told you I'd make sure you got an experience you wouldn't forget." "This is insane..." I whispered, but my body betrayed me by leaning the smallest bit forward, my knees pressing just slightly around him. My pulse was a mess-half outrage, half... something far more reckless. "This is-" "This is your reality now, Miss Kensington." His voice was silk over steel. "Every task. Every command. Every punishment I deem necessary." "I-" "You wanted the real world? This is it. Power. Control. Consequences. The strong make the rules, and the careless..." Leo pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, his thumb traced a deliberate line along my thighs. "...learn to obey them." I was trapped-by my signature, by his proximity, by my own reckless trust. And beneath the anger, beneath the shock, something else coiled tight in my chest. Something that responded to his dominance with a treacherous heat I couldn't quite suppress. "Now," Leo said, pulling me by my thighs even closer and watching my face, "shall we discuss your punishment properly?"