Free Dare Me: A Dark Billionaire Romance by Evelyn Troy

like a plan, and she found herself smiling. It wouldn’t ruin the company, but it would put a dent in Harper’s pocket. Now what if Wilson-Davies were to hear about this upcoming partnership with enough time to make a counter-bid? She opened up a tab on her browser and logged into the encryption system; she didn’t want any whisper of the leak to get back and be logged to her computer, or even the company’s IP address.
     
    To be doubly sure, Jasmine quickly opened up a new email account, using a fake name. She scrolled through the company’s directory on their site, finding the best person to leak the information to: someone in the new acquisitions department of Wilson-Davies. Smiling to herself, Jasmine entered the email address into the field on the new message and carefully composed the missive. She gave sparse details about the process and no reason for the leak, simply saying that she thought the person the email was addressed to would want to know about it. After reading the email a few times over to make sure she didn’t sound too much like a spiteful employee, or like someone who couldn’t be trusted—who might be lying—Jasmine clicked send, and logged out of the email account and encryption system the moment she got a notification that it had gone through.
     
    The rest of Wednesday seemed to go more pleasantly after that, and Jasmine even managed to get a little bit of work done from the secretary’s desk, humming to herself contentedly. Genco wouldn’t be ruined by what she had done—and it couldn’t possibly be traced to her in any way. But when the deal fell through, Dominic would have to take a loss for the quarter, which would be revenge enough, even if it meant that fewer people in her department would get bonuses. I always seem to be ineligible for bonuses anyway, so it’s not like it’s going to hurt me, Jasmine thought, smiling to herself once more as she considered who it would actually hurt: her boss, a couple of her colleagues who saw her as little more than a glorified workhorse, and of course, Dominic, who hadn’t had the grace to at least tell her that he had no intention of following up. It probably wouldn’t hurt him that badly, and Jasmine was enough of an adult to recognize that what she had done was incredibly petty, but it gave her satisfaction to do it. It was a small way of getting back at the people who had abused her or used her in some way, and if small was all she could manage, then she would take advantage of what little revenge she could get.
     
    She found herself leaving not at the usual late hour, but right on time, crowding into the elevator with several other employees. “Not burning the late night oil today?” Todd from Accounting asked. Jasmine shrugged.
     
    “I’m trying to develop what they call work-life balance,” she said. “I can’t be effective if I’m slaving away all the time. I’m going to go home, have a nice bath, and drink a glass or two of wine.”
     
    “Good call,” Sherry, the assistant manager in the graphic design department said. “So good in fact that I think I’ll follow your example.” Jasmine fell silent as conversation buzzed around her, relieved that for once she was doing just what she wanted to be doing.
     

 
    Chapter Seven

 
     
    Just as she was lounging in her living room after work on Thursday night following her petty sabotage, having given up all hope of ever hearing from Dominic Harper again, Jasmine’s phone rang from across the room. Rolling her eyes and fully expecting that the call would be from someone at work, she took her time crossing the room to take the phone off of the charger. As she unlocked the screen, Jasmine frowned at the unfamiliar number. Probably a telemarketer or scammer, she thought. At least I could enjoy messing around with whoever it is.
     
    “Hello?” some instinct stopped Jasmine from answering the call in a joking voice, instead using her own normal tone.
     
    “Jasmine