Secret Revenge: An Enemies-to-Lovers Billionaire Romance

8. Emily

As I expected, my mom gave me a hard time for helping her out with some money.

Seconds after I made the transfer to her account, Mom called. “Emily darling, you really didn’t have to. Her voice was shaky. “I told you we were going to handle things here.”

But I couldn’t stand the thought of her and dad going through that whole situation on their own, and at their age. While she protested my help, I could hear the gratitude in her voice. That was enough reason for me to ignore her persistent requests that I not get involved, and extra motivation to gather some dirt on the slimy Ross brothers.

“It’s alright mom,” I replied as I rode the elevator down to the ground floor. “I’m chasing a huge story, and I was able to get an advance. Trust me, everything’s fine on my end.”

“But are you okay?” she asked, her concern clear. “Are you sure you don’t need the money you sent? I mean, it’s not like you’re rolling in money yourself, you know?”

“I will be fine, mom. I replied. “I promise. Just take care of dad. Take care of yourself as well. I’ll call you soon. I love you, mom.” I hung up the phone, tucking it into the pocket of my jeans. I felt good about myself in that moment, grateful that I could help.

I walked out of the cool lobby into the bright glare of the sun shining furiously in the sky. I had several errands to run, but none of them were as important as seeing Michael and finding out how close he was to cracking into the cloud. I crossed the street and got into my car, thankful for the respite from the sun.

The drive back to Michael’s apartment took longer than I expected. Jonathan’s words echoed in my mind as I drummed on the steering wheel, inching pathetically slowly through late morning traffic.

While Jonathan was a kindly old man who saw his daughter in me, I didn’t see him as someone who gave free handouts. I had not expected him to help me with money for my father’s hip replacement surgery, but he had. I had to come up with something juicy and tangible, and I had to do it fast.

I stopped in front of Michael’s building, knocking and waiting patiently for him to poke his head through the door. There was no reply, so I tried knocking again. I tapped my foot impatiently while I waited with growing concern. I had called Michael before I left Jonathan’s office and I knew he was home.

Worried, I knocked again, this time louder than the first two times. Michael rarely left the house, unless it was terribly important. A sense of dread flooded me, the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end.

The people we are dealing with are pretty dangerous. If they catch us sleuthing, it could be a quick end to me and Michael.

I was about to bang on the door again when it swung inwards.. I jumped in shock, letting out a pathetic yelp. Michael stood in the doorway, and I would have felt a sense of relief at seeing him, if he didn’t look so livid.

Without saying a word to me, he scanned the hallway behind me with an unusual intensity. Satisfied that I was alone, he dragged me by my arm into the apartment and shut the door behind me. I took exception to his rough-handling.

“Hey,” I said in annoyance. “Are you alright? What the hell is going on?”

Michael walked into the living room, speaking over his shoulder as he went. “No, Emily! I’m not alright, and neither are you. This is war…” he slumped onto the couch, covering his face with both hands.

What was he talking about? I walked up to him, hoping he could help me understand what the hell he was going on.

“War?” I asked, sitting on the coffee table close to the couch he lay on. “What do you mean ‘war’? What in Pete’s name are you talking about?”

“Travis’s security just threw me out of their systems and fried my computer!” Michael threw his hands into the air in exasperation, and I flinched at the motion. “I knew I shouldn’t have worked this hack on my main computer. I’m so glad I didn’t. It would have been an absolute disaster.”

I looked at Michael in confusion and opened my arms. Everything he said sounded like crazy talk. I said as much to him, and he looked at me as if I was the biggest idiot he had ever seen.

“It’s cyber warfare, Emily,” he said finally, drawing out the words as if he was talking to a child.

“Huh?” I said, still confused. “You’re going to have to speak English, Michael.”

He groaned loudly and pinched the top of his nose. He let out a long, exasperated breath. Quietly, I wondered why most tech experts needed to speak with strange words and terms. It was almost as if they had agreed upon a particular language, and insisted on using it around normal folk to show how intelligent they were. I rolled my eyes.

“Look at it this way,” he said. “Think about a castle from an epic movie, right? Right. Now, there’s the Ross’s castle, and we have it under siege, basically. We have ladders up against the wall, and we’re trying to climb the wall to breach this castle. Are you following so far?”

I nodded, and Michael continued. “The owners of this castle, in this case, Travis and his brothers, mount a defense against our assault on their castle, right? They pour oil down the walls, set ladders on fire, and rain boulders and arrows down on our army as we try to take the castle.”

I nodded thoughtfully, raising a finger. “So basically, they burned us… right?”

“Exactly.”

“Ah…” I sat on the couch beside him, I felt a sense of panic flood through me. I needed a breakthrough with his investigation. I had just taken an advance from Jonathan with the promise of turning up with something tangible. Soon.

“Were you…able to save the files?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“No, Emily. They’re all gone. Whatever this was, it was time-delayed. I thought I was fine so I hooked the phone up to the computer I was using. Then the bug fried both of them.”

My stomach dropped. That meant that we were back where we started. Ground zero. I had nothing to turn over to Jonathan, and I had effectively put myself in his debt. I considered the possibility of appeasing him with a different scoop, but discarded the thought as quickly as I picked it up.

The only reason Jonathan had been so helpful and supportive was because I presented him with an opportunity to tear down the Ross family. They were huge, controversial, and slowly becoming beloved. Which meant more controversy and gratitude if he could be the one to reveal their misdeeds. For me, it was the only reason he got into journalism at all. He was probably the only person who had a bigger desire than me to see it all crashing down.

“So, what do we do?” I asked..

“Oh, I am not letting this slide,” Michael said, getting up and pacing in a straight line. “I intend to retaliate. Immediately.”

“That sounds noble,” I replied dryly. “But how? How exactly do you plan to do that? From where I’m sitting, it looks to me like we would have to start again. From scratch.”

He pointed at a sheet of paper on the coffee table, still moving. His pacing unnerved me, and I did my best to ignore him. I picked up the sheet and saw it was an application for journalists. The same application Travis’ assistant had sent me. I almost smiled when I remembered how offended Travis had been by my scorching reply where I refused to work with him or his organization.

“I’ve seen this before,” I said, setting the application form back down on the table.

“I know you have,” Michael replied immediately. I perked up at that, narrowing my eyes at him. He has all but admitted to tracking my mobile phone. Does he check my emails as well?

“The list of invitees had already been approved,” Michael continued before I could ask him any questions. “I was able to hack their systems, however. I added your name to the list of journalists who accepted the invitation and were approved. Congratulations! You will be going to work at Travis’ company.”

I looked at Michael with wide-eyed bafflement. “Hold on Michael, I think you stepped over several things here…”

“Look, everything we have been doing so far is illegal, okay?” Michael said, cutting me off. “Everything we have been doing is stuff that could get us prosecuted or worse. So this isn’t all that big a deal, alright?”

“Not a big deal?” I asked, exasperated. “You’re sending me into the company now, the proverbial belly of the beast. This is different. And can you stop moving for two seconds? You’re driving me nuts with that pacing!”

“Well, yes.” He sat down in an armchair across from me. ”Truth is, it’s going to be practically impossible for us to get into their juicy, dirty secrets from the outside. I need you to find a way into their servers from the inside,, and then give me access to their network remotely. It’s a good thing they’re hiring journalists or we might have had to have you pose as a janitor.”

I would almost rather that than risk Travis recognizing me after what we did a few nights ago. My stomach flipped over at the thought of seeing him in person, my face and stomach flushing with heat that was part shame. And part something else.

“Couldn’t we have me do that anyway?”

“No. Reporters get access to otherwise confidential files.”

I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling in desperation.

“But,” Michael continued, “we still have Travis’s fingerprints. The physical copies of them.. I could put them on a silicon pad for you, to make them easier to carry. That should give you access anywhere in the building. And I do mean anywhere.”

“This is crazy Michael! Do you have any idea how dangerous what you’re asking me to do is?”

He gave me a level look. “You’re right, Emily. It’s probably the most dangerous situation you’ll ever get yourself involved in. Things could go wrong, very fast. But this is your crusade. Tell me there’s another way. Look me in the eye, and tell me there’s another way.”

He was right. Of course, he was right. But how could I return to the Ross Company? Not only had I turned down their initial invitation, I had also had sex with Travis. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing him again, especially not in a professional setting.

But Michael didn’t need to know that part. He never needed to know that part..

“Are you sure this is necessary? I’m sure we can find another way, right?”

He sat down and crossed his legs. “Alright then. I am open to alternatives to this plan, if you have any. Tell me what else we can do to keep the trail warm, and I’ll go along with it.”

I searched my mind furiously and came up empty. The phone had been our best bet. Sadly, that opportunity appeared to be dead and buried now, leaving behind a fried CPU in its wake. I looked at Michael with resignation. He had the decency not to be smug or gloat.

“I thought so too,” he said as he stood up. “Here’s what we are going to do…”