Chapter 12 #2
“Gail is coordinating the compensation with payroll now. I would also like to arrange private security for you. You won’t notice them. I promise.
“It’s not only for your protection but to protect the interests of the company,” he added when I was about to decline. “But I will feel more comfortable knowing that you’re being watched.”
“That would sound creepy if I hadn’t experienced hell out on the sidewalk just now.”
“So you agree?”
“Yes. Temporarily though. As soon as you find out who’s behind this, whoever you have watching me is gone.”
“Deal. I’d also like you to stop working at Lunar Pulse until then. I can speak with your uncle and arrange a temp to fill in for you.”
Konni’s guarded expression said that he expected me to fight him on his request. I wouldn’t, but for a different reason than my safety.
“Lunar is Uncle Jay’s baby. I won’t drag him or his business down with this drama. Besides, I’m sure the compensation will cover my lost wages.
“I’ll call him on the way home to let him know what happened and that I won’t be back for a while. No need for you to arrange a temp. He already has people lined up because of Mom’s accident.”
I stood with my tea and found I was steadier. “I’m sorry someone’s messing with your business, Konni.”
“I’m more sorry someone is messing with you.” His amber gaze held mine. “Do you know how much I want to hold you right now?”
“Do you know how badly I would react if you did?”
“That’s the only thing keeping me where I am.”
“You’re a wise man, Konni. Thank you for the tea. And for your timely rescue. Am I taking time off from here, too, or should I come in tomorrow?”
“I don’t want anyone to think they’ve scared you away, and we have a better chance of catching whoever did this if I keep you close.”
“All right. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you for sending me home early.”
Edi, one of Konni’s three assistants, drove me home in my car. He was friendly and nice, and everything I’d thought Whitney and Shana would be but weren’t. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to talk much, though.
My phone rang three times while I was talking to Uncle Jay. Two from my dad, which I didn’t pick up. Wrenly’s, though, I couldn’t ignore.
I’d just finished convincing her I was fine and that I’d talk to her tomorrow when Edi pulled up to my house.
A rideshare car waited at the curb to take him back to the office. The back door opened, and a woman got out. She met my gaze through the windshield before turning and walking away down the block.
“The private security Mr. Steele arranged,” Edi said when I continued to watch her. “I’ll call and let him know you’ve seen her.”
Edi didn’t leave once I was inside. I peeked out the curtain and watched him make a call.
“You’re home early,” Mom said. “And you’re acting weird. What happened?”
“Turn on the news,” I said as Edi finally left.
I glanced up and down the street but didn’t see anyone.
“Why?” Mom asked.
“Because I’m probably going to be on it, and you’re not going to like it.”
The TV turned on, and I listened to her change to the local news channel as I went to take a hot shower.
“You'd better have more to add to what I just listened to,” Mom called as soon as I shut off the water.
“I do, but probably not much.” I wrapped myself in a towel and stepped out in a billow of steam.
She waited in the hallway, worry in her expression.
“Why is someone targeting you at work?” she asked, following me to my room. “And how did they know to send that data to your father’s company? He called you six times while you were showering, by the way. I was tempted to answer the last one, but decided to turn your phone off instead.”
She stood in the doorway and watched me put on my underwear under my towel.
“I’m glad you didn’t answer. You don’t need to deal with his ‘Let's do dinner and talk about the shriveled donor I want you to marry’ crap.” I turned to look for a shirt. “And I really appreciate that you didn’t even doubt me a little, by the way.”
She snorted. “I know you. You wouldn’t do that. And I know your father. He’s not calling about that idiotic marriage. He’s calling to beg, which is why I was considering answering.”
“Beg?” I asked, finding my favorite shirt.
“Yeah, are we going to talk about that tattoo you have?”
The random change in conversation left me confused.
“Tattoo?”
“The orange ring on your shoulder. Is it henna?”
I wanted to groan. I’d forgotten all about it. Moving to my mirror, I turned to look at it and sighed. It didn’t look any lighter. If anything, it looked just a hint more vibrant.
“It’s a reminder not to drink until drunk ever again.” I pulled my shirt on and tossed my towel aside.
“Bad decision?”
“Life is full of them. Now, why do you think Dad is calling to beg? And for what?”
“TAS Solutions illegally acquired confidential information. I can’t imagine Steele Corporation is going to let that slide.”
I hadn’t thought of that, but now that I was considering it, I couldn’t stop smiling. Mom huffed a breath as I tugged on sweat pants.
“Details, Sophia. I want them now.”
“Well, someone used my computer to send data I don’t have access to while I was in a meeting with the CEO.
So I have a rock-solid alibi. However, the cameras weren’t working on the whole executive floor at the time, so they don’t know who did it.
The company released a statement to exonerate me.
Because of the incident with the reporters, they gave me the rest of the day off and a compensation bonus for emotional damage, which I definitely earned. ”
I didn’t mention anything about being watched—I didn’t want Mom to worry—or why I’d been in a meeting with the CEO.
“Steele Corp is going to keep looking into it, and the CEO asked me to come in as usual tomorrow to show my innocence and that the company is backing me.”
“Well, that’s decent of them. But what’s going to stop this from happening again if they can’t identify who is trying to set you up? You might not be lucky enough to meet with the CEO next time.”
“That’s part of why they want me back. This isn’t the first incident.
Emails have gone missing from my computer already.
Nothing crazy. Just jobs with deadlines that wouldn’t have been met if I’d been less vigilant.
Thankfully, I’ve learned from what you’ve gone through, reported the issues immediately, and backed up consistently.
So, the backups I’m accused of taking home are true, but HR knew about them, and it wasn’t anything confidential. ”
Mom sighed. “It feels like my bad luck is rubbing off on you.”
“Ha. I briefly thought the same, but realized it’s just the opposite. I didn’t lose my job, I’m getting a compensation payment, and the CEO is personally backing me. I’d say that’s good luck, not bad.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized it was a balance of good and bad. Good that I still had a job. Bad that I was working with my one-night stand. Good that I was getting a bonus payment. Bad that I had to take a break from working at Lunar Pulse for a while.
“Keep being careful,” Mom said. “Hopefully, they can figure out who is doing this. Did you offend anyone?”
“HR asked the same thing. The only person I can think of is my immediate boss, who doesn’t seem to like me.
However, the last few people in my role treated the position like a dating opportunity, not a job.
So she has a bias, especially since she’s a close friend of the CEO they were trying to seduce. ”
“Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one,” Mom said.
“That’s what I was thinking too. She makes the most sense. Her attitude toward me and the fact that she’s high up enough to access the files and cameras. But it also doesn’t make sense. She’s the VP. How would she benefit from Steele Corporation losing business?”
Mom and I returned to the living room.
“Personal gain? If someone paid her enough for the information…” Mom shrugged.
I shook my head. “She’s a Stonestock. Old money. She wears designer everything from head to toe. I’m honestly not even sure why she’s working. Maybe a favor to the CEO? But again, if that’s the case, why would she stab him in the back by sending confidential data?”
“Is she jealous of you? Could the guy you were overthinking yesterday be someone she’s interested in?”
I considered the possibility that Lianna viewed Konni as more than a childhood friend.
Other than that one phone call and waiting outside his office after my meeting with him, she didn’t seem to interact with him much at work.
Sure, the call had been meeting at the Nexus, and while non-business stuff happened there, business meetings happened there all the time, too.
But even if she was interested in Konni, the idea of her being jealous of me was laughable. I was nothing—a nobody. She was the heiress to a fortune I’d never know in my lifetime.
“It seems like a stretch. I just started. She doesn’t know anything about me, but definitely looks down on me. And my emails were disappearing before I even found out that guy was working there.”
“Maybe she knew that he liked you before you knew he was there.”
I made a doubtful face. Konni and I hadn’t interacted at all before the day I saw him.
Mom kept thinking, and I loved that she was helping me try to figure this out logically. This was the version of the woman who created a thriving company from nothing. Logical. Motivated. Composed even in a crisis.
“You said she was old money,” Mom said after a quiet moment. “That means private investigators, inside information, and knowing things before other people do. That’s all part of the socially elite package. Maybe she knows more about that work-guy’s interest in you than you think.”
I thought of the way Konni had said he would have someone watch over me and nibbled at my lip. Maybe Mom was on to something.
“You’ve brought up a valid theory that I’ll need to test. But not today. Today, we finish binge-watching our show.”
“No Lunar Pulse tonight?”
“Tonight and the rest of the week. My goal is good publicity for Lunar Pulse, not the shit show that happened this afternoon. Uncle Jay agreed I should wait until everything blows over before coming back. He wasn’t happy, though.”
“He likes being able to keep an eye on you.”
“True. And I like keeping an eye on him.”
I parked with a feeling of trepidation and struggled to muster the courage to leave the car.
My fear of being cornered again was very real, and I hated being afraid.
After a few bracing breaths, I got out and did my best confident runway walk toward the main entrance, where I only saw regular foot traffic.
Gail was waiting for me just inside.
“Mr. Steele asked that I escort you to his office as soon as you arrived,” she said.
“Trouble?” I asked.
“No, not at all. The opposite, I believe. But I’ll let Mr. Steele tell you about it.”
I glanced at my phone as she walked with me to the elevators.
Dad had already called numerous times since I’d woken. I hadn’t answered. He’d even resorted to a text asking me to call him as soon as possible. Maybe after I knew what was happening, I would, but only to ensure he didn’t bother Mom again.
The people waiting at the elevators glanced at me repeatedly. I ignored them.
“I hope you didn’t encounter any more trouble after you left yesterday,” Gail said. “If you did, let Mr. Steele know. He’s already contacted media outlets to warn them about the ongoing police investigation and that Steele Corp lawyers will prosecute any further harassment you receive.”
She was so sweet defending me in front of them in her Human Resources way.
“No, no trouble, thankfully,” I said. “I binged-watched a show, planned how many cats I’ll own by thirty, and questioned how much hatred it takes to commit corporate espionage just to frame someone. You’d think it would be easy to spot, right?”
The mood of the waiting crowd shifted instantly. Someone coughed. No one looked at me anymore. One person even nodded politely and stepped aside so Gail and I could take the next elevator up. No one joined us.
“That was smart,” Gail said after the doors closed.
“It’s always fun to turn the tables on people. Now, they’ll know what it's like to have every move dissected.” I exhaled. “Thanks for meeting me at the door. I was a bit nervous about coming in today.”
“I can imagine,” she said. “Hopefully, the changes Mr. Steele has planned will put those nerves to rest.”
I doubted anything he could do would erase the cloud of suspicion hanging over me, but I didn’t say so. When we arrived on the executive floor, I was back to receiving long speculative looks, especially when I didn’t veer toward marketing but to the CEO’s office suite.
“Good morning, Gail,” the single assistant outside of Konni’s office said. “Can I get either of you anything to drink?”
“No, thank you, Marius. I won’t be staying long.” She glanced at me in question.
“Am I staying long?”
Marius chuckled. “How about another calming tea?”
My stomach sank, and I nodded, trusting his judgment and wishing I’d taken the Wulf’s up on their job offer.