Chapter 28
twenty-eight
FRANCIE
When I wake up the next morning, Asher has already left. The sheets are cold, but the pillow next to mine still smells faintly of his skin. Clean and sharp, with a hint of spice. It makes my stomach tighten, the way it always does when it comes to Asher Fitzgerald.
Deciding that I can’t just lie here and mope – because I have a book to write, damn it – I force myself to sit up, my hand reaching to the nightstand for my phone.
That’s when I see them. His glasses. Folded neatly beside the lamp.
He must have forgotten them in his rush to catch the first ferry to the mainland.
A pang slices through my chest. It’s like a little piece of him is still here.
And the man isn’t going to be able to see for shit tonight, not once he takes his contacts out.
And he’s definitely going to struggle when I tell him to switch the cameras on later this evening to tease him like I plan to.
You forgot something. Your glasses. Or, as I like to call them, your ‘I’m about to ruin your life’ disguise. – Francie x
I barely hit send before I see the typing icon come up on the app. A moment later his reply lands.
Shit, did I? Guess I was too busy ruining your life to notice. – Asher ;)
Getting a winky emoji from Asher Fitzgerald feels like winning the world cup. I didn’t know he even knew how to wink.
You’re going to have to squint at your spreadsheets all night like a sexy mole. I’m picturing it now. Getting a little turned on to be honest. – Francie x
Are moles sexy? – Asher
Only when they wear five-thousand-dollar suits and whisper filthy things in your ear until your legs buckle. Which, to be clear, is my entire fantasy now. So thanks for that, Moley. – Francie x
It cost three thousand actually. And keep the glasses. You can model them for me. – Asher
Only if you wear the suit. Just the suit. Nothing else. – Francie x
I smile, finally swinging my legs out of bed.
Just messaging with him has already made me feel better.
I miss him and his sexy-nerd glasses more than I care to admit.
That end-of-summer feeling is still there, pulling at me, but maybe, just maybe, going back to metaphorical school won’t be so bad after all.
Don’t play with me. I’m about two seconds from turning around and coming back to get you. – Asher
A smile pulls at my lips. I really need to get in the shower and get some caffeine in my body, because I’m so close to finishing this book.
I slide my feet onto the floor and grab my bathrobe, wrinkling my nose because despite it being Asher-certified spider free, I’m still not the biggest fan of the guest bathroom.
What are you wearing right now? – Asher
I laugh out loud. He might have expensive suits and a flash car, but he can be such a boy.
I glance down at my overworn robe. It’s white, but has turned a little gray, threadbare in spots, and has a faded hotel logo from the place I stole it from four years ago, though I left housekeeping the biggest tip.
It’s also the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn. I think I’d give up my sanity before I give up this robe.
Nothing. – Francie x
I stare at my phone but there’s nothing. No typing bubble either. Then it appears.
Jesus, Francie. I’m in a meeting. If I have to stand up anytime soon, I’m going to get arrested. The things I’m gonna do to you when I get back to you. – Asher
Laughter bubbles in my throat. I pad into the bathroom and start the – thankfully spider-free – shower running. The pipes groan, as though they’re as reluctant as I am to start the day. Just as I shuck off my robe, my phone vibrates again.
I need visual confirmation. – Asher
Yep, he’s definitely a boy.
Send me a photo of you first. I can add it to my suit porn collection. – Francie
I wish I could. But Brad just walked in, and we have a system audit going. Later. I promise. – Asher
I twist my hair into a messy bun and step into the shower, groaning as the water mists up my body.
Before I close the door, I grab my phone, making sure it doesn’t get wet as I hold it as far out as my arm can reach, turning to the side so there are no full frontals.
Just the curve of my waist, the swell of my hip, and water beading against my skin.
Steam curls around me, softening everything, making it look like a still from an adult movie.
A very adult one.
I take the shot then I check it. It’s cropped just right. Suggestive without giving anything away. It says ‘I want you’, not ‘here’s my annual physical’.
Or at least I hope it does.
Before I can think it through and hesitate, I press send and put my phone on the vanity, stepping back under the spray and letting it soothe every muscle in my body.
And when I get out there’s a message from him.
You’re beautiful. And I’m hard as fucking steel. And I’m supposed to be concentrating on screens full of code. You’re going to pay for this when I see you again. – Asher
Lucky me. I look forward to it. – Francie
I stare at the screen for a second too long, the ache in my chest surprising me. Maybe this is just texting. Maybe it's not. But God, I want him back.
Not as much as I will. Now get to work before I start losing my mind. – Asher
ASHER
“You look way too happy for someone who’s had another breach,” Brad says, looking up from his laptop to find me smiling like a loon at my phone.
I turn the messaging app off. I’ll look at the photograph more carefully later. When I’m alone.
And yeah, maybe I’ll even send her one of me in my suit like she asked. I’m all about quid pro quo.
“Apparently I left my glasses on Liberty,” I murmur.
And yeah, it’s a pain because now I’m going to have to either live with my spare pair, which are about two prescriptions-ago too weak, or get my assistant to look into ordering me another pair.
I decide on the latter, quickly sending a message to her before I slide my phone in my pocket.
But still, there’s a weird tingling in my body. Like she still has a piece of me, which is way too Hallmark movie-esque for my tastes, but there it is. I push the thought away. Another thing to ponder on later.
“So?” I ask. Brad’s just run the final protocol. He looks like crap, having worked through the night trying to find where the breach came from. And when I arrived this morning, he was still neck deep in code.
“It’s just not there,” he mutters. “We’re watertight. There’s no way somebody can get in.” He looks up at me. “I don’t understand it.”
My stomach twists. There’s a sick taste at the back of my throat. I want there to be another answer. Any other answer.
Because we both know what this means. Even if we don’t want to admit it. But if we’re still going to have a business by the end of this week, somebody has to say it out loud.
“An inside job,” I murmur.
Brad blanches. “It can’t be. I trust every man who works for me with my life.”
That’s the painful part. So do I. The only person I don’t trust is Nathan. And we’ve looked into him so many times it fucking hurts. He’s way too blasted to be this sophisticated.
And he was never a coding kind of guy. There’s no way he left a trojan horse in the system when he left. We would have found it by now.
“There are no clues to who it could be?” I ask him, hoping against hope that the answer is somewhere in the code.
Brad shakes his head. “No. There’s not even any clues to what it is. We just know it’s there, feeding information.” His jaw tightens. “If word gets around that we’ve been breached again…”
We’ll be screwed. Completely. “We need to get this shut down as soon as possible. Get answers the old-fashioned way.”
Brad nods. “I’ll start interviewing everybody. Go through every single employee with a fine-tooth comb.” I can tell how much he hates having to do this by the way he’s talking. Like he wants to be sick.
We’re a tight knit company. The thought of somebody betraying us feels as painful as if they stabbed us in the chest.
“It’s going to take more than the two of us. Who do we trust completely?” I ask. Francie’s face flashes in my mind. The way she looked last night, flushed and soft and completely mine.
I don’t want her anywhere near this mess. I don’t want to bring this poison back to her door.
“We’ll need a team of at least five to get this done as quickly as possible,” I point out.
“Marie, Ryan, and Sam,” he reels off. I nod, because they would be my picks too. But we need two more at the very minimum.
“Dan?” I suggest.
Brad shakes his head. “His father’s sick. He could be vulnerable to blackmail.”
“What kind of sick?” Another thing I didn’t know about my employees.
“Pancreatic cancer.”
I swallow hard. I really don’t know anything about my employees. Yes, I’ve been paying for everything for Shaun, but that’s the very least I could do.
He’s paying the price for whoever’s betrayed me, after all.
“Sanjay then.”
“Absolutely.” Brad nods. “And Kelly.”
“Yes, I completely agree. Call them all in for a meeting. Make it clear this is completely confidential. We’ll do it off site. Any ideas?”
“My house,” Brad says. “Your apartment has been empty. Which makes it vulnerable, too.”
I wince. He’s right, but I don’t want to hear it.
“Okay. Call them in. And get someone to sweep my place.” I’ll also do it, but the more eyes I have on it the better.
“Already on it.” Brad pulls out a burner phone from the drawer. We typically have a lot of them on hand for sensitive situations. He hands one to me. “All communications between us are on these,” he says. “But preferably face to face.”
“How do we know these haven’t been compromised?” I ask him, turning the old-fashioned Nokia around in my hand. Jesus, I haven’t used one of these since I was a kid. It’s only one step away from a pager. For a moment I wonder if it still has snake installed.
“Because I bought these ones this morning.” Brad lifts a brow. He’s one step ahead of me, which is unusual. But I’ve been a little distracted. “Enough for the whole team.”
I give him a nod, reminding myself to give the man the biggest bonus of his life when this is all over. “We maintain business as usual on all other channels,” I say. “As far as the rest of the company knows, we’re carrying merrily along, with no idea that one of them is a snake in the grass.”
“Exactly.” Brad nods.
I stand, feeling the weight of my smartphone in my pocket as I slide the Nokia in beside it. And I’m thinking of Francie again. My throat tightens as I realize she’s one of the very few people I can trust. And my biggest vulnerability.
Someone’s inside my company, playing a game I didn’t agree to.
And when I track them down, they’ll discover exactly what I do to people who break my trust.