Chapter Twenty-One
LOLA
"You're back." I force myself not to blush at his arrival.
Enzo is his smooth, sexy, arrogant self, and it is like the texts from last night didn't happen.
But they did.
I have proof.
The texts were sort of awkward and fumbling, and they warmed something inside me. Once I got past the absolute weirdness of them and that first horrifying thought that he was also watching me on some network with Alex.
But that is not why I'm trying not to blush.
It is the fact I used his image to masturbate to.
It is also the fact I fantasized about him and Alex taking me at the same time in the shower.
Really, I should be questioning the appropriateness of the out-of-work-hour texts. But if I do that, then I would have to ask myself why I was masturbating to him in the first place.
And I have to stop using the word masturbating. It is so...confronting.
"I'm back."
Enzo stands at the now closing elevator doors, my heart jumping at the sight of him.
Dear God, he is gorgeous in his gray and black pinstripe, three-piece suit that belongs on the pages of some gentleman's fashion magazine rather than this office.
He slides his satchel from his shoulder and approaches.
"I thought you were in meetings all day." I smile, like it will help the snotty words.
I didn't mean them like that, but they sound like that. I can hear the snootiness ringing in my ears.
But I don't want to be going all soft over him. I don't want to be friends with him. He is fodder, nothing more.
And the word fodder needs to go, too.
I just don't want him knowing...
"I was, and now they're done." He flips his wrist and glances at his watch. "It's just on four, and you got that project finished."
"It wasn't hard." In fact, anyone could have done it. But I keep that to myself. "Just me, loving my job."
The corner of his mouth lifts.
And boy, do I want to kiss that corner.
Like some kind of sex-crazed lunatic.
At least, it is almost home time, and then I will have the weekend to forget him, and I will—
"I wanted to ask if you can help me with another project after work... Unless you have plans."
I narrow my eyes. "What kind of project?"
"One with clothes on."
"I didn't ask you that. I just..."
My words wither under his hard stare. "Lola, I'm not trying to get you alone or anything like that. It is just a last-minute job that's come up, and I need to get it done quickly because Lyndall, my sister, is staying with me this weekend."
My cheeks burn like an out-of-control fire. "I certainly wasn't thinking you wanted me alone for nefarious reasons."
His brow lifts. "Nefarious?"
"Yes."
"Like...what?"
"Nefarious things. You know."
"I don't." But he looks at me like he very much does know. "And I'm sure you weren't thinking that."
"I might have plans."
He takes a breath. "That's fine. But if you don't have plans, I'd like your help."
Enzo says this in such a way that it sounds like it isn't fine at all. He sounds like a man who is used to getting his own way.
And though I want to say no, though I know I should say no, I can't.
This is how I'm paying my bills, and Silas hasn't found anything on Enzo... at least not yet. And I'm not sure he will.
Maybe Enzo doesn't have anything to do with his father anymore. Or...it doesn't matter. Right now, he is my boss.
"So, do you have plans?" he asks.
I shake my head. "No."
"It's not much. And I did mean what I said last night."
My cheeks heat again, and I can't shake the feeling he knows what I was doing before he texted. Which, of course, he doesn't.
"I want to put your skills to the test and see what you're actually capable of. Your degree's in computer science, but you're a glorified data entry person."
I don't say that is not really a job. Data analyst is the title, but I let it slide. I don't expect CEOs to know the minutiae.
"I just suspect your skills are being underused."
"Really?" I sound scathing, even though his words buoy me.
"I have got one more meeting, but—"
"I thought you said meetings were done?"
He picks up his satchel where he left it by the elevator, a whole handful of steps from me. "Business meetings are. I will see you here at five-thirty."
His comeback is a diss in my head by five-twenty. And the need to prove to him exactly what I'm capable of is so strong it is threatening to strangle me.
I want to throw my competence in his face.
And more than that, I'm having a hard time finding reasons to hate him outside of what his father did. And those facts aren't in the report from Silas I got. I'm just hoping he finds something else.
So I can sink my teeth into the hate and stop this wild fall.
Because the more I think about it, the more I can't help but wonder just how fair it is to hate someone for being a teen and disappearing from my life when his father did, just like I don't really know how fair it is to resent him for what his father did.
This time, I'm ready for when the elevator dings and he steps out.
Enzo is early, which to me fits CEO Enzo, but not the Enzo with the slightly wicked, slightly underhanded knowing almost smile. The almost-smile I had wanted to kiss.
I force myself to breathe as he comes in.
He motions for me to follow him into his office and places a laptop on the desk, hooking it up.
It isn't just plug and go, he sets up his laptop, one that looks beaten up and doesn't fit him at all.
He spins the one facing away from him and starts tapping away. "Sit."
Then he spins it back as he runs through what he wants.
I don't touch the computer.
He is a CEO. Why would he want me to do this?
"This is hacking, Enzo."
"So, you don't want to do this? You're refusing?"
I lick my lips. "You're asking me to go—hack—into the company's bank accounts and transfer money from them remotely to what looks like an offshore account."
"You don't have to do it."
"I didn't say that." I start working because what he is asking is easy.
Like all the doors are flimsy and the locks are there for show.
One is a little tricky, but I do it, making sure the pathway to and the path that goes to the offshore accounts are hidden if I can't brush them away.
It sounds easy, and it is, sort of, but it does take time. I get one done and look at him.
"Good, good." He nods to himself as he looks at the laptop in front of him. "You're not done when you finish those, though."
He puts a piece of paper on the desk. "These as well."
My stomach turns into an iron ball and sinks down.
I'm not sure. The first lot I can write off as him testing me, but the rest?
I suck in a breath.
Is it even legal?
Because it doesn't feel legal, and though I have done one and it is all in-house accounts, I hesitate.
Is this for the company or for him?
I want to say something but don't. And yeah, it is a burning queasiness inside that rises to the back of my throat.
As if he can read my mind, he laughs softly. "Don't worry. Questioning things is welcome, and you are, aren't you, Lola?"
"Yeah. I just..."
"You're not going to get into trouble." He leans forward. "And I'm not about to ask you to do something you're not comfortable with, I promise you that. This is an exercise."
"It is? It looks real."
Enzo doesn't respond to that. "I just like to know where my top analysts are at in terms of their skills."
A flush of pride hits me, and there is a part of me I hate that goes to mush at his words. I mean, he referred to me as one of his top analysts, and I want to grin and hug myself and spin.
It is ridiculous.
I'm not twelve.
Christ.
I blow out my breath and force myself to concentrate on the screen in front of me.
Strange thing is, though he is too distracting for words, this type of work brings things into sharp focus, and I can shift to that.
When I finish a job, Enzo takes his time to check it over, and I find I don't mind. I like the nod I get to start on the next, like I have passed some kind of secret test.
Each one is harder than the last, but pride lights me from the inside out when I get the last job done in under two minutes.
I shoot him a triumphant look because I know he has been watching, timing me.
But he extinguishes that by putting another on the table, and by the time I'm done, he shakes his head, his computer facing me.
"That took you two minutes. It took me thirty seconds. And trust me when I say that makes you excellent. Just not as excellent as me."
I frown. "I wasn't aware it was a competition."
"It's not. Just every second counts when you're messing around somewhere you shouldn't be."
My cheeks warm as I frown deeper. "What the hell do you mean by that?"
I want to ask about the realness of this last part and if anything about tonight has been illegal, but it is also too late for that. There is no horse in that unlocked barn.
Enzo shrugs. "You just don't know what life's going to throw at you."
"Well, I'm not planning on leading a life as a hacker criminal, so I should be good. If this is me helping you test the security, then I would suggest beefing it up since some of those were easy."
His smile appears. Then he glances at his phone. "Shit, it is late."
As much as I hate to admit it, the ease of the jobs and relative ease between us are one thing, but the amount of jobs I did is another, and yeah, it is nearing seven. I don't even know how that happened.
"It's not midnight, so I won't turn into a pumpkin. Or a Gremlin."
"But I have kept you through dinnertime. How about I order some Thai?"
I narrow my eyes. "Shouldn't you be getting home to your sister?"
"I would, and I'd make her eat Thai food. She is probably scarfing down pizza. Damn teenagers." He turns his phone to show me the message.
Lyndall
Don't haaate meee.... Gretchen from school's in Manhattan so I'm gonna catch up with her. Don't tell dumbass Dad! Love ya! xxxxxxxxx
"There's another one about me not waiting up, which I won't because she gets until eleven PM before I go get her ass."
As if on cue, my traitorous stomach rumbles.