19. Sabrina

Ican’t remember a time when I had ever been this shocked and angry. It tore through me in waves that made me want to scream and cry and destroy something all at the same time. Who the fuck was this person who thought they could ruin my life like this?

Russell, Chase, and Garrett all continued to flip through files. They were taking this seriously and I fell in love with them a little bit for that. But this was also a distraction from the theft. Could they afford to take their focus away from that for me? I started to ask but stopped. Garrett knew that I knew about the tech theft, but did the others?

“I think responding is a bad idea,” Russell answered Chase’s question after several minutes of silence. “Any reaction is going to be taken as a guilty response. If we stay silent, we might be able to prove the accusation is so ridiculous we can’t even be bothered.” The heat in his eyes when he looked at me said he was bothered alright.

“I’m concerned about the intent behind the email.” I paced to the windows and looked out over the city while I gathered my thoughts. Looking at them distracted me, and after my little outburst, I needed to keep my head clear. “The intent is more harmful than the actual words. They’re out to debase me and why I’m here, and to make Chase look incompetent. Why would they want that? What’s the point?”

I couldn’t explain why, but the threat felt bigger than their need to expose me as a woman who uses sex to get what she wants. I needed this job too much to let a little public exposure and embarrassment get in my way.

Bailey had officially kicked me out of the apartment, a full week ahead of schedule. It was why I’d missed even more work as I packed up and moved into the little house Russell offered me. I still felt bad about that, but I’d had no choice but to accept after Bailey’s little stunt. The bitch met me at the door the morning after I talked to Russell. She had a locksmith with her and express instructions to get my shit out by the end of the week. Dad once again ignored all my calls and his secretary refused to put me through to his office phone. I’d argued and almost even resorted to begging. Almost. The snide look on Bailey’s face kept my pride intact and I packed up and moved.

I met Russell’s gaze in the window. He’d agreed not to tell the others about the house. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep things a secret from them. But I needed space to figure things out. And they’d ask a shit ton of questions I was not ready to answer.

“The point is Chase,” Garrett spoke up from behind me. “Either way, this makes Chase look bad. He’s either a creep for having sex with you, or he’s incompetent.”

He shrugged when I spun and glared at him. “What the hell, Garrett?”

“You asked.” He tossed the papers he’d been holding aside and braced his elbows on the chair arms. Tapping his fingers on his lips, he continued. “Think about this objectively from a completely brutal standpoint. You’re half his age, Sabrina. He’s your boss. Both of those are career killers, but since he’s the CEO, it has the potential to be ignored. To anyone on the outside looking in, you’re a victim.”

“That’s bullshit,” the words burst out of me, hot and angry.

“We know that.” Russell held up a hand, the silent worry in his features asking for calm. “Garrett has a point. To the casual observer, it looks like Chase is taking advantage of his position.”

I spluttered but he made too much sense for my anger to continue. “So we should respond to the email.”

“We can’t explain without giving ourselves away,” Garrett insisted. “Even if you stood in front of the entire staff and said it was all a lie, no one would believe you. They’d say you were coerced.”

“We’re not making a statement about the email. We’re blocking the sender and shutting down their ability to create new accounts or to send more emails. Then we’re going to beef up the software so that it tracks every email that is created from, sent to, or sent from, any computer within this building.”

“It won’t stop them from hacking from the outside and bypassing the system,” Russell spoke with a low growl in his tone that showed the first real hints of anger. “I can create a block that prevents emails from all outside systems, but it will take time.”

“Do it. But no response.” Chase picked up another file and flipped through the pages. “That’s a distraction we can’t afford.”

“What does that mean?” I tried to stop myself, but the question popped out. “I’m a distraction?” A bolt of anger shot through me. Was that all they thought about me?

“Yes.” They answered simultaneously.

Chase stood and crossed to me. “Not the way you’re thinking. You can stop frowning at me.” A tiny smile cracked one side of his mouth upward.

I took a slow, steady breath through my nose and tamped down the anger. I was so used to getting tossed aside that I’d let my fear overwhelm me.

Chase stopped out of reach, his hands deep in his pockets. “We’re doing the best we can to protect you. Can you trust me on that?”

Could I? I’d stopped trusting people a long time ago. Who was there to trust when Dad tossed me aside for Bailey, who never cared for me at all? Her own children were her sole concern. I’d never mattered to anyone before Keith came along. Even his father screwed me and left me. When I’d called to tell him I was pregnant, he called it a “you problem” and hung up. I had zero regrets about leaving him out of Keith’s life. My son needed a father, but I would rather die than give him a shitty one who would ruin everything good about my son.

Staring up into Chase’s vulnerable eyes, I took the leap and nodded. “Okay. I trust you.” Please, don’t let me down. The silent prayer was for my own benefit more than his, and I rolled my lips together to keep from repeating it out loud.

“This one is clean.” Russell snapped a folder shut and tossed it aside as he stood and stretched his arms over his head. “Garrett, how are things looking over there?”

Garrett looked up from the laptop where he’d been pecking around on the keys. “The printer’s hooked up. Files should start coming through any minute.”

“Files?” My head swiveled to take them all in.

“Chase wants employee records printed,” Garrett said.

“All of them?” I gaped.

“All of them,” Chase reiterated with a nod. He took another step toward me. “You matter to us, Sabrina.” His voice was pitched low, and even though he didn’t touch me, my body reacted with a rush of pleasure. “We won’t stop until we find who did this.”

“I’m sorry about the weekend.” I’d apologized to Russell already, but this was my first chance to bring it up with Chase.

“So am I.” His broad chest blocked out the rest of the room. “But your son needed you, and he’s more important. Never feel bad for making him your priority.”

“I’d like to make it up to you.” Nervous energy tightened my throat. “To all of you. If that’s still an option. Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

Even after my outburst earlier where I told them to keep their cocks in their pants, I wanted them to know that I still wanted them. Still desired them. Being reckless was in my blood.

“Not here.” Chase eased backward. “There are cameras everywhere.”

“Even in here?” I looked around him, scouring every inch of the room. I’d never noticed cameras in their offices. Maybe they were hidden in the potted plants in the corner or under the desk.

“Even here.” Russell tipped his head back and pointed over his shoulder. “One there that looks over Chase’s desk. It lets us know if anyone tries to access the safe. The computer itself is set up to record if anyone other than him tries to access it.”

I squinted. “I don’t see it.”

“Exactly.” Russell chuckled. “Other than the people in this room, only two others know about them, and they’re the people who watch the footage if something gets flagged. Like the time Mrs. Nolan thought it would be cute to wait for Chase beneath his desk.”

“Don’t remind me.” Chase shuddered. “Crazy woman.”

“Another one who thought you might need some help with your zipper?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Garrett snorted a laugh. “You’d be surprised how many of these files are for women Chase fired for inappropriate conduct in the workplace.” He winked at me. “But you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Good to know.” I eyed the stack of papers on Chase’s desk. “You’ve made a lot of enemies over the years. Not just women you’ve shunned. I can see why you looked at them first, but if Garrett is right and this is about you, then you need to look somewhere else. What about your offices?”

“All our offices are covered. Not every inch, of course, but all the major points.” Garrett grabbed a stack of papers from the printer. “The security feeds go through the usual channels, but mainly they feed right back into our system and reset every twenty-four hours.”

“So everything we said is now on file for your security team to hear?” Cold sweat prickled along my spine. “Is that safe?”

“We have an audio scrambler that we use during meetings. Or we shut the audio off completely. Like we did today.” Chase paced to his desk and tapped the keyboard. “We can’t risk getting caught or anyone overhearing us talk about our pending deals.”

I completely agreed. “And you know for certain that no one has broken your code to the scrambler?” That would explain how they’d gotten information about the impending tech.

“I checked it yesterday.” Chase ran a hand through his hair. Frustration creased his forehead and he set both hands on his slim hips. “But we haven’t discussed anything lurid or confidential here in weeks. So there’s no reason to suspect the security has been breached.”

“What are we missing?” I turned slowly to take them all in.

“Some places don’t have cameras,” Russell pointed out. “Bathrooms, for example.”

“Too public.” Garrett winked at me. “Anyone could walk in. There is one place, though.” He shuffled another stack of papers together. “The camera in the fourth-floor storage room is broken. Has been for years. We never fixed it because no one ever goes in there.”

My head threatened to burst from the flood of information. They’d made a basic error in judgment by not fixing the camera in the storage room, but right now, I had other concerns. “What’s in the storage room?”

“Old devices. Computers. Phones. Things that have broken over the years. We toss them all in there. Never know when we might need them for spare parts.” Chase made it all sound so normal.

I crossed my arms. “Like you can’t afford to buy new parts.”

“Why bother when I have the room to keep the old stuff? Call me sentimental.” He offered a full-blown smile. “I’m old-school, Sabrina. When you start a business like this in your garage with nothing but spare parts, you learn to hang onto things.”

Yeah, okay. I could give him that. “I’d like to see this room.” It was too convenient that one of the few rooms without security also had old computers in it. Surely it couldn’t be that easy. Like we’d walk in and find the bad guy—or girl—typing maniacally on a keyboard while doom-and-gloom music played in the background. I snorted at myself but marched toward the door. “Come on. Show me.”