Page 26 of Pretty Little Thing

She walked right out the door with it. Apparently, she does it every freaking night.

I knock my knuckles against the desk in frustration. “Fuck,” I whisper.

* * *

I standbeneath the shower head for far longer than I should. My skin tingles and my fingertips are starting to prune but it’s not like I get to experience a hot shower every day.

“Yo, Clive! You in here?”

I think to ignore him. I can just claim I didn’t hear him when he inevitably shows up at my locker in ten minutes.

“Clive!”

I take a deep breath and hold it for three more seconds of toasty water before reaching out and turning the knobs off.

“Yeah,” I answer, my voice echoing through the showers.

Shoes tap in my direction across the locker room. I grab my towel off the rack nearby and wrap it around my waist before Alex pokes his head in here.

Alex pauses in the entryway, fully-clothed in his gray jumpsuit. “Hey,” he says. “Why didn’t you answer?”

“Because I’m naked… in the shower,” I say, passing around him toward my locker.

“Fair enough. I caught the end of your run before. You’ve really got your speed back up.”

“Yeah,” I mutter.

He takes wide strides to keep up with me. He’s either about to keep complimenting me or he’s going to spit out the words I’ve been dreading all day ever since I left Nora’s office.

“So, did you get it yet?” he asks, fulfilling the prophecy.

I pop open my locker and look around, focusing for any prying ears but the room is mostly empty. Late evenings are usually pretty dead at the gym but I don’t mind. I don’t get as many funny looks that way.

I reach inside for my deodorant. “No,” I answer him. “I can’t get it.”

Alex blinks. “What do you mean, you can’t get it?”

“I mean,” I give my armpits a quick swipe and push the cap back on, “I got on her computer today and it wasn’t there. She takes it with her. There’s nothing I can do.”

“Takes it with herwhere?”

“I don’t know. Home, I guess.” I fish inside my gym back for a pair of underwear. “I can’t get it outside of work hours and I haven’t the slightest idea how I’m supposed to access the CEO’s computer while the place is crawling with employees, so… I can’t get it. Sorry.”

Alex grits his teeth. “Figure it out, man.”

“Figure it out?” I repeat.

“Yeah, figure it out.”

“I can’t just figure it out, Alex. This shit is officially out of my league and I’m not risking my job over this.”

“Clive…” He flexes his jaw. “Do I need to remind you how much money that list is worth to us?”

“No—”

“Two million dollars,”he says anyway, his voice echoing through the lockers. “Half for me. Half for you. I have a buyer lined up and he’s willing to pay cash, Clive. Cash.” His eyes fall on my leg. “I told you I’d make it up to you and you agreed one million bucks more than makes up for what happened.”

My foot twitches. “I know I did, but—”

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