Page 103 of The Revenge Agenda

“You wear this tie every week, and I’m guessing this is from the day you spilled my coffee on it because the mark is still there.”

Okay, that makes it harder to argue with.

“What are you getting at?” Hunter asks as I sink back into my chair.

“I need hardly point out that an employee’s tie left in your office is … not normal. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

I turn to Hunter with big eyes, begging him to think of a story. Any story. His dark eyes bore back, and I’m scared he’s going to do something stupid like tell the truth. Us dating is iffy with work; fucking in his office is taking it to a whole new level.

“I’m very forgetful,” I say before Hunter can reply. “I once left a sock in Hannah from accounting’s drawer. You can’t expect me to keep track of every item of clothing I have. It’s not reasonable, Ted!”

His lips definitely twitch this time. “I want to help you, so let’s cut the shit. What was your tie doing in his office on a night you both left very late? Yes, I have the logs for when you swiped out that night. I also have the ability to check your emails and interoffice messages. I don’t want to do that. It might be in your contracts, but if there’s anything personal in there, I don’t want to know. I’d rather be able to trust my employees.”

“We’re dating,” Hunter says like it’s the most simple thing in the world. “Our next step was to bring it to you, honestly, but we weren’t sure if things would work out. It’s still very new, and we didn’t want to cause headaches if it wasn’t going to last.”

I turn to Hunter with a frown. “You think we aren’t going to last?”

He takes my hand. “We will if I have anything to say about it.”

I’m not so sure I like that answer, but Ted smiles, so I guess he does.

“Thank you for telling me. In that case, we’re going to have to work out what this looks like from a business perspective.”

“How can you read my emails?” I ask.

Ted cuts off whatever he was saying. “Anything done through the company servers can be accessed if needed.”

My heartbeat picks up at the thought of some of those emails. “Is that legal?”

“Yes. Like I said, it’s in your contracts.”

“That doesn’t make it right!”

“Rush …” Hunter soothes, but I shake off his hand.

“Why does the company want to spy on us?”

Ted chuckles. “It’s standard practice. In fact, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a company these days that doesn’t track their employees’ communication. It means we can keep you all safe in case there’s harassment going on, and it also keeps us on top of any potential illegal activities conducted at work. It’s really good business sense.”

Hunter says something I don’t hear, and then they both fall into conversation that I want no part of. They track us. Our conversations. And it’s all totally normal.

I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a company these days that doesn’t track their employees’ communication.

My gasp is so loud it fills the room. “You did it!” I jump to my feet, brain humming with satisfaction. “Ted, you clever, wonderful, smartastic man!” I half climb up onto his desk in order to lean over and smack a kiss on his forehead. “I love you!”

He chuckles. “What did I do?”

“You made everything make sense again. Oh my god, we need to go. Now. This is … this is …”

I feel like I’m floating on clouds as I leave the room, full of helium and hope.

If all businesses track communication, then wouldn’t it make sense that the largest real estate agency in Seattle would as well? If Ian was stupid enough to blacklist Hunter with his own log-ins, surely his boss will be able to see that?

Blacklisting renters is illegal. E-fucking-legal.

I’m a few steps across the bullpen before I realize Hunter hasn’t followed me. Doesn’t he know how important this is? Why isn’t he hurrying? We could have him in a home by tonight, goddammit.

Well, maybe not tonight, but we’re on a mission.

---