Page 80 of Played
“I’m serious. I know I’ve taken a step back?—”
“You deserve it, Elijah.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but I was worried about putting more on you, and you’ve handled it all like a champ. Not to sound like the patronizing big brother, but I really am proud of you. And I know Pop is too.”
My chest swells with pride. “Thanks, bro.”
After we end the call, I stare out the window. I love this job and I always have, but I’ve enjoyed taking a more active role in the corporate side of things too. It feels good to know I’m not fucking it up. The only blot on my otherwise perfect horizon is the damn leak. Until we find out who it is, the whole company is on lockdown information wise. Basically, every single piece of information is on a strictly need-to-know basis. It adds to the pressure, but it also means we’re not going to spring another leak.
There’s a soft tapping on my door, and when I look up, King’s standing there, looking all kinds of adorable and hotter than sin, in equal measure.
I wonder why he’s knocking until I hear Hayden’s voice and the unmistakable eager chatter of the new group of interns he’s showing around this morning.
I risk a wink. “Come in, Mr. Blackthorn.”
Grinning, he closes the door behind him. Instead of sitting in his usual seat, he perches on my desk in front of me, forcing me to scoot back a little to accommodate him. I love having his legs between my spread thighs. He leans down and seals his lips over mine. I slide my tongue into his mouth and deepen the kiss, butI’m the first to pull back. Hayden could knock at any moment to introduce me to the new interns.
King stuffs his hands into his pockets. “I’ve narrowed our suspects down to two.”
“You have?” I ask. “Who?”
“Suspect one is Olivia Green.”
I rack my brain to place her. “I know her name, but I can’t remember what she does.”
“She works in development, but she’s pretty low on the ladder. And she’s been passed over for promotion twice.”
Now I remember her—I remember discussing her last interview with Hayden. “Yeah, she has. She’s good, but she has no initiative. None at all, which is okay when you’re a junior analyst and have three bosses who can tell you what to do, but not for the roles she was going for.”
“Well, her emails suggest a couple of clandestine meetings that raised my suspicions. Could be she’s hooking up with a married man or some other plausible explanation. But I’m running a sweep on any offshore accounts because her personal banking came up clean. However, she has motive and means.”
I shake my head. “I can’t see her having the savvy to do it. Who else?”
He winces. “You’re not going to like this one.”
“Who, King?”
He shrugs in a don’t-say-I-didn’t-warn-you way. “Hayden.”
“Hayden? My head of HR? The guy you don’t like because you think he wants me to fuck him?”
“First of all, he doeswant you to fuck him. But my dislike of the guy isn’t a factor in this.”
“Then what is?” I ask.
“He has more access to you than most of his colleagues. In fact, more than anyone else I’ve seen at this company. He could have somehow learned your passcodes or?—”
“You think I’m that careless?”
He cups my jaw in his hand. “No, but why do you think I’ve spent so long in the office these past few weeks? After my initial sweep, I had around forty potential suspects. So I focused on them. Chatted over coffee, asked for help with my computer. People inadvertently reveal information about themselves. First car they drove. First pet’s name. You know?”
“I’m not stupid enough to have my favorite pet as a password clue, King. And besides, our security is a little more sophisticated than that.”
“I’m not suggesting otherwise. I’m just saying, people who want to commit industrial espionage will find a way to use being close to you to get information.”
Hayden is clingy and attentive, and he does spend an inordinate amount of his time hovering around me. But he’s worked here for five years. He’s a good guy. “What’s his motive?” I ask.
“Money.”
