“With all due respect,” she says, her voice clear and cutting through the silence, “it’s premature to pin this on Software Development.”
A few heads turn her way in quiet horror. Most people wouldn’t dare contradict me right now. Mark stays silent, letting his junior employee fight his battle.
Her eyes meet mine. Unflinching.Fuck.Why is she more gorgeous every time I see her?
“If we’re talking about mishandling, the risk extends beyond just us,” she continues. “I.T. Security manages permissions. Compliance signs off on approvals. If you want to find the failure, you need to look at every point of exposure, not only one.”
The room is dead silent.
She’s right, though.
I lean back in my chair, the weight of my attention fully on her.
“So you’re saying your team is beyond scrutiny?” My voice is smooth, but there’s an edge to it.
“No,” she says, unfazed. “I’m saying we’re not the only ones who should be under it.”
A slow, sharp-edged smile tugs at the corner of my mouth.
Bold move.
I let the silence press down before finally turning to Austen. “We audit everything. I.T. Security reviews logs and permissions. Compliance does a full assessment of approvals. Software Development conducts an internal review. If there’s incompetence, I want it corrected—immediately.” My voicedrops lower. “If this was deliberate?” I let the weight of it settle. “The consequences will be severe.”
A few people shift in their seats. No one breathes too loudly.
I shove back my chair and rise, adjusting my suit jacket with an easy calm. Then my gaze lands on Violet.
“Miss Harper, my office—now.”
She doesn’t cower, but her fingers tighten around her pen.
I don’t wait for a response; I just turn and walk out.
Before the door closes behind me, I hear Seb mutter, “Jesus Christ. It’s too early in the day for this shit.”
I’ve barely sat down when I hear the elevator doors open, and Violet steps out, her mouth set in a hard line. She’s angry. Good. At least I get honesty from her when she’s mad. Surprisingly, she doesn’t march straight in. She stops by Bethany’s desk first.
Am I finally taming her?
“I’ve been summoned,” she says, a sarcastic smile curving her mouth.
It seems not.
Bethany flashes her a sympathetic smile, whispering something about how I need to be handled with care. Violet rolls her eyes. She should really know better. How her defiance is like a red rag to a bull.
There’s a firm knock, and she steps in, her shoulders squared with determination.
“You wanted to see me,sir.” Her eyes pin me down with a challenge.
Ignoring the twinge of longing in my chest, I keep my tone firm. “I wanted to see you last night, but it seems like you had better things to do.” I don’t mince my words. I’m confident we both want this. I just need her to admit it. She seems taken aback, as though this isn’t what she was expecting.
“I thought this was about the meeting today?”
“I don’t give a fuck about the meeting, Violet. But it seems like the only way I’ll get to see you is summoning you to my office.”
“I would have liked to see you yesterday morning,” she fires back. “But I guess you also had better things to do.”
And there we have it—finally, the truth.
