Aleks wanted to laugh at the correction, but the fact that she was trying to whitewash their relationship hurt. Which was absolutely ridiculous, because he’d done the exact same thing at the meeting.
“You think he’s back to take over the company,” he said, focusing on the more immediate issue.
She nodded, lips pressed tight together.
“Isn’t that his right?”
Portia pursed her lips. “No. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
He raised a brow. “That’s probably stretching it a bit.”
“I don’t care,” Portia said mulishly. “He’s not taking my company. He abandoned it and now it belongs to me.”
Aleks was aware of the others paying close attention to their conversation. He’d prefer to get her alone. To hold her and tell her it would be all right because he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, but that wasn’t his job. His job was to learn as much as he could and report back.
That job description no longer felt right.
“Should we table this discussion until later?” Ash asked.
Portia studied Aleks for a long moment. He implored her with his gaze to let him stay. Finally, she gave him a slight nod. “No. It’s okay.”
“Are you sure you can trust this guy?” Ash again.
If he didn’t stop trying to undermine Aleks, they were going to have words.
“As much as I trust anyone,” Portia said, her tone cool.
“That’s good,” Ash said, “because I don’t think we have a lot of time to deal with your father.”
“Why do you say that?” Portia asked with a tilt of her head.
“He’s obviously back for a reason. Maybe it’s because of them,” Ash pointed at Aleks, “or maybe it’s because you’ve made the connection with the Tremaine Corporation and Vyne. Whatever it was, it was obviously important enough to bring him out of hiding.”
“And?”
“And what would be more important than getting his former glory back?”
His question was met with murmurs of agreement.
“Your dad wants back in and he’s used to getting his way. I don’t know where he’s been, but until the bombing, he ran the company for what, twenty, twenty-five years on his own?”
“My grandfather died when I was three. So yes, twenty-five is about right.”
“Not only isn’t he going to let go of the company easily,” Ash said, “he’s probably got at least one backdoor into the system, if not more.”
Portia paled. “Sonofabitch.” She rubbed her brow. “My father isn’t a hacker. How would he do that?”
Ash shrugged. “Probably found a hacker to do it. Paid them off or maybe—” He stopped speaking and mimicked a blade over the throat.
She frowned. “Did you do that for him?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s just a guess, Portia, and it probably happened years ago.”
She spun her glass around on the table, watching the liquid slosh up the sides. Aleks remembered her doing that the night they met too. “Did you find backdoors or workarounds while you were sneaking around my systems?” she asked without looking up.
“A few,” Ash admitted. “Though I don’t know who used them or who put them there. We can try to cut him off at the pass. Make some educated guesses like overriding his building access and access to your office.”
“Can you cut him out of the whole system?” Aleks asked.
