“Connor, what do I say? Matt is texting meagainabout grabbing dinner. He’s going to take me to his grandma’s house! That’s ridiculous, right?”
I hid my wince. Matt could be a decent guy, but I still didn’t want him around. At least he was texting Petra and not my wife. “Uh, do you want to get dinner with him?”
“Yes. Maybe?” She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “No! My career is on the line with you. My ex is an asshole. Your father is a bully. We can’t find the link between Dennis and the attack, nor my ex. I cannot have a puppy dog of a man interested in me.”
My lips twitched as I stared at my assistant. “You’re a mess.”
“Oh, fuck off. You were a mess like three days ago.”
“Still nothing on the connection to my dad, or Dennis and the data breach?” I scrubbed my jaw. That piece of evidencewould really tie our presentation together. “Let’s say we can’t find anything. Our presentation is still strong. It still shows why you deserve this role.”
“I’m a woman, Connor. These men are not as forward thinking as you are.” Her eyes were the only indication she was sad. “If we can attack and—”
“No attacking. That’s giving away our hand. We remain stoic. Take the high road.” I thought about Laney, about her hope in me, in us, and my heart skipped a beat. I had to get this right, and for the first time in my life, I was nervous. Fucking rattled. Yet, I couldn’t show Petra that. “You have to remain neutral. Whatever they say, or insinuate, you keep your face the same. Now let’s walk it through again.”
We practiced our opener: our current landscape, Petra’s new role and how it would elevate us, everything Petra has initiated, led, or completed over the last seven years, and then data. How we have increased profit, our plans to double it, the companies we’re acquiring because of Petra’s connections. How she’d taken data and created plans around it, executing major deals with her insights.
I told Petra we had to take the high road, but that was slightly a lie. A fib. She had to take that path or she’d get blasted by them. Me though? Nah. This was my attempt at righting my life, and I’d use every card possible. I didn’t want to resort to revenge, but I would be prepared regardless.
I remembered exactly how my father said I should forget my wife and let her leave. I’d pull up old texts he’d sent over the years, berating me for picking my wife over the company. The three board members who I was good with all had families. I’d play into that, share that Laney and I had an emergency comeup and that mattered more. And that part of the motivation for moving Petra into a role with more power would be to focus on my family.
The resolution to the mess I had created was all right within reach. Things just had to go my way.
“Jen sent us an email, dude. This could be…” Petra trailed off. “Connor. Check your email now.”
Shit. I fired open my browser, my heart racing, as I clicked the email from our CTO.
I wanted to inform you that we have successfully identified the source of the recent breach. Our investigation revealed that the breach occurred due to a compromised internal account, that of Nate Smith.
Additionally, we discovered suspicious messages between Nate and several influential members of our company. These communications suggest a potential internal collaboration or, at the very least, serious security lapses that need immediate attention.
I recommend an urgent meeting to discuss the next steps, including tightening our security protocols and addressing the involved parties. I will clear my schedule to fit yours.
“‘Influential members of our company’?” Petra repeated the words that I stared at.
“Does she mean—”
“My father, our board. Either option is possible.” My gut churned with the reality crashing over me. “We have to head into the office. We need to speak with Jen.”
“I can be ready in five minutes.” She shut her device and had quickly stacked the papers into a pile. “Connor, I know Jen. That last paragraph… she’s stressed.”
“Yeah.” I gripped the back of my neck, the thought of leaving Laney almost unbearable. I could drive there now, come back tonight, leave again tomorrow morning. “Call Jen, have her meet us in her office at one.”
“One?” She arched a brow. “What about eleven?”
“I need to tell Laney what’s going on. I planned to see her later and can’t back out.”
Petra nodded, but her retort was right there on her face. “I think she’d understand—”
“I know she would, Petra, but I’m not fucking chancing it.” I narrowed my gaze, lowering my voice as my pulse raced. “These are the moments I need you to be better for me. A two-hour difference won’t matter.”
“Yes, it could. If someone found out that we know, they could cover their tracks. If it’s your father or Dennis or someone else, they could be monitoring our emails.”
“Jen would know if that was true.”
She shrugged. “If I’m going to be your COO, you have to trust me. I have a feeling that Jen sending that email set off a chain reaction from the people who want you gone. I’ll set the meeting for noon. That gives you forty minutes to talk to Laney, get your shit together, whatever.”
My jaw tightened as Petra’s words hit me in the chest. Forty minutes would work. The tree farm was twenty minutes from here toward the city, and I could grab her lunch before.
