Page 9 of Lying Lainey

“How the fuck am I going to get any work done being around him?” I muttered to myself, flopping back into the pillows. “Maybe I can test the waters and see if he’s a man who’s willing to take risks outside the boardroom.”

Then I realized how stupid that sounded. There is no way a man like that didn’t have a pack and some pillow princess of an Omega at home—lucky bitch. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I stabbed another forkful of salad and shoved it in my mouth. I continued reading and was intrigued to find out Halstead wasn’t a man to keep an assistant for long. Due to the secretive nature of the man and the amount of NDAs and contracts he put on each canned employee, no one was willing to talk about why they were fired.

This had me flipping back a few pages to see if they had any personal information on him, but it seemed I was on my own with that. I suppose for someone whose whole purpose was to keep the world safe from hacking or the spread of personal information, it would serve to reason he’d do the same for himself. While this would have worried others, I saw this as a challenge and couldn’t be more excited. Even without the other part of this job I have yet to learn about, just being the one to quit on this guy would be reward enough. What the hell could he be looking for in an assistant? He’s had both men and women, so it wasn’t a case of leaning toward one gender over the other.

Tapping my fork on my bottom lip, I stared at his picture, almost mesmerized by his vibrant blue eyes. Halstead might show physically that he’s been alive for fifty-five years, putting a solid twenty-three years between us, yet everything in that look he was directing at someone sitting across from him told me he was mentally sharp as a diamond. He’d taken all that pressure as a younger man, honing it into the rare jewel he was now.

The question was would that put us on equal footing during this?

It seems like there’s only one way to find out, and the first step was to show up for work in the morning. This was going to be fun.

The rest of the night I read over everything important to do with the company itself, such as the competition, friends, enemies, and the ins and outs which prepared me for anything. I’ve never pulled off a job in any type of security world before. To me, it seemed like tempting fate, something I never liked to do, ever. If the Syndicate had the reach it appeared they did, then I had to trust they’d make sure my cover wouldn’t be blown with a carelessly thrown-together identity.

When I started to go cross-eyed from reading so much information, I decided to call it a night. Taking a moment to clean up the kitchen from dinner, I washed up, leaving them to dry in the sink and deal with it in the morning. Even though I’d been drugged and was passed out for most of the day, I felt like I hadn’t slept in days.

Laying the robe on the padded bench at the end of the bed, I crawled up into the fluffy cloud of a mattress. Then I tossed back the blankets and slipped under them, only to snuggle in, tucking the blankets under my chin. Inhaling deeply, I counted to four then let it out again, repeating the same action three times, grounding my body and mind before I risked closing my eyes. My biggest fear at the moment wasn’t what tomorrow would bring or the dangers lurking in the shadows from the Syndicate. No, I had a much simpler problem to worry about…

Making it through the night.

Seeing Trent on top of being back in Corzina for the first time in twelve years would absolutely trigger my nightmares. I wonder if the Syndicate knew about those too? Guess they will after tonight—fingers crossed the walls are soundproof.

five

Halstead

Each time I walked up the steps of this company and saw the name I’d thought of all those years ago as a college student printed on the building made it worth the bullshit I now dealt with on a daily basis. Reaching the top step, I didn’t even have to worry about pulling out my keycard to get it—someone was already holding it open.

"Good morning, Mr. Norlund," the security guard greeted me.

"Morning, Thomas," I answered with a nod.

Reaching into the breast pocket of my vest, I pulled out my mint strips and popped one in my mouth. I had a meeting first thing with the new Department of Defense contact to go over the latest project and why I refused to do it. There weren’t many times I would turn down a job they requested, but I couldn’t support this one, nor did I want my name or the name of my company associated with the damn thing. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I groaned as I took it out and then my glasses from my inner suit pocket. Getting old made things fucking complicated with extra steps to read a goddamn text. I muttered my greeting to the security guard near the elevators as he held back the door for the private elevator upper management used.

Quintin: The new hire is starting today, and I don’t want to hear a word about it, H. You need someone to pick up the pieces you leave behind all day. I have enough work of my own to do, and putting out fires you caused is no longer one of them. The contract she is signing says we will keep her for a minimum of two weeks as a trial period.

Cheeky asshole, thinking he could box me into keeping them around with that, did he? If the man didn’t like how I dealt with things, then he didn’t need to butt in. He wasn’t my assistant anymore, hadn’t been for quite some time, but it would seem old habits die hard. In fact, he’d just celebrated being the CFO for the thirteenth year last week. There was a party and everything for him.

Quintin: I can see you read my message. I expect a response.

I snorted at that. Quintin and I have worked side by side for eighteen years, longer than anyone else in this whole damn company. It was one of the only reasons he felt so free to speak to me like I was his child rather than his boss. Well, I suppose I’m not his boss either since he now owns equity in the company, a gift he more than earned on his tenth anniversary with the company.

Me: K

I couldn’t help but smirk, knowing that was about to get his perfectly pressed slacks in a twist. He wanted an answer and damn well knew I wasn’t happy about him going behind my back to hire this person I hadn’t even met yet. It seems she was a referral from another company in Marlios but recently moved out here and was looking for a job. Why the hell she moved without having a job lined up makes me question her ability to do this job. I wasn’t looking for a secretary to book my lunch meetings, get me coffee, or pucker up to kiss my ass every morning—that’s what Sam was for. Well, minus the ass-kissing, the last thing I needed was a damn lawsuit for sexual harassment.

Stepping out of the elevator onto the building’s top floor—a space I shared with four other people, soon to be five, if my pushy business partner had anything to do about it—I started walking. Quintin’s office was on the opposite end from mine since we both acknowledged a little distance between our offices helped us to work more efficiently. That man really didn’t know how to give up a role he once held, and not allowing him to be aware of all the comings and goings of my day was better for everyone. In the middle was Kerian’s office, our chief coder who ensured we never sent out a project that hadn’t been thoroughly vetted. Sam had a space in my lobby area for his desk outside my office door. He greeted guests and made sure they were comfortable as they waited but also ensured no one just wandered in without me knowing.

As a person who rather enjoys his privacy, I can’t stand it when people violate the sanctity of my office. I suppose it’s one of the reasons I created a security company to provide that same sense of safety to anyone who wanted it. Out of all the secretaries, Sam has lasted the longest—almost six months, come to think of it. A surefire way to be out of a job was to allow someone to enter my office when I wasn’t there or given express permission to do so. Which is why walking up on the scene of the twenty-five-year-old man plastered against the double doors to my office, fending off another man, warmed my heart.

“Sir, I understand you have a meeting with Mr. Norlund, which I’ve stated is in a half hour,” Sam explained as best he could with the man’s hand around his throat. “It doesn’t matter what you threaten me with, I still can’t allow you to enter his office. He doesn’t let anyone in there without being present, and he hasn’t arrived for the day.”

“Do you know who I am, you little shit?” the man seethed.

“Yes, Mr. Hays, I’m incredibly aware of who you are,” Sam answered, then he spotted me, and his whole body went slack with relief.

I strode forward, not bothering to look for the security guard who was supposed to be watching this floor. Dropping my briefcase, I grabbed the man by the back of the neck and yanked, tossing him onto the couch where he should have been sitting.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I bellowed.