Page 55 of Matteo

“Someone from inside.”

“Maybe. Or someone who used to have access. I don't know yet.” I glance back at the screen. “But we’re not dealing with a glitch, Matteo.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” he agrees. “How bad is it?”

I stand beside him, facing the monitor, but I can’t focus on the screen. All I sense is him; his nearness, his scent, the heat coming off his body, despite the cold chill of the server room. Every nerve ending feels oversensitive. The dull hum of the servers fades into the background until all I’m aware of is Matteo standing too close.

“If I’m right, it could give someone access to your internal systems as well as your corporate data. They could manipulate financial systems, sabotage deals, spy on executives, wreak absolute havoc. There’s no telling what they could do.”

He looks like a man carrying the weight of the world on his big, broad shoulders. My gaze slips to the tattoos on his arms again. Does this man always have to have his sleeves rolled up?

“Who the fuck would do this?” he asks, turning around, his eyes meeting mine.

“Someone who doesn’t want to be found. Someone who wants to piss you off. Not you, personally,” I add quickly.

“But who would do this?” he murmurs, almost to himself. He’s so engrossed in the problem, whereas I’m so engrossed in him.

“That's something only you can answer,” I say, distracted.

“It’s someone smart, techy, savvy.”

He looks at me, and my insides turn to ice. I wait for him to elaborate, but when he doesn’t, when he leaves those words hanging, dread fills my stomach.

Does he suspect me?

I tell myself that my paranoia is blinding me. He doesn’t know. He can’t know. Paul doesn’t know otherwise I wouldn’t be here.

“It could be someone in your current team, or someone who worked here previously and left. It could be contractors. They tend to come and go.”

“Someone like you?” he asks, cool and casual.

He does suspect me. He knows something. He can see through me. “You really think I did this?” I cry. “And then somehow your father hired me? How does that make any—”

“You? No!” He cries, and I breathe again. I always expect the worst. That’s just me. I realize now that he’s stressed and he’s lashing out at whoever is closest to him, which right now happens to be me. “I don’t know what to think. I don't know who to trust.”

I feel as if a boulder has been lifted off my chest. “You can trust me because your father hired me.” I flash a wide and hopefully annoying smile at him.

“Don't keep reminding me.”

“Well, he did hire me. Are you going to hate on me for that?”

“Hate is too strong a word.”

“You're annoyed that I thought you were a maintenance man.”

“Let’s focus on the task at hand, shall we?”

This brings me to reality faster than a bucket of cold water thrown over my head. “I think we’re dealing with deliberate sabotage. I’m about halfway through the audit, so maybe I’ll find more things.”

“Don't mention this to anyone. Just keep this between us,” he cautions.

“Don’t you want to tell Alex, or Sonny, or Joel?”

“If it's an inside job, as you say, it could be anybody. Although now that I’m thinking about it, we let go of a couple of people over a year ago. That sticks out because people don’t leave here much. We also had an intern over the summer, and a contractor. I’ll look into them.”

“People with college degrees are meant to be smart, so maybe look into the intern first, though it seems like a long shot.”

“Meant to be smart?” he asks, brow furrowing.