BETWEEN TWO BROTHERS AND A PAST

Chapter 12: Shadow of Control

(Andrew POV)

I leaned back in my chair, the office quiet around me. Too quiet. My laptop pinged, an email from IT. I opened it, scanning fast. Unauthorized access detected. Client emails compromised. My pulse kicked up. A breach? Now?

I shoved the chair back and I stormed out, heading straight for the IT floor.

The elevator felt too slow, every second grated. I burst through their door, barking, "Find out who did this, now!"

Heads snapped up, fingers flying over keyboards. One guy stammered, "We're tracing it, sir."

"Trace faster," I snapped. "This smells like sabotage. Rivals, maybe. I want names."

I paced, fists clenched. First the board, now this? Someone was hitting us hard. I wouldn't let it stand.

Back in my office, I grabbed my phone, pulling up the email again. Details were thin, time stamps, IP fragments. Not enough. I needed answers, not guesses. My mind raced, competitors sniffing around, looking for a c***k. They'd found one. How deep did it go?

The phone rang, shattering my focus. Sophie. I answered, already annoyed. "What?"

"You're skipping the gala?" Her voice was shrill, cutting through. "Andrew, I need you there!"

"Not now," I said, cutting her off. I paced to the window, staring out. "I've got bigger problems."

"Bigger than us?" she shot back.

"Yes," I said, flat. "Deal with it."

She huffed. "You're impossible."

I hung up, tossing the phone on the desk. Gala? She could shove it. This breach was a knife at my throat, her whining didn't even register.

I dropped into my chair, rubbing my temples. The board's vote tomorrow, Dad still shaky, now this. It was piling up, fast. Too fast. I couldn't lose control, not now, not ever. Kane Enterprises was mine. I'd built it, bled for it. No one was tearing it down.

I grabbed a stack of staff files from the drawer. Someone in here might know something, someone sloppy, someone leaking. I flipped through, names blurring. Then I stopped. Julia Hart. Her file stared up at me, a small photo clipped to the top.

Those hazel eyes hit me, wide, steady. A vague unease twisted in my gut. I muttered, "Why do I know you?"

I leaned closer, scanning her details. Single mom. College grad. Started last week. Nothing special. But that face, those eyes, nagged at me. I'd seen her around, sure. Dropping off files, quiet, efficient. But this was different. Deeper. A memory I couldn't grab.

I shook my head. Stress, that's all. Playing tricks. I didn't have time for this, some rookie employee didn't matter. Not with a breach tearing through my system. Still, her photo sat there, pulling at me. I shoved the file aside, hard. It slid to the edge, teetering.

Focus. That's what I needed. Not distractions.

The phone buzzed again. I ignored it, probably Sophie, round two. She'd wait. I pulled up the IT report instead, glaring at the screen. Client emails out there, who'd seen them? What did they know? This wasn't just a glitch. Someone wanted us weak. Vulnerable.

I stood, pacing again. My mind churned, rival CEOs, ex-employees with grudges. I'd crushed plenty on my way up, any one of them could be behind this. I needed proof, fast. Before the board caught wind. If they tied this to me, that vote tomorrow would bury me.

I growled, low. "Not happening."

I grabbed my coffee, cold now, and I drained it anyway. Bitter, sharp. Kept me awake. I hadn't slept right since Dad's collapse. Since that damn party. Flashes hit me, lights, masks, a woman's laugh. Her. Julia? No, couldn't be. I'd lost my keys that night, left them at the club. Nothing else stuck. Just a blur.

But her face kept creeping in. Hazel eyes, soft voice. "Here you go." She'd said it yesterday, dropping off that file. Same tone today. Was that it? Some echo from the past? I rubbed my face, hard. Ridiculous. I was cracking, letting nonsense take over.

I tossed the cup in the trash. Work. That's what mattered. Not her.

I sat again, pulling the staff files closer. Maybe I'd missed something. I flipped through, Johnson, Patel, Hart again. I stopped, staring at her photo a second time. Why did it bug me? She was a nobody, just some hire Luke probably pushed through. Quiet, competent. Nothing to flag.

Except those eyes. I muttered again, "Why do I know you?" No answer came. Just that tug, faint and stubborn. I slammed the file shut, shoving it back in the stack. Enough. She wasn't the problem, someone out there was, screwing with my company.

I leaned back, fists on the desk. I'd find them. I'd crush them. This was my fight.

My phone rang again, IT this time. I snatched it up. "What?"

"Update, sir," a shaky voice said. "We've got a lead, looks targeted. Not random."

"Targeted how?" I demanded.

"Still digging," he replied. "But it's deliberate. Someone who knows our system."

I gripped the phone tighter. "Keep digging. I want a name by morning."

"Yes, sir," he said, and I hung up. Deliberate. That meant intent, someone with a plan. I'd rip it apart, piece by piece. No one crossed me and walked away.

I stood, pacing to the window again. The city stretched out, lights flickering. My empire, teetering. I wouldn't let it fall, not to the board, not to some faceless hacker. I'd built this from nothing, clawed my way up. They'd see that tomorrow. I'd make them.

But that unease lingered, Julia's face, slipping in uninvited. I couldn't shake it, couldn't place it. Was it the party? Something else? I growled, shoving it down. No time. No room. She was nothing, just a file, a pair of eyes.

I turned back to my desk, ready to call IT again. Get ahead of this. Stay in control.

The door flew open. I spun, an IT tech, pale and sweating, stumbled in. "Sir, it's not just emails,"

I cut him off. "Spit it out."

He swallowed hard. "Someone's still in the system, right now."