In bed with my boss

CHAPTER 6

EMILY

It’s been one day, 4 hours, 35 minutes and 28 seconds since I got an email from Cole.

And yes, I’ve been counting because I believe Cole Calloway is either watching me through a camera that is positioned by my desk, or he’s hacked the camera on my computer.

I stared at my poor computer, which I had used an unhealthy amount of tape to cover its camera.

My mind wandered back to my new life and how it felt like fate was trying to play a game on me.

But at the same time, I had to remember that I can’t risk my opportunity here and put Aria at risk of being homeless all because I couldn’t keep myself together. So, I would rather fall a thousand times in the process of trying than let it mess me up.

“Everyone, to the conference room. Right now.” Cole’s voice boomed through the intercom, making me jump in my seat.

Everyone began to scramble toward the conference room, while I stayed rooted to my seat.

“Aren’t you coming?” Aria asked as she leaned over my desk.

“I am. But with that amount of crowd heading to one direction, I don’t think so,”

“Besides, there'll be enough space for everyone.” I added, gesturing towards how big the conference room was.

“True,” she agreed, pulling a chair from the next cubicle and sitting down.

We waited for the last person to file in before getting up, and I could feel Cole’s burning gaze on me as we took our seats.

“What the f**k is this?” He said, drawing everyone’s attention to the projector. The room immediately filled with whispers as people tried to figure out what he was talking about.

Aria leaned closer to me. “Do you understand what is being displayed?”

“I mean, I know it was a published article from today, but I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

“I said, can someone explain what the f**k this is?” He snapped through gritted teeth, filling the room with his anger. Everyone went completely silent.

He began moving round the room in a slow, predatory manner, and all eyes followed him as he passed.

“Do you know how long I’ve built this company into what it is today?

I knew it wasn’t just me who felt how furious he was because everyone sat still, not wanting to utter a single word, scared they might lose their job in the process.

How can a normal article with a good headline and thousands of reviews in four hours make someone this furious?

Unless something awful was written in it. A voice echoed in my head.

My eyes grew wide as realizations settled in. What if that was it?

“Five years ago, I took over as CEO, and in that short amount of time, I built this place into an empire,” he snapped, making us jump in our seats. “And in those years, no information has ever been released to the press till its launch day.”

There were silent gasps and whispers as puzzles began to connect.

He continued, “now, we have companies we’ve been partners with for years withdrawing from working with us and joining an anonymous company that has stolen our idea. Pushing our stock market to a number I’ve never seen in my life.”

Shocked at his revelation, I straightened in my seat.

He rounded back to the front of the room. “Now, who can tell me what is wrong here?”

There was a long pause before someone answered. “An idea has been stolen.”

“It’s not just a stolen idea,” he said calmly. “This article you’re seeing here,” he pointed back to the projector, “was based on an idea that has been tucked away for weeks because the board was still deciding if it was a good addition to the company or not. So does anyone want to take a final guess?” He said through clenched teeth, irritated that no one could figure it out.

“There could be a spy,” I said before I could stop myself.

“A spy?” He repeated.

“It could mean two things. Either this article was leaked by someone who works here, or someone was able to break in and retrieve information.”

“No one can randomly break in here. The security is tight.” He rubbed a hand over his face, clearly losing patience.

“So it could be someone who works here or used to work here.”

“That’s impossible, Ms. Carter,” he said in a warning tone. “Very impossible. Here at Ways Enterprise, we do thorough checks on our employees before hiring.” He strode right in front of me. “Or are you implying I can’t do my job well?”

“I wasn’t implying anything, sir,” I said in a tight whisper. “I was just assum—”

“Then your assumptions are wrong,” he snapped. “Does anyone have a better idea?” He moved back to the front of the room.

I turned slightly, scanning the room, but half of them shook their heads. No one had anything else.

“So no one has something else?” He asked, running a hand through his hair and turning his back to us.

I kept thinking about so many reasons why someone would steal information, especially now that the company has just employed new employees after three years of running smoothly.

“Since this is a serious matter, we can involve the police,” a brunette in glasses who looked to be in her early forties said.

Cole turned to look at her.

“How long have you been working in this company, Kate?” He asked.

“Eight years, sir,” She replied in a small voice.

“And how many times has a case been reported to the police to be solved?”

“Sir—”

“How many?” He snapped.

“None, Sir.”

“Then no police,” he hissed.

“Sorry, sir,” she whispered, head hanging low, and took her seat.

I understood his frustration as a businessman, but the poor woman had only tried to help.

A thought built slowly in my mind. I wanted to push it away, but I was fed up with how he kept dismissing everyone who had helped build the company.

So I let out a breath, swallowed my anxiety, and stood up.

“What are you doing, Ms. Carter?” He asked.

“I think I have an idea on how to get to the root of this without involving the police.”

That got his attention.

“Go on.”

“Ahmm,” I cleared my throat “we can meet up with some of your business partners who invested in this new stock market and identify their brokers. If they lead back to the same company, we’ll know who stole this project and is working on it.”

I looked down and saw Annie beaming at me with a thumbs-up, and suddenly a small sense of relief settled in my chest.

I turned back to the room as silence returned, everyone weighing what I had just said… including Cole.

Then finally—

“Who thinks her idea works?” He said in a velvet voice.

Ninety percent of the room raised their hands.

He turned his attention back to me, “I’ll look into what you’ve said and see if it holds up, Ms. Carter. You all may return to your work.”

Everyone began to file out in low whispers as Annie and I stayed behind.

“You did good,” Sara said, patting my shoulder before leaving.

“Yeah, you really did amazing, Emily. You were all on fire with your ideas.”

I tried hiding my smile but failed as my lips curved slightly. “I’m glad I did well.”

As soon as the last person left, we got up to leave.

“Wait behind, Ms. Carter.”

I paused. Annie turned to look at me.

“Go. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything.”

I watched her walk away until she disappeared before I turned back.

I swallowed hard at the way his strong masculine presence filled the chair he sat in.

“Close the door,” he said in a velvet voice.

“Uhmm… what?”

He gave me a warning look, reminding me he didn’t like repeating himself. I turned and shut the door.

“Have a seat,” he said calmly and deliberately.

And like he had a remote control to my body, I did as he said.

“What do you need, sir?” I asked in a cracked voice.

He looked at me for a long second, making me squirm in my seat.

“You’ll be working with me on this project,” he finally said.

And just like that, my face turned pale.