JOSIEI kept pacing around our office, thinking, trying to put the pieces together. My mind was overloaded with grim thoughts. Our system was supposed to be impenetrable, and yet the image presented in the article looked so real...“The reporter claims that his informant found that offer and the ‘free sample’ on one of the dark web forums,” Ashley said.I bit the inner side of my cheek. “Someone might have put it there just to bait the press,” I mused.“That's possible,” Kei agreed before turning to Ashley. “Do we know how much this seller wanted for the database?”“One million,” Ashley said, smiling grimly. “The offer disappeared after an hour. We don't know if it was because someone bought the database.”“It would have been easier if the reporter gave us the name from the formula in this ‘free sample.’ We could at least verify whether or not this user actually exists,” Martin grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.“He can't.” Ashley gave him a look. “It's all because of the prot
I strode through the corridor, heading to the conference room where my trial had already started... without me. It must have been convenient to throw accusations when I wasn't there to defend myself. Cowards.All Blair Digital board members demanded this meeting, so Killian had no choice but to agree. As the CEO of the company, he was supposed to be neutral and calmly evaluate whether the board's arguments were reasonable or not. All for the sake of the company. I knew that once I entered that room, I would be on my own.Brandon McConnell's snarling tone boomed across the long corridor, not even the meeting room's thick door could stop it. The words were muffled, but I was certain that all his vicious sounds were aimed at me. I decided that knocking was unnecessary, so I just turned the door handle and entered.“—yet you placed some idiotic hopes in the hands of an immature wench who knows nothing about business!”I closed the door behind me, and all heads snapped toward me. McConnell
I stared at the man before me, the man who looked so much like Killian. Even in this simple chair, he resembled a king—a powerful ruler facing his subject. Whenever I appeared in front of him, I saw the stunning confidence and strength, but now all I sensed was tension and exhaustion.I gave him a wry smile. “I was just about to leave…”“I wouldn't have come here if it hadn't been important and urgent,” he said tightly, gesturing at the three-piece suite for me to sit in.I eyed him warily before walking over to the sofa. He followed me and sat in front of me. Faint tendrils of irritation clawed their way out to the surface, finally pushing the words out of my throat. “Mr. Blair, I know you don't like me. This was a long and seriously crappy day for me, and if you want to say something that could annoy me beyond the nonsense I heard from some of the board members—”“I didn't come here to argue or insult you,” he stated calmly. “However, I'm afraid you won't find my words... pleasant.”
I told Killian I had one more thing to do before I went back to my apartment. I needed time to calm down and clear my head. I had promised I wouldn't tell Killian about my agreement with his father, but that didn't mean I would keep my friends in the dark as well. My team had the right to know what was about to happen, and I was about to tell them...The emergency meeting was taking place in Ashley's and Aaron's apartment. I waited until everyone, including Aaron, was present. We all sat in the living room. Ashley and I sat on the sofa. Mancy and Kei took the chairs on the opposite sides of the coffee table while Martin and Aaron decided to sit on the fluffy carpet in front of the sofa.Then I told them about the conversation I'd had with Maxwell Blair. I described what I'd seen in the pictures—Yan Hao's army. When I finished, silence filled the room. It lasted for about a minute or two. It was Mancy who spoke first.“I want to see your agreement,” she demanded. “As a lawyer, I cannot
KILLIANI unwrapped Josie layer by layer until I could fully admire every stunning inch of her skin. Then I laid her down on the bed and traced every peak and valley with my fingertips. I could feel the gentle shiver coursing through her as I reached the curve of the breasts. Then my mouth replaced the fingers, and I took my time worshiping the sensitive pink skin of her nipples. She moaned as I nibbled on the hardening peak, and I couldn't help but smile.Her hands restlessly traveled down, gripping the hem of my tee and dragging it up. Chuckling softly, I pulled it over my head. She bit her lip as her fingers explored my chest and abdomen as if she wanted to memorize every muscle in my body. Her expression changed suddenly, and she sucked in a sharp breath.“What's wrong?” I whispered, lowering my head to kiss her.Her lips stretched into a smile, but her eyes filled with sorrow. “I love you,” she murmured.My brows knitted. “That's not an answer.”“Nothing's wrong,” she muttered, h
JOSIEThree Days Later“Thank you! Goodbye!” I waved my hand and smiled at the two men who had just finished carrying the final piece of furniture into my new apartment.I closed the door, feeling absolutely exhausted, as if I were the one doing all the heavy lifting instead of the bulky men who had just left. I took a few steps and slumped on the sofa in the center of my new spacious salon. My eyes drifted to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Rittenhouse Square, and I let out a long sigh.The view was lovely, and so was the entire apartment, but I missed New York. Perhaps I was an idiot for choosing Philadelphia instead of somewhere further away. Perhaps I should have moved to the West Coast... or to Alaska, but I didn't think I could bear being that far away from Killian.It was the third day of my "exile,” and I was already going crazy. The restlessness was eating me alive. Only now did I realize what a perfect distraction my job had been. Without it, all I could do was thin
Hope. It filled every inch of me. I could hear it hum beneath my skin, satiating me with warmth. I felt it long after I put down the phone and went to bed. It might be over soon. I would return to New York, to Killian, to my friends... Soon.My smile remained as I closed my eyes, trying to drift into sleep. But the sleep didn't come, and as I tried to find a way to travel into unawareness, my anxieties crawled out to the surface again.What if something went wrong? What if the evidence turned out to be fake? What if it wasn't fake but still not enough to convict Yan Hao? Suddenly, I couldn't breathe again. There were too many variables. Too many aspects that we might not even know about...“He is always a few steps ahead,” I muttered, recalling what Maxwell Blair had said about Yan Hao. It was as if that bastard had his eyes everywhere…The realization hit me, and suddenly I was on my feet, running to my computer. My heart thundered in my chest as I entered my virtual drive, going thr
I wasn't sure if I was more annoyed or curious when I was on the way to meet David. We had chosen a different place this time. We needed a place with private rooms and soundproof doors. It turned out there was a place like this in Philadelphia—a restaurant owned by one of Gunner's old friends.It took me more than thirty minutes to get to the restaurant in Chestnut Hill. I wasn't particularly happy, knowing I would waste more than an hour moving around the city—the time, which should be consumed on working on my newest project. Now I could only hope that whatever David was about to tell me would be worth wasting that time…The restaurant was called Himitsu, meaning Secret in Japanese. The name was quite adequate since the entrance looked like the porch of a neglected house with no signs mentioning the restaurant outside. As soon as I passed the threshold, a smiling concierge led me to long, round stairs going down. Yep, it turned out the restaurant was in the deep basement... I cursed