CHAPTER 21: Predatory Instincts

Casimir

I sat behind my desk. My office was located on the executive top floor, just down the main corridor from the CEO's suite. The walls were made of soundproof glass, giving me a clear view of the floor's activity while keeping my conversations strictly private.

I was reviewing a risk assessment for the European shipping routes. I crossed out a set of inflated numbers with my pen when a movement outside caught my attention. I looked up.

Sybil was walking down the corridor toward my office. She held a stack of printed spreadsheets and a white binder tight against her chest. She stopped in front of my glass door and knocked lightly on the surface.

I set my pen down. I did not expect to see her here.

"Come in," I said.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside. She pulled the door shut behind her, ensuring it closed completely. She walked up to my desk and placed the binder and the printed papers flat on the glass surface.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Vendor logistics for the engagement party," she said.

I looked at the white binder, then back up at her face. "Why are you bringing engagement plans to me?"

"Because the numbers are wrong," she answered.

"Then take it to Elias," I said. "It is his engagement."

"I cannot take it to the CEO," Sybil said. She kept her voice steady and entirely professional. "He is currently in his office with Ms. Hayes and she is the one who handed me the binder to file."

I leaned back in my leather chair. I watched her carefully. "And you think the bride is stealing from her own engagement budget?"

"I am not making a formal accusation, sir," she said quickly. "I am just bringing you the data. I was entering the invoices into the database. I found a massive financial anomaly in the security logistics for the private island venue. I did not want to hand this to the CEO while he is distracted by the event planning."

"So you brought it to me," I said.

"Yes, sir."

"Why?" I asked. "Operations and logistics fall under the Vice President. You could have taken this to Emrys."

"The Vice President would likely make a joke out of it before taking it seriously," Sybil said honestly. She met my gaze without flinching. "I brought it to you because you are the only one paranoid enough to look closer."

I felt a sudden, unexpected spike of satisfaction hit my chest.

She was exactly right. I was paranoid. But more importantly, she was observant. She had been working on our floor for a very short time, but she already understood exactly how the power dynamics in this family functioned. She saw the reality of how this building operated. She did not just blindly file paperwork. She read the numbers.

I leaned forward and picked up the printed spreadsheet. "Show me."

Sybil stepped around the side of my desk. She leaned over and pointed to a highlighted line at the bottom of the page.

"The invoice lists a two million dollar deposit for private security contractors," she explained. "But I checked the routing digits. They do not match our usual security firm. They do not match any approved vendor in our corporate database."

I looked at the numbers. I pulled my keyboard closer and typed the routing digits directly into my secure terminal. I bypassed the standard employee network and accessed the global banking registry.

The screen loaded a block of heavily encrypted data.

"It is a holding company," I said. "Registered in the Cayman Islands. A blind trust."

"A shell account," she said.

"Yes." I looked at the invoice she brought me. "Someone is inflating the engagement logistics and funneling company money off the books."

"Who has the authorization to do that?" she asked.

"Half the executive board," I replied. "Any of the senior directors could approve a vendor invoice if they buried it under personal event expenses."

"What about Ms. Hayes?"

I looked up at her. She was standing right next to my chair. She was completely focused on the monitor.

"Quinn does not have corporate clearance to authorize a two million dollar wire," I told her. "But her father does. Gideon Hayes sits on the board. He has full access to the operational accounts."

"So Gideon Hayes is stealing from the company using his daughter's engagement as a cover," she concluded.

"We do not know that yet," I said. I kept my tone sharp and completely focused on the business. "It could be Gideon. It could be the event planners skimming off the top. It could be another board member trying to frame Gideon. We do not have the proof to make a formal accusation. If I accuse one of our oldest board members of embezzlement without a paper trail, it will cause a massive panic among the shareholders."

"But the money is gone," she pointed out.

"The money is moving," I corrected her. "I can track it. But I need to do it quietly. If whoever set up this shell account knows we are looking at it, they will burn the digital trail and the money will disappear permanently."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said. I hit a key on my terminal, running a silent trace program on the Cayman account. "You leave this with me. You go back to your desk. If Quinn asks you if the vendor files are updated, you tell her yes. Do not mention the anomaly. Do not act suspicious. Treat her exactly the same way you always do."

"I can do that, sir," she said.

"Good."

I pushed my chair back and stood up.

Sybil did not step back. She stayed right where she was.

We were standing on the same side of the desk. The physical proximity was heavy. I was much taller than her. I looked down at the top of her head. I saw the dark strands of her hair pulled neatly back.

I took a slow breath.

A faint scent drifted up to me. It was not the expensive, artificial perfume the women in this building wore. It was vanilla.

It was warm and incredibly natural. Underneath the vanilla, there was something else. A subtle, raw scent of nervous heat and adrenaline.

It hit my senses hard.

My deepest predatory instincts flared instantly. The logical, analytical part of my brain that was just tracking stolen money completely shut down. The beast inside my chest woke up, demanding absolute attention.

I turned my body so I was facing her fully. I stepped directly into her personal space.

Sybil froze. She lifted her head. Her dark eyes met mine.

I looked at the soft curve of her lips. I remembered how she looked yesterday in the hallway, flushed and out of breath after leaving Elias's office.

The violent urge to touch her crashed over me. I wanted to grab her waist. I wanted to press her back against the thick glass of my office wall and find out exactly how she tasted.

My hands clenched into tight fists at my sides as I fought the urge down, locking it in a cage.

"Is there something else, sir?" she whispered. Her voice trembled slightly.

I did not answer her. I stepped even closer, my chest almost brushing against hers. My eyes darkened as I stared down at her face, leaving her completely trapped under my heavy gaze, trapped by the terrifying realization of exactly what I wanted to do to her.