For Her Protection-An Alpha Romance(25)

"What is it?"

"There's some data I was hoping you might be able to recover."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

Charlie told him about the disappeared tender proposals.

"That ‘s very interesting. I'll look into it."

"Thanks so much, Andy."

"No problem, anytime."

They hung up. Charlie glanced out the door, her heart pounding so loud  he'd almost here it out there. She reset the phone and dialed an  internal extension.

"Hi again, Pete."

"Ms. Halifax-" The voice on the other end of the line stuttered.

"Pete, I'm sending around my security manager Connor Crowe to have a  conversation with you about our IT security and fail-safes."         

     



 

"But Mr. Crowe spoke to us already."

Charlie pressed her dry tongue to the roof of her mouth. "He did? About the tender documents?"

"No, not specifically, he conducted a comprehensive review of the system."

"What time was he by?" Her stomach churned.

"About noon."

Right between when Pete found the files and when they magically  vanished. The coffee she'd drunk earlier seemed to be finding a path  back up. "Then would you mind calling him and asking him to come to you.  Have a talk about the files, maybe he has some recommendations. In  fact-I want you to have a very thorough conversation."

"But-"

"Schedule a full hour for a meeting with you and Mr. Crowe."

She hung up the phone and waited.

Within a few heartbeats, Connor left the reception area. Charlie kicked  off her pumps, not trusting herself to stand upright in them right now.  She walked to the door, closed and locked it before leaning against it.

Connor's laptop sat open at the table, his briefcase on the couch with  the jacket he'd removed at lunch draped over it. She began with the  laptop.

His computer was impossible to access. Not surprising, given he was in  security. She only dared try his password twice. Next the briefcase. She  pushed his jacket out of the way and pressed the clips. The case  clicked and swung open easily.

He hadn't locked it. Apparently he trusted her. She held back the  burning in her chest. Well she'd trusted him too. Guess they both were  wrong.

The cream interior held a row of neat pens slotted into their proper  places and several manila files. She flicked through them. Files on  Crowe Securities and then-one on Halifax. She ran her gaze carefully  over each page, turning every one over and examining it for anything  telling.

She put them back into the briefcase and shut the lid then rubbed her  forehead. Nothing. She sighed and leaned forward to collect the jacket  that had slipped to the floor.

Maybe she'd been wrong?

She clutched the jacket to her chest. The material smelled like Connor.  Clean, masculine, fantastic …  She gazed at the coat then slowly slid her  hand into the front pocket.

Empty.

Yet the nagging sensation in the back of her mind pushed her to check  the satiny pockets on the inside. She groped around the cool space until  her fingers caught on a smooth object. She tugged it out and stared at  the flat, little USB stick.

Her pulse ticked faster. She strode to her computer and pushed the end  into one of the tiny slots on the desktop PC. She folded herself into  the chair and watched the files open. The icon for a single document  showed on the screen. The title jumped out at her and punched her in the  chest, forcing all the air from her lungs. The tender proposals she'd  seen that morning. The world tipped, slowed. Her chest squeezed as if a  fist had shoved itself between her ribs and clutched her heart.

A sob beat against the back of her throat.

The door handle jiggled.

"Charlie?" he called out in that rich, familiar voice.

She stared at the door. The room caved around her but she found that  place inside, that quiet, indestructible place inside herself.



"You plan on talking to me again anytime soon?" Connor pulled up the handbrake and shifted in the driver's seat.

She stared out the window at the front door of her home. She'd waited  until after work to confront him. "Tell me, did you fuck me so I'd trust  you or was that a bonus?"

"What are you talking about?"

Energy bubbled under her skin, looking for an exit but she held it in.  She turned to him. Faint lines framed his eyes, as if he might actually  be bothered by something.

"Did you think I was stupid? That I wouldn't work out what you were up to?"

"What exactly is it you think I'm doing?" His jaw tightened.

If he was acting, he did a damn fine job of looking sincere. Her chest  throbbed. He leaned across the space between them and leveled his gaze  at her.

"Listen ‘cause I'll only say this once-I want you." He swallowed and his  mouth twitched. "I want all of you but that doesn't mean I won't do my  job if that's what this is about."

Charlie shut her eyes. Her chest quivered but she held back the tears. His job?

Spying for Frank?

Or protecting her? Because damn him for saying what he thought she'd  want to hear. Damn him for being a lying bastard. She tucked her hand  into her pocket and curled her fingers around the plastic USB, then  reached for his hand. He frowned and held it open. She pressed the stick  into his roughed palm. "What are you really doing with me, Connor?"

He grasped her fingers before she could draw them away. "It's not what you think."         

     



 

She tried to tug away but he held tight, curling his fingers around  hers, and stroked his thumb over her skin as if trying to soothe her.  She didn't want to be soothed, didn't want to be coddled.

"Then explain."

"My job is to protect you. That's what I'm trying to do." He raised his hand to her.

She jerked away from his touch before she sank into it.

He dropped his hands.

"You protect me by stealing company files? By hiding things from me?"

"This information could put you in more danger." His voice went  gravelly. "Let me handle this. Step back from Halifax for a while until  we work it out."

She shook her head and it swam.

Step back? Holy shit, he really was on team Frank.

They wanted her out of the way. So she'd stop fighting the very things  that were passed in today's meeting-when the executive team approved yet  another closure that's slack would be picked up by their foreign  manufacturer.

She pressed her fingers between her eyes and held herself together by  focusing on that touch. A gentle weight settled on her arm.

"Come inside and talk."

Her throat closed but she forced out the words. "No. You won't be coming inside with me again."

The words hung in the air, quivered along her heart-tore at it.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, you won't be rid of me easily  or at all." He stared at her, his expression set, his tone irrefutable.

She shivered, because the way he'd said that, sounded like nothing to do with a job. "Yeah, I will."

He took her upper arm, his grip firm enough to remind her she'd witnessed him lift the front end of a car. "No."

"I will, because if you don't step down voluntarily I'm going to go to Frank with everything I know."

He froze, his frown flicking.

Thanks to the caution she'd exercised, neither he or Frank could know  how much she knew. If she had to she'd hit Frank with her suspicions,  bluff if required, and no matter how things went down this shit would  come to a head. There'd be no more blackmailing her with bogus safety  precautions.

The fingers on her arm tightened briefly before he pulled back.

He spoke, his voice low and brittle. "You're making a mistake."

"No, you made a mistake." She licked her trembling lower lip and forced  her mouth to move and make words. "You made the mistake of thinking nice  means weak, and that affection means trust."

His features hardened but she turned to the door. Connor grasped her wrist. She glanced at him, her forehead drawn tight.

"You're forgetting something. The threats against you are real." The  look on his face underlined his words. Beneath the stony mask lay a  determination that wouldn't be broken with a jackhammer.

She pried herself free. "I haven't forgotten. There are threats all  around me, but it's the one right here that has me petrified."





FOURTEEN


Her phone beeped. Charlie paused in the hallway, and looked at the screen.

I have something-Andy

She swallowed and glanced around. Voices buzzed from the open space at  the end of the hall. She strode to the utility closet. Better than her  office anyway. She had no idea to what extent she'd been watched and  monitored. The other perk of this particular utility closet was the fact  it'd been a bathroom in its former life, and could still be locked from  the inside.

She dialed Andy. "What do you have?"

"You're at work?"

"Of course."

"In private?"

Her pulse skipped. "Yeah, I'm hiding in the utility closet right now."

"Good, I want you to do something."