Page 68 of The Orc of Wall Street

Without Craig or Amber constantly trying to sabotage us, Jarn Enterprises has taken off in the last few months. Our success is known far and wide and quickly becoming the number one everyday tech wear brand.

“Angel, have the assistants schedule everything, and we’ll reconvene tomorrow to discuss.”

“Can do,” the pixie says, and I can practically see her mentally planning the whole event out. In another life, she would have made an excellent thief.

“Good, meeting adjourned,” Tarek declares, and everyone starts gathering their things and walking out.

I walk with Angel and nudge her. “So, what poor soul are you going to harp on to book all this mess?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, you only saw it as me ‘harping’ on you because you had no idea what you were doing. Your replacement is far more competent.”

“Oh, really?” I say, my grin growing. “Because I overheard you telling the poor new assistant that you missed the way I did things.”

Angel scoffs. “I most certainly do not miss your sloppy reports and mis-colored organizational files.”

I laugh, and Angel smiles, too. Her smile drops a moment later, though, and she lowers her voice. “Have you been following the news lately?”

The laughter fades and I nod grimly. “Craig’s trial starts next week.”

It was hard to know if Tarek’s rival would actually face the consequences of his actions. Rich men rarely do. But Craig doesn’t have many friends these days. Not enough to get him out of this mess, it seems.

The same could be said for his money, since the money in his bank accounts mysteriously disappeared. Just about the same time that Amber had vanished without a trace.

I don’t fear any retaliation from her. She was hired to do a job, and it sounded like she had made sure she’d gotten paid for it. I can’t blame her for that, and I like to hope that’s all it’s going to take for the matter to remain settled.

“Do you think Craig is going to bring you up?” Angel asks. “You know, try and use it as leverage?”

“He can try and claim I’m Cyber Thief all he wants, but I erased any evidence he had of it.” That had been the first thing I made sure to do the day after Craig was arrested.

My grin returns. “So once again, my identity is a secret one.”

Angel snorted. “Yeah, super secret. What is that now? Seven, eight people who know who you are?”

“Well sort of secret,” I concede. “I have to go manage some underlings of my own now. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?"

She nods. “Don’t be late again.”

I shrug as I make my way to my department. “No promises!”

There’s a little bounce in my step as I walk. On the way to my office, I smile and wave at a number of people I pass by and even stop to talk with some of them.

A soft smile crosses my face when I realize just how many of these people I can truly count as friends. I don’t feel like I constantly have to look over my shoulder or keep my distance. Nowadays, I feel safest when I’m surrounded by my friends and co-workers.

Stepping into the IT department, I feel a little like a queen stepping into her castle. I’m surrounded by intellectuals, computer geeks like me who totally get me. Not to mention I’m sleeping with the boss so I have the best tech I could dream of to do my job.

I clap my hands, and everyone looks at me. “Alright people, the boss is throwing an extravaganza soon and announcing a product launch. Time to brainstorm every way it could be sabotaged and then how we can stop it.”

As the room buzzes with ideas, I feel my pride swell.

* * *

“You know, I never took you for the picnic type of guy,” I say as Tarek and I set out a picnic blanket by the water. Everything in the park is in full bloom, and the setting sun makes it all the more romantic.

He smiles. “I thought we’d try something different today.”

I move to open the basket, but he stops me.

“Allow me.”

---