Page 31 of The Mogul: Leonard

My hopes of being done by morning die when the sunbeam hits my legs and the birds outside my window are in a cheerful singing contest. I start to lose hope when noon comes and goes. I’m on the verge of tears when the sun goes down again, and there are at least ten empty cans of energy drinks scattered over my bed.

I’ve always appreciated a good challenge, and I never back down when things get hard, but right now, my eyes are burning from staring for almost twenty-four hours at the computer, and my stomach hurts from way too much caffeine and lack of food.

“I can’t believe it,” I mutter to myself, standing up and stretching. My back hurts, and I need to take a shower to relieve my aching muscles.

This is the most challenging job I have ever had, and though I expected no less from Leonard Walton, I thought I was better than him at this, and it pisses me off to no end knowing that I’m not even close to winning this battle.

When I walk into the hot spray of the shower, I curse the day I agreed to work for that genius with the devil’s personality.

11

Leonard

“I thought you disappeared with the money,” I say as soon as Roxanne enters my office.

It’s been fifteen days since she signed the contract, and I hoped she would start to work right away, but she just walked out of this room and went MIA.

I stare longer than I should at her long, tanned legs showing off in those cut-off jean shorts, not to mention the white tank top that does nothing to hide her lace bra. And the sparkly pink sneakers—shoes a twelve-year-old would wear—somehow make her look even cuter. Since when do I find a woman cute?

“I had to try to hack your system first,” she says, sitting on the chair in front of my desk.

“And did you succeed?” I’m curious.

“No,” she grumbles, and I can’t hide a grin forming on my face.

“I know, it’s perfect!” I beam.

She raises an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t be missing that money if it were perfect, right?”

Fair enough. That’s why she is here, and while I’m happy someone like her didn’t get access from the outside, I know that this complicates everything. At least if she had found a way in, we know there is also a way out. Right now, we’re back at square one.

“I need unrestricted access to all your company networks,” she finally says.

I study her. Does she really think I’m going to give her free rein to stick her nose in my business?

“For starters, I’m giving you partial access to some of my networks; then, if you need more, we can discuss it,” I counter.

She crosses her arms under her breasts, pushing them up and showing a bit more of the swell, begging for my eyes to stray there. It’s a titanic effort not to lower my gaze.

“Do you want me to solve this problem or not? I can’t do my job if you treat me like a kid that can’t touch your computer. I’m a grown-ass adult, and you’re acting like a grumpy old dude who wants to ruin the fun just because you can,” she fights back.

I struggle to hide a smile. She is so riled up her cheeks are turning pink and her brows are knitted in a scowl. With that pink hair, she isn’t even close to being menacing.

“Are you done?”

She says nothing, but at least she doesn’t come back with a remark.

“I can’t give you access to everything for privacy reasons. There are some parts of the network where we keep employee-sensitive data; I’m not giving you access to that.”

“Fair enough. Everything else?”

“Nope. Not the research and development department and some other areas. I don’t trust a hacker with industrial secrets that could destroy my company.”

She scoffs, clearly offended by my insinuations. “So you think I’d steal your secrets and sell them to the highest bidder?”

“I’m not risking twenty years of work because of you. Do you want my trust? You have to earn it,” I tell her without remorse. “I know who you are, and I know you’ll go to prison if you even think to peep a word about what you find in here, but I can’t risk my company, not even for Raphael’s little sister-in-law.”

I stand up and give her a piece of paper with a password and the directories of some of my networks. She is smart enough to figure it out from there.

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