Page 53 of The Mogul: Leonard

“Why should we do that?” She frowns.

“What do you mean why? He built this company with me. He knows the ins and outs of every single file in our systems,” I answer even though it’s pretty clear the reasons behind my decision.

She abruptly gets up and begins pacing my office, disrupting my train of thought. Her resistance to the idea puzzles me. Why is she so opposed to this suggestion? Three minds working on this problem could yield better results than two exhausted ones. A fresh perspective might be just what we need.

“We don’t know if it was an inside job, and you want to spread the word? I don’t feel comfortable with this turn of events,” she says bluntly.

Is she serious? She thinks someone inside my own company could do something like this, and the mere thought of it is offensive.

“Don’t even think something so twisted,” I warn in a stern tone.

She turns around, crossing her arms under her boobs, making them stick out even more. Damn! I need to focus on this discussion, not how good her tits look!

“Why not? Are you so sure of their loyalty that you trust them blindly?” She raises an eyebrow like this would be the most stupid thing in the world.

I feel the anger boiling in my gut and make a huge effort to keep it down, avoiding making a scene. I assume she’s used to untrustworthy people, considering she’s a hacker. But even she should have some people she can rely on, or she will become paranoid.

“Yes, especially the ones who started this company with me. We have more than twenty years behind us trying to grow this—” I gesture around with my hands. “No one wants to throw it away,” I point out with a finality that leaves no room for argument.

She stares at me for a long moment, studying my face. I don’t back down from her evaluation, and I feel almost reinvigorated by how she challenges me. It’s the first time I’ve been around a woman who isn’t trying to appease me just because of what I represent.

“Fine, but I’ll hold you personally responsible for any fuck-up related to this decision,” she concedes, sitting again in the chair in front of my desk.

I can’t hide a smile. “It won’t be necessary, but you have my word,” I assure her.

She nods, and her mood seems to lighten again, though I know she disagrees with my decision.

“So, what’s next?”

“I’m calling Oliver, and we’ll figure out together how to dig deeper into what we found out.”

Half an hour later, when Oliver walks into my office, one glance at Roxanne changes his mood completely. Tensions rise as he mutters under his breath, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Roxanne raises an annoyed eyebrow at me, and I look at her, trying to convey all my prayers not to make this moment worse with her sharp tongue. Luckily, she gets the hint and humors me.

“Hi, Oliver. We need to talk to you about what we discovered about this missing money.” I smile at him, trying to be as accommodating as possible. It’s always a gamble these days with him. One day, he’s nice and kind; the other, he is grumpy and shouting at everyone. I honestly find it impossible to gauge what his mood will be, but today I have a good clue from his pissed face. I prepare for all hell to break loose.

“You are obsessed with this freaking money. You’re a billionaire; get over yourself and start to think about the people who work for you! You’re wasting time and resources for nothing,” he growls.

Roxanne scoffs, and I stare at him in disbelief. “We found out they’re not stealing money but information, and you think it’s nothing?” I raise my voice.

He shrugs. “Do you have proof? Maybe it’s just a mistake by the bank. You just said they’re not stealing money; maybe it’s just that: nothing. You’re so wrapped up in her that you can’t see beyond your nose!” he spits.

“Excuse me?” Roxanne’s outraged tone forces him to turn toward her.

He sneers at her—an actual creepy sneer that I’ve never seen before on his face. “You play the big bad hacker but you’re just a kid who knows nothing. You came here, stuck your nose in our systems, and God knows what you’re doing with that information. You bat those pretty eyelashes, wriggle your young ass in front of him, and get him to do whatever you want. You’re good at it, I’ll give you that.”

“This’s enough!” I shout, getting his full attention.

He looks at me with sad eyes. “You’ve become so greedy that you don’t even care about this company anymore. You want to get bigger and bigger, losing focus on what our initial goal was.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. Don’t play this card with me because it won’t work. I know exactly what I’m doing, and I haven’t forgotten where we came from and where we’re going. If you can’t see that, it’s not my fault. It’s yours,” I fire back and he looks like I slapped him in the face.

I feel bad for him, but I’m tired of sugarcoating everything because he snaps at the least inconvenience. He turns around and walks out of the room without another word, and I clench my fists, glaring at the door closing behind him.

Roxanne studies me with worried eyes. Neither of us breaks the silence for a long moment.

She speaks first with a stern expression. “I would say ‘I told you so,’ but I think his behavior speaks for itself.”

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