Page 32 of Wanted
He ran a hand over his chin. “Whoever slipped that code outside of the company intended for you to take the blame. It had to have been somebody who had the opportunity and the motive. Who don’t you trust at Quad?”
She sighed heavily. “I hate even thinking about this.”
He nodded. “I know you considered your coworkers friends, but try to take a step back and look at it. Had anyone been acting strangely? Was there anything unusual that caught your attention?”
“Don’t you think I would have told you long ago if I had?”
“Think back,” he said patiently. “This person couldn’t sell their own work because they knew that the trail would lead straight back to them. They needed to put the focus on someone else—namely you. Why?”
She ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt me like that.”
“Do you have any enemies?”
“No. Everybody at Quadrangle gets along really well. We have our occasional arguments over technical approaches and things like that, but the hard feelings never last. Everybody knows how stressful the job is.”
“Is anybody jealous of you?”
She gave him a blank look. “Well, I couldn’t answer that. I can’t read minds.”
“I can.” He reached out and caught her hand. “Danielle, have you ever looked at the people you work with? Really looked at them? You’re like a square peg in a round hole.”
Her forehead furrowed as she looked at him in confusion.
He pressed his palm against hers and intertwined their fingers. “Sweetheart, to be blunt, you work with a bunch of geeks.”
At that, she laughed. “Maybe, but they’re very talented geeks.”
“I won’t deny that, but those talented geeks who are on top of the food chain now probably had a hard time of it growing up.” He let his gaze run over her. “Someone like you would turn their world upside down. Brains, beauty, and personality. They might not consider it fair.”
“Fair? I worked hard to learn my skills. I can’t help the way I look.”
“I know. I’m just trying to find some insight.” He shook his head. “Hell, Arnold Pfizer probably has a hard time just talking to you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Not hard enough to keep him from asking me out.”
“He asked you out?”
“A couple of times. A dampened ego is not his problem.”
“Did you go?”
She rolled her eyes.
“I hope you didn’t respond like that.”
She looked at him and finally realized how serious he was. “I was nice about it. He didn’t say anything.”
“He wouldn’t. It would be too embarrassing.” Reno ran his thumb up and down the side of hers. “That doesn’t mean he wants you any less. I don’t think you understand the effect you have on men. A never-ending hard-on can really piss a guy off.”
“I’m not a tease.”
“You don’t have to be,” he said, “but you’re beautiful, and you work in a male-dominated field. Add to it that it’s a field where omegas suddenly find themselves alphas, and it makes for an unstable environment.”
“But if he liked me, why would want to hurt me?”
“Because no matter how much power he’s attained with his brain, he’s still not in your league.”
She shook her head. “This is all supposition.”
