Chapter 6

Alec seriously considered working from home until Gaige left town. If the bed wasn’t right there and a constant temptation, he might.

He’d been back in the office for three hours. The first half consisted of gawking by his employees. Walking across the main lobby with Gaige trailing close behind, then through the rows of cubicles in the center of the office floor, resulted in a lot of staring and bouts of whispering.

Alec got it. The boss didn’t escort visitors. He certainly didn’t stop to get coffee for a visitor. He also didn’t drive in with unknown men and then install them in his office suite.

Yeah, he understood the confusion and the curiosity. Gossip sucked people in, even the smart people who worked for him. But they knew about his temper. He’d carefully crafted a take-no-shit reputation. He didn’t yell because he rarely had to. His employees put in long hours, received excellent pay and now they’d waste valuable time talking about his personal life. He fucking hated that.

He leaned back in his chair and glanced through the glass wall separating his office from the small sitting room just outside. He had his people move out a couch and haul in a desk. Gaige sat at it now. The forced proximity made sense in Alec’s mind. Theoretically, he could watch Gaige type…but who the hell knew what he was actually doing out there.

They’d given Gaige a laptop and a desktop computer, neither of which were hooked into the office’s closed network. The idea was to give the illusion of him working. To let the word leak that an outside professional had been brought in for data analysis. If Alec did have a problem within his organization he’d know pretty quickly. If the problem was outside and someone was using Drummond’s name—the only answer that made any sense to Alec—then that person or group would likely panic and go running to the seed vault to cover their tracks. From there, Seth would pounce.

Even knowing, or thinking, that Gaige couldn’t do any real damage, his being out there, an expert with hacking and infiltration skills, had Alec on edge. He had enough enemies without inviting one in the front door, which was why he’d taken precautions.

The keystroke program and whatever else had been installed on Gaige’s computer should provide some insight. Whatever he typed appeared on the extra monitor at Alec’s desk. The lines raced across the screen. Alec spoke four languages fluently and another two pretty well but he had no idea what the code said.

He picked up his phone to call Seth just as Finn showed up. This was the second time he’d checked in already today and this trip he wasn’t alone. His assistant, Anthony Johnson, one of the few other people who could roam around the building and open every door, tagged along. The suite sat at the end of the hall, private and shut off from the rest of the floor by extra layers of security. Finn and Tony had free access, but not many others did.

Alec considered Tony his smartest hire. Loyal, smart and at ease with everyone in the company in a way Alec wasn’t. A sharp manager Alec brought on when he assumed the helm at the company six years ago, after his father almost destroyed it.

Like many Drummond employees, Tony was retired military. In his case, a Marine from Texas. While Alec disagreed with his father on most issues, Tony was the most glaring. The business takeover had resulted in an estrangement that Alec’s father broke only long enough to question Alec’s choice of a black man for such an important position in the company. Alec slammed the door on communication for good after that.

Finn and Tony came directly into Alec’s private space and closed the door behind them. Alec hoped that meant they were about to have a serious work discussion but he sensed something else was headed his way.

He rocked back on the wheels of his desk chair. “Gentlemen.”

“About Gaige,” Finn said as he stopped on the opposite side of the desk with Tony right next to him.

That didn’t take long. “For the record, our unexpected guest is not my favorite topic.”

Alec already thought about the guy far too much. Watched him. Was too intrigued by the way he frowned and squinted as he studied the computer screens in front of him. Experienced a bit of awe at how fast he typed.

None of that said much about who Gaige was, but neither did the intel Alec had gathered from public searches and through private, top-secret back channels. Gaige’s file had that scrubbed-clean look. Bare bones details about college. Nothing negative. A rosy, if bland, picture that suggested he should be living in the suburbs with a golden retriever right now.

“Finn told me Seth gave an order.” Tony nodded in Gaige’s general direction. “He insisted we bring this guy on.”

The gesture had Alec looking out into the outer office again. Seeing Gaige stretch back in the small chair, long arms high above his head as he yawned, sent a new jolt of interest surging through Alec.

He blocked the revving in his gut and the shutdown of his brain as he turned back to his brother and Tony. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed as if to suggest he didn’t buy the response. “Since when do we jump for the SAD?”

“Never.” He stepped in when it made sense for him to do so, when it benefitted Drummond or a goal the company set. Alec refused to think of Seth and SAD as anything but useful.

Finn glanced at Tony. “He’s in denial.”

“How do you figure that?” Tony asked.

This was annoying as hell. “He is right here.” Alec sat up straight and leaned his elbows on the desk. “Now, tell me what you two really want.”

“Clarification on how we’re handling this situation. It’s not like you to hire new people directly and bypass human resources and a security check.” Tony shrugged. “People have noticed.”

Alec didn’t need to be told “this situation” was Gaige. And that fast, thinking his name had Alec sneaking a look in his direction again. This time Gaige shifted in his chair and read something on his screen. “He’s an outside auditor hired by me. That’s what we tell people.”

“They’re going to wonder why you have him in your office suite instead of two floors down with the rest of the tech team.” Tony’s eyebrow rose. “Speaking of which, Pam is pissed.”

“Not a surprise.” Alec expected that. Pamela Masters headed his tech department. She handled the company’s computer security. Bringing someone in for data analysis would be seen as a direct slam against her. There was no way around that.

Just one more reason to fucking hate Seth Lang.

“Just a warning.” Tony’s shoulders rose and fell on a sigh. “She’s asking questions.”

Alec dropped his hands and let them land with a satisfying smack against the wood top. “She can talk to me.”

Truth was she’d actually scheduled a meeting with him for fifteen minutes from now. By the time that happened Alec hoped to come up with a good explanation. If not, he’d fall back on his usual because I said so reasoning, but Pam deserved better.

He’d hired her away from a Silicon Valley start-up. She was sharp, not just smart but savvy. She understood how business worked and how the rules others followed didn’t always make a perfect fit with what needed to be done. She managed her team with strict rules but they were deadly loyal to her. She didn’t have his reputation, even though Alec viewed her style as similar to his.

She’d been with Drummond for three years and she, along with Tony and Finn, made up the top management team in the European division. He trusted them as much as he trusted anyone. Together they were the four who knew about the business’s inner-workings, from the contracts to the strategies to the clients. They all possessed the requisite security clearances and access to vital proprietary information. So having to hide the truth about Gaige and his connection to Seth from Pam pissed Alec off.

“You act like she’s not trying to get in here to see you.” Tony shook his head. Looked like he’d been verbally beaten down already this morning. “I’ve held her off.”

“She managed to schedule a meeting without bothering to ask me.” Which was exactly the sort of thing Alec expected from her and admired. “I’ll deal with her.”

Tony nodded. “Fine.”

But from the way Tony shifted his weight around, Alec sensed Tony had another problem on his hands. “Or are you worried I’m going to screw up your dating life?”

Tony had met his girlfriend, Caroline, through Pam. Caroline also happened to be Pam’s sister. To Alec it violated the don’t-fuck-where-you-work rule, at least tangentially. Tony and Pam were close, but working together meant she always knew where he was and what he was doing and could report back to her sister. Alec couldn’t imagine being in a relationship, let alone having to deal with being spied on in the office.

“You’re not exactly known for your tact.”

That might have been the most tactful comment Alec ever heard Tony say. “I can deal with people.”

“Ordering is not dealing,” Finn pointed out. “I thought you might need that reminder, so there you go.”

“This Gaige guy is not making my life easier.”

“Join the fucking club.” Alec refused to glance over again. He could go ten minutes without checking Gaige out. “He’s practically belted to my side right now.”

Finn cleared his throat. “And then there’s the part where they’ll go home together every night…”

That was enough of that. Alec knew when to throw down, and this was it. “Anyone with a question should have the balls to ask me. I’m the boss. The questions come to me.”

Finn snorted. “Yeah, that’s how humans work.”

“Especially humans who want to keep their jobs,” Tony said right on top of Finn.

“About our unwanted guest.” This time when Alec glanced at Gaige, he stared back and Alec didn’t break eye contact. “I want to know everything he’s looking at. This is supposed to be fake busy work, but all that typing sure as hell looks real. This mirroring program isn’t enough.”

Tony shook his head. “We locked down the system to prevent him from poking around.”

Alec let the comment sit there for a second. It was either that or start yelling.

He bit back the rush of fury banging inside his head and dropped his voice low, letting a thread of malice enter in. “And you think the guy the CIA handpicked for this operation won’t know how to break that? He’s supposed to be here to raise questions. An expert brought on for some top-secret reason I won’t disclose. Create an air of mystery and all that.”

“To flush the bad guys out,” Finn said.

Alec’s temper was unleashed. It roared through him, setting fire to his control. “That assumes Seth isn’t playing the bad guy here. I’m not convinced.”

Finn whistled. “That I-could-beat-him-to-death tone is something else.”

“I’m used to it,” Tony said. “But there’s a bigger problem.”

They were two of a handful of people who could get away with those responses and ignoring his anger, but there were limits. Or there used to be. Alec wasn’t sure how he felt about not having the usual level of control over them and the situation.

He glared at Tony. “Explain.”

“Seth left a cellphone for Gaige.”

“Which you took.” Alec didn’t ask it as a question because god damn.

Tony looked at Finn. “Well…?”

Alec tightened his grip on the edge of his desk. “How the fuck did that happen? Gaige is supposed to basically be our prisoner here. No access, limited movement. He’s not really here for an audit, you know.”

“Okay.” Tony pointed toward Gaige. “You tell him that.”

No, Alec knew exactly who to blame here. “This is Seth. He lies for a living, so I’m assuming something bigger is happening and he’s guiding it from outside this building.”

“What are you going to do?” Finn asked.

There was only one answer. One that could lead to a different type of trouble if Alec’s current lack of concentration was any indication. “Keep Gaige close.”

“Huh, I did not expect that response.” Some of the color left Tony’s face. The stocky Marine had been pinned down in Fallujah by near-daily gunfire during an eight-month deployment a decade ago and now handled multi-million-dollar contracts with ease. Today he looked stunned.

“That’s because this conversation just spun around in a circle.” Finn shifted his weight and half sat on the corner of Alec’s desk.

“Get up. Now.” Alec forced his fingers to ease their death grip on the desk. “There’s one choice here. I let Seth think he’s beating me while I move Gaige to our side.”

For the fifth time during the short conversation Tony made a what-the-hell-is-happening face. “How exactly?”

“Sex,” Finn said without moving from his new seat on the desk.

Tony sputtered until he coughed. “What?”

Motherfucker. “Finn, that’s not—”

“Your boss is attracted but fighting it…” Finn glanced over his shoulder at Gaige then looked back to Alec again. “Sort of.”

“But wait.” Tony held out both hands as if he were trying to bring a physical halt the conversation. “Alec doesn’t screw on work time. It’s like his mantra or something.”

Finn made a humming sound. “Just so we’re clear, does that just mean he doesn’t fuck other men while they’re in the building, or does it mean he stays away from employees completely?”

Alec blew out a long grumbling breath to let them know how done he was with this topic. “I’m right here.”

“Uh-huh.” Finn glanced in Gaige’s direction again. “Watching him.”

Damn, they were annoying. Great when they worked together on a contract but a pain in the ass when they used their tag-team effort to piss him off.

“Working. Trust me, baby brother. I’ve got this.” Alec hoped like hell that was true.