Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“I will bite you.”
“That’s a lot of calories. I’m not slender.”
“Girl, you should have been the one taking those photos. You’re hot as hell.” I immediately regretted the words after they fell from my mouth because that would have meant that James would have been all over her, nibbling on her, and making her come.
She didn’t say anything for a moment before she added, “Hardly. Besides, I’d never be caught under my boss. Totally unprofessional.” Well thank goodness for that.
Chapter Five
James
The shitstorm that waited for me took the entire day and night to fix. Then I went for the culprits who thought my company was up for grabs. It wasn’t an actual invasion; it was a betrayal. A former employee stole classified codes, and when he joined another company, he decided to hack me with the source codes and create some havoc. I was able to fix it, even though it took a long time.
Now it was time to seek my revenge. I let him go for good reason. He was a liar and a lazy piece of shit who thought he was better than me and should own my company. Well, that was why he was working for someone else. It was my mistake to believe he hadn’t stolen anything when he left, but he had. All the codes for the servers and programs had to go directly through the main routers, and he didn’t have access to the office anymore.
The office ran on high security clearance, only paying customers having access to our number and having a special digit code that led them to their specific account that allowed them to speak to a representative. It was an added security measure. Until yesterday, it wasn’t even necessary to implement. An armed guard stood at each entrance. I paid great money to protect the security, so it pissed me off that he got in. It didn’t take long to fix the problem; it was fixing my mistake and making sure it never happened again that was the bigger issue.
As much as I wanted to think about Ava and spend all my time with her, I had to focus on my company. Sink or swim was a must in this industry. Failure wasn’t an option, so I had to get this done before tracking her down and claiming her. Damn, did I want to find her and finish what we started, but our future would depend on my ability to keep us financially stable.
Elizabeth came to the office on Sunday with fresh coffee and a promise that Ava was home safe where she belonged. I hadn’t summoned her in, but I had sent her several messages Saturday night that sent her into a tailspin of concern.
“What about the photos?” I asked, hating that they were going to be spread out all over the world. I tried to remember that it was my fault that she’d been hired, but I could have let my father’s company be sued and I just snag up my future wife.
“Claude will have them to the office by Monday morning, so don’t worry.” She patted my forearm.
“Good. Wait—what office?” She quickly grabbed the coffee before I tipped it onto the reports I just ran.
“Probably the ad agency since it’s all over the documentation we had them sign.” She shook her head and set the coffee on the credenza behind me.
“Damn it. I wanted to see them first,” I said, running my hands through my hair. I’d never been so careless, out of control, or clumsy.
“Yes, but they have the team that have to prepare for the ad campaign. Not us.”
“I know that, but that doesn’t mean I appreciate it. I didn’t sign a release of my image, so if I don’t like the video, I won’t allow them to share it,” I lied. It had nothing to do with why I hadn’t wanted the photos or clips released and everything to do with my luscious Ava.
She patted me on the shoulder as if I were a child instead of an adult and her damn boss. “That’s good. It’s your money, sir. You can demand it from them.” She looked around my desk, which had gone from semi-neat to completely destroyed in the past twenty-four hours, and sighed, “Now, what do you need me to do here?”
I dug through the piles, found the file folder needed, and handed her the reports for the IRS to record for tax season.
“Read through them and make sure there’s no discrepancy. I don’t want any lawsuits on my hands, claiming any fiduciary misrepresentation.” Paying for the model on behalf of my father’s company might be considered illegal, given where I sourced the funds, so I had to be careful. It was from my personal accounts, but I didn’t want any suspicions or accusations.