Except it isn’t real.
But even that sobering thought can’t quite quell my excitement.
Lancelot and Merlin would understand. Even though they haven’t been online or seen any of my messages, I still want to tell them.
I pull out my phone and type them a quick line. Guess what? I have an actual job interview. AT LAST! And it’s at IMPERIUM!!!!!!!!
My euphoria fades in the shower. Oliver and Finn are way, way out of my league, and nothing is ever likely to happen between us. But it had been nice to daydream about the possibilities.
If I’m hired at Imperium, however, I can’t let anything happen.
Because I’m secretly plotting to destroy them.
7
Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?
Abraham Lincoln
Oliver:
Monday morning, I have a meeting with Susan Dee, the head of Public Relations at Imperium. “You were quite cryptic at the party, Oliver. What are we dealing with here?”
I slide the envelope containing the six photos across my desk, and she opens it and flips through them. “I’m a little disappointed,” she quips when she’s done. “I was hoping you’d be wearing leather pants.”
I chuckle. Susan’s impossible to shock. “Claudia claims that I coerced her into bondage, spanked her without her consent, and took photos of the act.”
She rolls her eyes. “How much did she ask for? I’m assuming you’re not paying.”
“If it were money, I might pay just to get it over with. She wants Imperium shares. That’s not going to happen.”
Susan nods, unsurprised. “No, of course not.” She flips through the images again. “Well, these photos aren’t good. How long do we have before this hits?”
“Ten weeks, probably.” We go public in three months, and there’s a blackout period for six months after that to prevent people from selling their shares. Claudia is going to want to get her portion before the IPO.
“Ouch.” She frowns. “This isn’t my area of expertise, Oliver. I’m going to recommend we hire a PR firm that specializes in crisis management.”
“We need someone discreet.”
“Absolutely,” Susan replies. “I can have a shortlist of firms on your desk by Wednesday morning.”
“Thanks, Sue. I appreciate it.”
She clears her throat. “Oliver,” she says, “This blackmail attempt is just vile. We’re going to fix this.”
Her faith in me is reassuring. I only hope the board sees it the same way.
A couple of hours later, Finn and I are lost in work when both our phones buzz at the same time. Out of habit, I glance at my screen.
And freeze.
Miki’s interviewing at Imperium.
Finn looks like someone’s hit him with a baseball bat. “What the hell?” I swear out loud. I pick up my phone and page my assistant. “Janine, I need to see Mary in my office as soon as possible.”
Hanging up, I look at Finn. “This is bullshit.” I’m infuriated. I don’t know where my rage is coming from, but there’s no doubt that I’m angrier than I’ve ever been in my life. “Tell me that it’s coincidence that the only person who successfully hacked into one of our systems is interviewing at our firm.”
He doesn’t reply.
“Tell me,” I continue, my voice louder, “that she’s not hiding something. Tell me she’s on the up-and-up. Tell me that I can trust her.”
Finn meets my gaze squarely, but he doesn’t say a word.
“I’m done.” I get to my feet and stare out of the window. From my office, I can see the East River. Typically, the view soothes me. Not today. “I’m done being Lancelot. No more DefCon. No more late night chats. If I can’t trust Miki, then I’m going to cut her out of my life, Finn. Mary can cancel the damn interview.”
My gut churns at the idea of never talking to her again, but my mind’s made up. If I wanted to spend time with a lying, conniving woman, I’d call my fucking ex-wife.
“She’s not Claudia,” Finn replies quietly. “And I don’t think either of us can take the moral high ground. We’ve been lying to Miki for three months.”
“So you trust her unquestioningly?” I sneer, ignoring the stab of conscience I feel at his words. “You want to roll out the red carpet for Miki? You want to let her inside Imperium and give her access to our network? The IPO is in three months, Finn. Do you trust her that much?”
“No,” he admits reluctantly. “Something doesn’t add up.” He glances at his phone again, and his lips twist into a small smile. “She sounds really happy about this job,” he mutters.
Yeah. She really does.
I remember the first three months after my divorce. I’d been shattered. My emotions had see-sawed from relief that I was free of Claudia, to self-reproach that I could have been stupid enough to marry her. Finn had never liked her. Janine couldn’t stand her. Finn’s grandmother had taken me aside and asked me if I knew what I was getting into. I’d ignored them. I’d been a fool.
I’ve poured all of this out to Miki over several late night conversations. No names, of course, and no identifying details, but she knows more about me than anyone except Finn.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?
Finn’s lost in thought. “I think we should hire her,” he says at last.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Hear me out, Oliver,” he snaps. “I’m not suggesting we have her running around without supervision. I think we should hire her, and have her work on something where we can keep an eye on her. There’s someone behind this. Don’t you want to find out who?”
I give him a questioning look. “Don’t you think it’s Fitzgerald?”
“He isn’t acting alone. Someone inside Imperium is helping him. Possibly the same someone who put Miki on the guest list for Friday’s party.”
There’s a knock on our door, and Mary MacDonald sticks her head in. “You wanted to see me?”
I wave her inside. “You’re interviewing Mackenzie Cooper today?”
She looks surprised. “Yes. She sent her resume in this morning. She’s exceptionally well qualified.”
Yeah, I know.
“Is there a problem?” Mary asks. “I did a quick background check, and there wasn’t anything that stood out.”
I make up my mind. “No, no problem,” I tell her. “Who’s meeting with her, Sachin and you?”
She nods.
“Change of plan. Finn and I will be interviewing Miki ourselves.”
Finn’s right. We need to keep an eye on Miki. My head tells me we’re doing the smart thing by hiring her.
But in my heart, I know this is a very bad idea. I like Miki, and I’m attracted to her.
If I felt nothing other than pure sexual attraction for her, I could ignore it. I’m a fucking adult, after all. But I genuinely like her, and that makes her dangerous.
You liked her, I correct myself. Your friendship is in the past.
8
True friends stab you in the front.
Oscar Wilde
Miki:
I get to Imperium’s front desk and ask for Mary MacDonald. The receptionist waves toward the couch. “Please take a seat, Ms. Cooper,” she says. “I’ll let Mary know you’re here.”
The Head of Human Resources appears in the lobby three minutes later. “Mackenzie,” she greets me with a friendly smile. "Thank you for coming at such short notice.”
She places her hand over the scanner, and it flashes green. I’m impressed with Imperium’s security. Key cards can be stolen. Fingerprints are much harder to fake.
Mary pushes the door open, and I follow her through. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Water?"
“I’m good, thank you.” As I walk, my head swivels back and forth, and I check out the office space. It's light and airy, but it's smaller than I would have thought. "How large are you?"
Since Friday night, I've googled Imperium six ways to Sunday, but I've run into some
"We’re just over sixty employees now,” she replies. "When we talked earlier, I think I said that Sachin Sharma, the team lead of Shield would be interviewing you, didn’t I?”
I nod.
“Change of plans. Sachin’s slammed. You’re going to be meeting with our CEO and COO instead.”
My heart almost stops. “I beg your pardon?” I say faintly. Surely I’ve misheard her. Why would Finn and Oliver be interviewing me personally?
She stops in front of a dark walnut door and knocks. “Come on in,” a familiar voice says.
“Good luck, Mackenzie,” Mary says. She turns the handle and pushes the door open.
I step into the office, my palms damp. Run, Miki, run, a voice inside me is screaming. Get out before it’s too late.
But it’s already too late; it was too late the moment I wore my pink dress and went to their party. It was too late the moment I replied to User0989’s message.
Now, I need to see this through.
“Miki.” Oliver rises to his feet when I enter, as does Finn. He smiles at me, his eyes amused. “I pride myself on being able to remember conversations. When we first met on the plane to JFK, Finn asked you what you did.”
The office is huge. It’s got floor-to-ceiling views of the river, two huge desks, a large gray sectional in the corner, and a round table with eight chairs around it. It’s very fancy. “What did I say?” I ask. Even though his smile seems friendly, I’m still wary.
Finn answers. “You said you stared at spreadsheets all day. Then again, you probably couldn’t talk about your work at Blackthorne.”
I seize on the lifeline he’s thrown me. “Exactly.”
Oliver waves me to a chair across from him, and I sit down. Finn’s sitting next to me, and I’m acutely conscious of his presence. After the way I’d flirted with them Friday night, how could I not be?
This is a job interview, Miki. Stay professional.
It’s hard. Finn’s eyes are not running over my body now, but I can’t stop thinking of the way he’d looked at me Friday night. Oliver’s sitting across the desk from me, acting completely professional, and all I can think of is the way he bent his head toward me and asked me if my pussy was happy.
My pussy would be a lot happier if it got up close and personal with these two men.
Oliver is scanning my resume. “Tell me about yourself,” he says. “Why do you want to work at Imperium?”
My brother-in-law might be cheating on my sister, and the proof, if any, is here. Oh, also, someone’s paying me a hundred thousand dollars to steal your client list. I’m still looking for a way out of that one, though.
“I believe in data security,” I reply. Yeah, I know that’s a lame answer. “I enjoy finding vulnerabilities in systems before someone can exploit them.”
“Tell me about the work you did at Blackthorne,” Finn prompts.
I answer his question, wishing I could read them. It might be my imagination, but I’m willing to swear there’s an air of tension in the room. Suddenly, the reason behind their strained expressions strikes me.
“I’d like to say something.” God, this is awkward. “I had no idea who you were on Friday. Obviously, if I’m hired, I’ll keep things strictly professional.”
A smile tugs at Oliver’s lips. “Thank you, Miki.” He raises his eyebrow at Finn. “Finn, anything you want to add?”
My stomach sinks. They haven’t even asked me three questions. So far, my interview has lasted less than ten minutes. When Mary emailed me, I thought I had a real shot at this job. So much for optimism.
I’ve blown it.
I don’t know what passes between Finn and Oliver; I’m too lost in my misery to pay attention.
“Miki,” Oliver’s voice pulls me out of my gloomy reverie. “We’d like to offer you a job.”
“What?” I gape at him. “But you didn’t ask me any questions.”
Finn chuckles. “I spent twenty minutes on the phone with your boss at Blackthorne,” he says. “Wade Beaumont could not say enough good things about you.” He holds his hand out. “Welcome to the team,” he says. “If you’re interested in joining us?”
“Of course.” I’m absolutely numb.
Oliver shakes my hand as well. “About your salary,” he says, and rattles off some terms that have my head spinning.
It's money. It's pretty good money. It's enough money that I'm going to be able to hit ‘Restart’ on my life.
Miki, this is insane. What are you doing?
They’re looking at me expectantly, and I realize they’re waiting for me to respond. "I'm in," I reply quickly. “Thank you.”
“Excellent,” Finn says. “How soon can you start?”
“Tomorrow?” Everything’s moving so quickly that I don’t have time to think. I’m acting purely on instinct.
“Good.” Oliver rises to his feet. “Oh, by the way. You won’t be working on the Shield team.”
“I won’t?”
There’s a dark expression in his deep blue eyes. “No,” he says. “Your skills are much more suitable for a project that Finn and I are working on. You’ll be working directly with us. In fact,” he adds, “until we find you a cubicle, you’ll be working in our office.” He waves at the conference table. “As you can see, there’s plenty of room.” His eyes gleam with amusement and something more heated. Or is that just my imagination? “Welcome to Imperium.”
I won’t be able to poke around their network with Oliver and Finn watching my every move. How am I going to find out what my brother-in-law, Benjamin, is up to? What’s User0989 going to say?
I’m screwed.
9
The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
Mark Twain
Miki:
I do my best to calm down on my way home. The instant I walk into the front door, my phone buzzes. It’s User0989. Well? What happened?
I play dumb. What do you mean?
Don’t play games with me, Ms. Cooper. I know you interviewed with Prescott and Sanders at Imperium an hour ago.
A chill runs up my spine as something clicks into place. User0989 could have learned that I was interviewing at Imperium today by watching me in the lobby. But how could he have figured out I met Finn and Oliver? Even I didn’t know that until I got inside their offices.
There’s only one way. User0989 works at Imperium. Someone in their 60-people organization wants to ruin the IPO.
I take a deep breath and tap out a reply. I got the job, but I’m going to be working with them directly. I can’t start snooping right away. I need some time to settle in.
Damn it, he types. Fine. You’re right. Sanders is a suspicious son of a bitch. I don’t want him to start asking questions. I’ll be in touch in two weeks.
I’ve bought myself a little bit of time. I can only hope that’s enough.
Once I’m done with the conversation, I reach for my notebook with shaking hands. I’m in over my head, and everything feels out of control. I need to make a list.
Top Three Things I need to do at Imperium
Find out what Ben’s hiding.
Find out who User0989 really is. Right now, I have no leverage. He knows my identity, and I don’t know his. I don’t even know if User0989 is a guy. I need answers.
Get Finn and Oliver to trust me.
The last item is the most complicated. I refuse to hack into Imperium and steal the client list that User0989 is looking for. The only reason I’m at Imperium is because of Leah.
I’m using User0989’s connections as a way in, but sooner or later, he’s going to demand results, results I have no intention of delivering. The only way out of this situation is to tell Oliver Prescott and Finn Sanders the whole truth and hope that they decide not to press charges.
But for that, they need to believe I’m acting in good faith. Will they?
I stare at the list for a long time, and then I tear it out of my notebook and burn it. As much as I’d like to start solving the puzzle of User0989’s identity right away, I can’t. My girlfriends are taking me out for drinks tonight. It’s the first time in over a year that the six of us are going to be together in person, and there’s not a force on Earth that will make me miss it.
Finn:
It’s past midnight when I get to my condo. I grab a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and sink onto the couch. There’s not a scrap of food in my house, and it’s too late for most restaurants to deliver. Pizza it will be.
I flip open my laptop, navigate to the nearest all-night place that delivers and place my order. I’ll pay my penance on the treadmill tomorrow.
I’d had lunch with my grandmother yesterday, about the only human connection I have outside of Imperium. She’d been a little unsteady on her feet. “It’s nothing,” she’d dismissed when I’d asked. “Just old age.”
Time is a funny thing. It feels like just yesterday when I’d moved in with my grandmother. My parents were raging alcoholics who were more neglectful than not. When I was eleven, frustrated with the fact that they hadn’t given me my promised allowance for three months, even though they kept telling me they would, I’d hacked into their bank account and transferred the money into my own.
I’d been too young to conceal my tracks. The bank had discovered the breach, and they’d hired someone to figure out who was responsible.
CPS knocked on my door soon after, and after a stern rebuke from a judge and a two-week stint in juvy, my grandmother had taken custody of me.
Life got better after that. I didn’t have to take care of my parents when they were in a drunken stupor. I could go back to being a kid.
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