Proving my point

A brief, hysteric chuckle flew out of my lips. My move was risky. I was practically admitting that I went through the company's files, violating their confidentiality. No one in their right mind would ever admit to committing something like that! The more annoying fact was that I couldn't play dumb while trying to prove I was smart enough to fix their problem.

Aren Lan went back to the middle of the corridor where I stood. Mr. Errington followed his boss, although his reluctance couldn't possibly be marked on his face more clearly. Aren looked around. There were plenty of other people gaping at the three of us in that corridor.

"Lend me your office," Lan said, his words sounding like an unmistakable order.

Mr. Errington twitched his lips but didn't dare to say a word. After a quick nod, he started walking through the corridor and stopped as he reached the corner. "This way." He pointed at the door before opening it for the big boss to walk in.

"Miss Cora, after you," Aren Lan tossed nonchalantly, urging me to walk inside with a gesture.

I smiled nervously and entered Mr. Errington's office first. The two men followed, and Mr. Errington closed the door behind us. I stopped in the middle of the room, finding myself in a space between the three-piece suite and a large office desk. We entered Mr. Errington's palace, but it was clear who was this kingdom's ruler. The balding man stood silently a few steps away from the door while Aren Lan walked forward and leaned against the desk, facing me with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well? I'm all ears." He shot me a sly smirk.

As I took a deep breath, I started, "I might have seen a sign of very dangerous spying software on the receptionist's computer."

"You... might have?" Aren laughed.

"This is ridiculous!" Mr. Errington cut in, walking toward me with a glare that was probably meant to threaten me. "Can't you see that this girl is talking nonsense?! She is wasting your time!" he roared, looking at his boss.

"Sit down and let her talk," Aren said icily. "I'll be the judge of whether she is wasting my time or not."

My jaw almost dropped when I saw Mr. Errington lowering his head and obediently sitting on the sofa. Yet, I couldn't dare call that man a wuss. The authority overflowing from Aren Lan's words was breathtaking. I flinched as Lan's dark eyes shifted to me.

"Talk."

I pulled in a shaky breath. "First, I need you to give me your word that I will not be charged with anything no matter what I say." I trembled inside while saying it, but I placed my hopes in his curiosity.

He laughed, then stepped closer, leaning down on me. "I give you my word."

God... His voice sounded as dark and dangerous as it was amazingly sexy. I knew I was playing with fire, but somehow I was eager to risk a little burn. I faced his gaze and resisted lowering my eyes to his lips. I felt as if my intelligence flew away each time he was close, as if he was turning me into some goddamn cavewoman!

"All right..." I exhaled and cautiously stepped back away from him. "I was bored after over two hours of waiting for someone I could talk to about the eviction notice, and... I took the liberty of glimpsing at the receptionist's computer…" I paused, noting their reaction to my words.

"What do you mean by that?! And where was the receptionist at the time?!" Mr. Errington snapped.

Well, I had no intention of putting any blame for what I did on the redhead, but I wasn't feeling too guilty about the spot I was about to put her in either.

I admitted bluntly, "She went for an urgent meeting with the toilet seat, so she wasn't there at the time."

Aren raised his eyebrows at me, and I couldn't miss the faint amusement painting his face. "So... you literally broke into one of my company's computers," he concluded.

"I didn't break in. The computer wasn't password-protected... I merely used an opportunity to take a closer look at the screen," I corrected, skipping the fact that I went through their files a bit.

He sighed, straightening and towering over me even more than before. "Get to the point."

I cleared my throat and turned on my geek mode. "I'm a computer specialist, and I've encountered a specific type of software. It's made to steal classified information, but the thing that makes that bug special is the fact that it plants a decoy, a small icon, quite easy to find by any well-working security software. That's the icon I've seen on the receptionist's taskbar. The security software acts like a total sucker, finding the decoy and deleting it from the system. Once the decoy is erased, the security software ignores the real problem, and that is the exact moment when the real part of the worm starts to act and steal information. The fact that I've seen the icon means that the problem is quite fresh with a chance that no damage has been done yet," I explained confidently.

Lan glanced at Mr. Errington, questioningly, and I could see that the older man had started to sweat. With his jaw clenched, the director of Golden Estate Investments was determined to undermine everything I said, not that I wasn't ready for that to happen.

"This is bullshit!" he spat. "We have the best security on the market! If there truly is something on the receptionist's computer, then she planted it herself!"

"Wow! Easy with the accusations there, OK?!" I exclaimed, glaring at him. "I try to help, but if you are willing to risk getting all your plans exposed in front of the competition, then be my guest!"

I got so agitated that I barely registered when Aren Lan stepped beside me and grabbed my wrist. I froze and gazed at him hesitantly. His composed, calculative stare at me made me hold my breath. I couldn't read him and only prayed that he wasn't about to kill me. For a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, he didn't say a word, turning that moment into the most terrifying and sadistically exciting scene of my life. Of course, my subconscious facepalmed, seeing my inexcusable awkwardness... Finally, my arrogant Mr. Trouble spun me around while holding my wrist firmly and tossed me on the chair by Mr. Errington's desk. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Show me," he commanded, pointing at the computer on the desktop.

Mr. Errington rushed towards me and his laptop, but Aren stopped him, raising his hand and sending him a murderous glare. I smiled nervously and touched the computer. Certainly, it had password-required access. I hesitated for a second. Aren leaned over me to look at the screen and then glared at Mr. Errington.

"Give her your password," he said to him.

"No need," I smirked, as I had already noted every piece of information I needed from Mr. Errington's desktop.

There was a picture of his family in a small frame and a bigger picture of him with a bull terrier. There was the name "Apollo" engraved beneath the picture. I decided it was worth a shot. I typed it in the password field and entered the system without any problem. I heard Aren chuckle as he watched me, but I didn't dare to look at him, feeling his burning gaze on me the entire time. Now, I only hoped that my assumptions were correct and that the bug had already infected the entire company's network. My help wouldn't have any practical value if it was only the receptionist's computer that had the pesky worm...

"Thank God," I muttered under my breath as I saw the little icon on the taskbar on the director's computer. With a smirk, I pointed at the small spot. "This is the decoy that I was talking about," I stated, and turned around only to find Aren Lan's face an inch away from mine.

"Good," he said with a low, velvet-like voice. "I think I would love to use you then." His curled lips almost brushed my own. My heart skipped a beat and my face covered itself with a thick blush.

"W-what?" I mumbled, barely opening my mouth.

He leaned back as he realized my flusteredness. "Fix the system and get rid of that spying software. You can do it, can you?" He flashed me a sly grin.

"Yes," I replied, nervously combing my hair with my fingers.

He chuckled and stepped back away from the desk, which helped me regain my composure. "You wanted to keep renting the place where you have your workshop for six more months?"

"Yes," I responded cautiously.

The smile disappeared from his face as he turned on his previous serious businessman's face. "Solve our computer problems. If you do, then you've got a deal."