HACKING THE BILLIONAIRE (8 page)

Riley waited in her car. She wasn’t comfortable in the area where the meeting was taking place. Not enough people around. What had she been thinking?

She’d been thinking that she might be able to solve this leak and get on to the next job. Leaving Dirk and this mess behind. The sooner she solved it, the sooner he’d be history. Though she’d thought of nothing else but him for the last few days.

He’d gotten under her skin. That hadn’t happened with any other man she’d been with. Maybe Joan had been right. She had been dating men who didn’t challenge her.

She’d left the car running and facing a way to get out. Unless the person brought two cars, she wasn’t going to be blocked in. This cloak and dagger stuff was not fun. She didn’t normally think this way.

Most of the jobs she’d done prior to this had not involved corporate espionage. She’d never seen anything like this, but she also didn’t want to see it again. She could code for a long time, but this pretending to be some guy’s girlfriend was truly out of her comfort zone.

She tapped the steering wheel. Zeke hadn’t given her any instructions besides the address. Was she supposed to go in? She didn’t see any other cars.

Her phone buzzed again. Dirk. She sent his call to voicemail. She’d only been giving him an update. She hadn’t wanted him here. He would hopefully respect her privacy.

Oh hell. Who was she kidding? If he knew where she was, he’d probably be riding in like a knight in shining armor. Dirk was a man who got things done. He might not be happy, since she didn’t include him in this meeting.

She figured it was Zeke, and the less Dirk knew about her suspecting him, the better. That was why she hadn’t told Dirk who she was meeting. He would not believe her.

She also didn’t want to break up a friendship if it turned out that Zeke was just a jerk. That would be Dirk’s problem. If his friend was the leak, then it would be her problem. No reason to mess up a friendship.

Then she heard a car. It came down the street, moving slowly, as if looking for something. She tensed. Was that Zeke? She hadn’t asked what car he would be driving. That had been a mistake.

The car stopped next to her. The back seat window rolled down. It was Dirk.

Shit.

“Hello,” he said, as if he’d just been in the neighborhood. Which she knew he wasn’t. Brooklyn would be the hinterlands for a Manhattanite.

“How’d you find me?”

He smiled. She wasn’t amused.

“I had location services turned on for your phone,” he said.

Well, at least he didn’t lie, but she bet he wasn’t going to apologize for an obvious breach of her privacy.

“There are lines, Dirk. You crossed one,” she said.

She climbed out of the car and looked at him. He sat in his back seat, looking regal despite his casual attire. Her anger spiked.

He put up his hands. “Riley. It’s my company. I should be here with you for this meeting.”

“No, you shouldn’t. You should let me do my job.”

“Is part of your job meeting someone in the warehouse district of Brooklyn?”

Was part of her job giving him a blowjob in his shower? She chose not to ask that. Certainly not in front of his driver. “If it gets the person who leaked the information, then yes, it is my job.”

“This isn’t safe.”

She glanced around. Not ideal surroundings, but she didn’t feel unsafe here. Not completely. “I’m tougher than you think. I’m also not yours to protect.”

His expression, with his mouth open, told her he didn’t agree with that.

“Did the person show?” he said.

Of course he’d change the subject. He wasn’t going to win that argument. She rolled her eyes. “No, and I don’t think he will show if he sees me here with you.”

“Who was it?”

“I’m not ready to tell. I don’t know if this person has information or if this person is the leak. If you know and treat them differently, then they will know I gave up the name. I want to keep their name until I’m sure what role they play in this.”

He sighed. “Okay. Makes sense.”

She stared at him. He stared back. She wasn’t going to blink. Or back down. She glanced around one more time, but no one stirred. Her meeting was a bust.

All because Dirk stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong. She sighed now. “I’m going home.”

“Come home with me.”

Her heart leapt in her chest. She cocked her head, placing a hand on the top of the car. “You believe me suddenly?”

He pressed his lips together. “You have to admit that your story is tough, but as far as I know, you don’t have any reason to lie.”

She straightened. “That isn’t a ringing endorsement. Nor is it an apology. I’ll sleep in my own bed tonight.”

Climbing back into her car, she glanced back at him. His mouth moved. He was probably forming an argument. Dirk was a man used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted. She could be just as stubborn.

“Riley, please. It’s lunch time. Let’s go grab a bite and talk.”

She put her car in gear. She didn’t want to meet with him. He’d charm her. He’d get her to do things she didn’t want to do.

“At the very least, you need to give me some kind of update on this. Besides, we need to be seen together in public so no one gets suspicious.”

Of course he had a point. They had to keep up this charade, and he was enough of a public figure that people would wonder if they didn’t see him. Thankfully no one had pressed her on the modeling scenario.

She sighed. “Okay. We can have lunch.”

***

Dirk felt that Riley agreeing to have lunch with him was a triumph. In public, she had to pretend to be his girlfriend. That meant, she had to touch him. He smiled as his driver took him to his usual lunch spot.

Many people knew him there, and he’d be seen with Riley. And she couldn’t do anything about him being affectionate. Which he wanted to do anyway. Now she had no choice. Nice!

His driver dropped him off while Riley parked her car. She walked up to him, dressed in jeans and t-shirt. Not exactly high style, but she made them look good. It would have to do on short notice.

Maybe he needed to keep an outfit for her in his car for cases like this. Really, he wished she would just move in while they were fake dating.

“I can see by the look on your face, you don’t approve of my outfit.”

He held the door open for her to the restaurant. It was a trendy little bistro. “It will do.”

“I was going to a meeting in a dingy place,” she said.

“It’s fine, Riley. The shoes are horrid, but hopefully no one will notice.”

He’d never worried this much about what a woman wore. Any woman, let alone one he dated. Because he spent his time with models, they always knew how to dress. He’d never thought about it until now.

Riley had been a fashion mess at the beginning. That might fly in New Jersey, but not in Manhattan when you were dating an eligible bachelor. He put a hand on her back as the hostess led them to a table by the window.

Even more visibility.

He wanted to laugh as he pulled out her chair. She glared at him over her shoulder, but he was going to be the perfect gentleman. The hostess handed them both menus, but he knew he wanted the sea bass. Riley looked at her menu and not at him.

“You’re going to have to be a little more attentive to me in public,” he said.

His smile didn’t dim. Hers never appeared. “Fine. As soon as I order you’ll get my full attention.”

“Good.”

The waitress came and introduced herself as Jane.

“Hello, Jane,” Riley said. “Do you have any specials?”

“We have a lobster macaroni and cheese.”

“I’ll take that,” Riley said.

Dirk ordered his sea bass. The waitress left. “Macaroni and cheese?”

“Yes, with lobster in it.” She smiled a broad smile and reached across the table to grasp his hand. “You aren’t going to dictate my meals. Don’t even think about it.”

He chuckled as she squeezed his hand. Hard. “Ouch, sweetie.”

“Am I hurting you? Sorry.”

She let go and patted his hand. He got the message. She wasn’t going to toe the line just because he said so. Or just because they slept together. Riley was not going to make this easy on him.

“So what have you found out?” he said, ignoring everything else going on.

Ignoring the tension between them.

She took a sip of water and finally looked him in the eye. “I got another notification from my program. I also found out the code I had someone else check out, records what information goes in and out of the firewall.”

“Why would someone put that there?”

“I don’t know. It could be something innocuous your brother or sister put there to check the integrity of the firewall. Or it could be something nefarious, but I can’t tell yet. I need time.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know. It is like stock that you’re willing to sell at a certain price. You have no idea when or if it will reach that price.”

He smiled. “Thank you for using an analogy that I can understand.”

She shrugged. “I just don’t want you in my face about this every day.”

“Are you going to see if you can contact that person again?”

If he hadn’t been looking at her, studying her, he wouldn’t have seen the quick blink.

“No, it must be a dead end. I can’t think of a reason for them not to have shown.” Then she stared pointedly at him. “Other than you showed up.”

“I was concerned. And, not to belabor the point, this is my company.”

“But you hired me to do a job. Let me do it.”

“I hired you to pretend to be my girlfriend and sit in front of a computer. Not to play cloak and dagger.”

She sighed. “I’m not your responsibility.”

He tapped his fingers on the table. Technically she was right. “I feel a certain responsibility.”

“Hopefully this will be over soon, and then you won’t feel obligated.”

Her words shouldn’t have hurt him, but they did. She felt nothing? It was just sex for her? It was supposed to be just sex for him, too. Somehow it had become more. Why? Why was Riley different from every other woman who had been in his bed?

“I guess I won’t, but I would still like to keep you safe.”

She glanced down at her hands. “Dirk, that isn’t your concern.”

“You’re just going to say black if I say white today.”

“You are not my favorite person, right now. And I’m getting to a point where I don’t give a damn if you believe me or not about Chad.”

“What about Zeke?”

She put a hand up. “You can believe me or not that I didn’t make a pass at him. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter.”

“No?”

“No, it doesn’t. We have no commitment. No strings. Nothing that will bind us once this is done.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t pretend you want it any other way.”

He frowned. “Right. That’s my MO, isn’t it? Love them and leave them?”

“You can’t deny it. We knew this was temporary form the start. We had fun. We got burnt. Time to step back and just pretend. I’m not really your girlfriend.”

Riley threw herself into her work the next day to avoid having to think about Dirk. And his invitation to stay last night. She didn’t. Her body wanted to, but her mind knew better. This case was hopefully wrapping up, and that would end anything with Dirk.

She had to prepare for that. She had to prepare for this larger-than-life man to exit her life. So work it was.

She sent an e-mail to Zeke to arrange another meeting. This time, she picked a more public place. In Manhattan. And she turned off location services so no one could find her.

He sent an e-mail back.

“I can meet this evening at six. Not a fan of the place because I don’t want to be seen.”

She wrote, “I’m not willing to meet in any other type of place. I don’t know you. I don’t trust you.”

“Fair enough. That place at six. I’m bring my evidence.”

She’d picked a Starbucks that would be open. It was a big one and far enough away from work and her apartment. What could possibly happen? This was Manhattan. There were people everywhere. All the time.

Just in case, she sent a text to Joan.

“I’m meeting someone at this Starbucks at six. I’ll text you when I’m done.”

She gave Joan the address.

Joan sent back a text. “Are you afraid? You want company?”

“No, it’ll be fine. Just making sure someone knows where I am.”

“Not Dirk?”

“No, I don’t want him to interfere. This meeting was supposed to happen and he showed up. I’m sure the person got scared,” Riley said.

She didn’t want anything scaring Zeke off this time. If he was the leak or if he knew about the leak then she wanted to get that information. Then the job would be done. She could put this whole affair behind her and move on to a less crazy job. One where she didn’t need to be some billionaire’s girlfriend.

Jeez.

Why had she agreed? That was nuts. The company should not have asked that of her. She had accepted, and now she had to live with her reckless behavior. Her heart would be safely back behind its wall when this was done.

She certainly didn’t want to feel this way again. The day moved slowly, but finally the time to leave arrived. She had her phone charged and a notepad to take notes. Assuming the guy would let her.

Having no idea what she was in for, Riley left her apartment. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she wasn’t even at the rendezvous point. She caught a bus to take her to the right spot. Before entering the coffee shop, she walked around the block. Nothing looked suspicious and there were lots of people around.

She wondered for a minute that maybe Zeke didn’t send the message. Maybe it was someone else.

She hadn’t thought of that possibility, which was stupid on her part. Once inside, she ordered a coffee then sat down at a table facing the door. She fully expected to see Zeke come through the door.

She sipped and eyed every man that entered the establishment. Her heart ratcheted up a notch with each person coming toward her. No one made eye contact. No one approached her.

Was this another wild goose chase?

Her phone buzzed, but she turned it off. Everyone could wait. This was important. She had to get this job over with. She had to get away from Dirk. He made her feel tings she wasn’t willing to feel.

Finally a young man walked to her table. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Are you expecting someone?” he said.

“I am. Are you it?”

“I might be,” he said.

Well, was he or wasn’t he? “Did you send me an e-mail?”

The confusion on his face told her that he wasn’t it. Damn. What if Zeke or whoever sent her that e-mail came in while she was talking to this person and left when she saw she wasn’t alone? Double damn.

“You’re not Clarissa?” he asked.

“No, sorry.”

He put his hands up then backed away. “Sorry to bother you.”

“No problem, dude. Honest mistake,” she said.

She continued her vigil, but after an hour she was convinced the person had stood her up again. Frustrated, she left the coffee shop. Instead she went for a drink to calm her nerves. After downing a beer, she left that bar.

There were fewer people on the street, but Riley didn’t think this was a bad neighborhood. Darkness had fallen, but she felt safe. Until someone yanked on her arm.

She’d been passing an alley, and someone inside it had latched onto her arm. That person had taken her by surprise. Then she reacted. She swung her other hand around in a fist, but she couldn’t get to the person. They kept out of her line of vision.

She was about to scream when a hand came over her mouth. She bit the fingers near her mouth. Before she could scream, someone hit her and her world went black.

***

Dirk’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but something told him to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Is this Dirk? Dirk Trent?”

Probably somebody wanting money. He’d put his cell number on the Do Not Call List, but it never helped. “I’m not giving out any money today.”

“I’m not looking for money. I’m looking for Riley.”

His heart stopped for a moment. “She isn’t here. Is she supposed to be?’

“No. This is her friend Joan.”

“Hello, Joan. Why are you calling here for Riley? Why not her cell?”

“I can’t get ahold of her.”

“Okay. Is she home? Maybe asleep.”

He shifted on his chair. This call didn’t seem right. Something was wrong.

“She was meeting someone and was supposed to text me afterward and that was three hours ago.”

Damn. She’d done it again. And she’d probably gotten herself into a mess. Damned woman. Why did he have to care so much? “Where was she meeting the person?”

“At a Starbucks.”

She gave him the address. He knew the one. “Let me see where her phone is.”

He booted up his laptop and did what he’d done the last time. “Damn.”

“What?”

“She turned off location services. I can’t find her,” he said.

“Then we need to go to the coffee shop.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“Sounds good.”

She hung up, but her desperation still lingered around him. He called his driver to meet him downstairs. He didn’t want to chance not being able to park. This was Manhattan.

In a few minutes he was on his way. He tapped his phone, thinking maybe he should try to call Riley. She might not answer him. She was still mad at him. He dialed anyway, and it went right to voicemail.

“Damn you, Riley.”

The car stopped.

“What’s the problem?”

“There’s an accident,” his driver said.

“Can you go around it?”

“I’ll try to find a better route.”

When the driver finally pulled up in front of the coffee shop, a young woman was looking around frantically. That must be Joan. Dirk disembarked and headed right for her.

“Are you Joan?”

“You must be Dirk.”

“Have you looked around?”

“No, I was waiting for you.”

Dirk nodded. At least someone realized he could be helpful. “Do you have a picture of her?”

Joan searched her phone. “Here.”

He looked at it. Riley was smiling, of course. “Let’s go see if anyone remembers her.”

He held the door open for Joan, who proceeded him into the shop. She hung back while he strode to the counter. He had her phone in his hand. “We’re looking for this person. Did you see her?”

The barista eyed the photo. “I just came on. Let me see if Josh was here.”

She called to someone in the back, and a tattooed young man came forward.

“Have you seen this person?” Dirk said.

Josh scratched his neck. “She was here earlier. Stayed about an hour or so. Left me a nice tip on one cup of coffee.”

Of course she would. Riley was that way. “Did she leave with anyone?”

“Not that I saw.”

Dirk frowned. He was getting nowhere, and he was getting worried that something might have happened to Riley. His heart ached with the thought. “Thanks.”

He wasn’t sure what to do next, but he had to do something. He was a man of action.

“It’s too soon to call the cops,” Joan said.

“I’m not ready to call them anyway.”

He exited the store with Joan on his heels. “Let’s look around.”

“Here? You think she’s just leaning against a wall somewhere?”

He heard the desperation in her voice. He had no patience for it right now. He spun to look at her. “You have a better idea?”

Joan stopped in her tracks, her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “No.”

“Then let’s look around. Maybe she decided to go shopping.”

Joan snorted. “You clearly don’t know Riley if you think that.”

That may be true, but right now he remained unsure what to do next. Searching was at least action. Action he knew about. Waiting he didn’t understand.

They walked down the sidewalk together. His heartbeat staccato in his chest. He had to find Riley. What could have happened to her? Why hadn’t she called him?

Because she didn’t trust him. He hadn’t believed her, and now she chose not to involve him.

“Is she often reckless?”

Joan shook her head as they looked in every store they passed. Once Joan went inside one because they couldn’t see into it from the street.

Desperate to find her, Dirk strode into a dark alley. Not the type of place he often frequented. No, he preferred bright lights to dim places.

Halfway down the alley, he heard a moan. He moved quicker, using his phone as a flashlight. He saw a hand. A feminine hand. He threw some garbage out of the way.

“Call an ambulance,” he commanded Joan.

His heart stopped as he knelt down to get a better look. She was breathing. At least Riley was breathing.

~~~