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I get up and stretch my body, not wanting to appear worried in any way. I pick up my coffee cup and meander slowly toward Tarek's office where I knock on the door.
"What?" comes the gruff response.
"Tough morning?" I ask, sticking my head in.
His face softens slightly when he sees it's me, and despite everything, I feel my insides clench. He's so handsome, and he's even hotter when he's naked.
"Come in," he says, and I do so, shutting the door.
"Sorry to bother you, but there's a bit of an issue."
"You, too?" He looks concerned. "What is it?"
"I just got a creepy message from someone who's hacked my computer. They know who I am."
"Shit," Tarek grumbles and flops down in his chair.
“Shit indeed,” I mutter back.
CHAPTER 21
Tarek
“The fucking nerve of them!”
I bang my fist on my desk and growl. A threat to Sloane? That’s just extra salt in the wound. The last thing I need is to be worrying about her safety on top of all this business-related stress.
“Look, it’s… it’s gonna be okay,” Sloane says in a nervous attempt to comfort me, placing a hand on my arm. She has a gentle, reassuring tone that almost reminds me of someone trying to calm down a reckless bull. I hate it and love it all at the same time.
“You don’t know that,” I say with a deep sigh. My hair feels slick in my hands as I run my fingers through it. “Stay with me tonight. I won’t be able to sleep knowing someone is after you.”
Sloane lowers her gaze to her feet. “You know I can look after myself, don’t you?” she says, crossing her arms.
“I know,” I say. At least, that’s what I hope. But I don’t want to risk even the slightest chance of harm coming her way. “But nobody’s invincible. Besides, it’ll give me peace of mind if you’re in my sight.”
Sloane takes a moment to think this over before giving a defeated sigh. “Alright. Honestly, I was going to be a little nervous tonight, anyway,” she says. “Might as well stay with a big tough orc for a night or two. No harm can come my way with one of you guys around, huh?”
With a giggle, she gives me a playful pat on the shoulder. I can’t help but smile at that, despite the turmoil surrounding us.
* * *
“I still don’t know how this happened,” Sloane says as she climbs back into my car with a bookbag on her lap.
The time on my car’s clock reads a quarter to six, but it feels much later than that. To say it’s been a long day would be an understatement.
“Who would go out of their way to hack into my computer just to leave an ominous message like that, anyway?” she continues. With a scoff, she pulls on her seatbelt and glances out the window as I pull out of the driveway. “Clearly someone with a lot of time on their hands.”
“Either that, or they did more than leave an ominous message on your computer,” I remark. “Just another reason you need to be more careful from here on out.”
“You think I’m not already careful all the time?” Sloane glares at me. “Being careful is kind of my job description, you know.”
“You know that’s not what I mean,” I grumble. “My point is that even the briefest of distractions can lead to sabotage. Don’t let your guard down for even a second.”
“Sabotage? Like what happened to your shipments?” Sloane raises an eyebrow.
I roll my eyes. “Fair enough. Look, what happened isn’t either of our faults. I just… It’s frustrating, not knowing whether I could’ve stopped it.”
Soon, we reach my street. I pull into the garage connected to my house and press the button on my keys to close the door behind me.
