AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s the second problem, Matt? I’ve got a meeting in half an hour.”
“The second issue is the bigger one. Frost Incorporated is trying to steal Penny Beaumont.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Caught wind that they’ve reached out to her a few times over the past month, promising Penny her own team of analysts and engineers to lead and mentor. IT is your domain, so I don’t have to remind you how fucking brilliant that woman is in cybersecurity. The world is lucky she chose to use her talents for good rather than evil, because she’d make one hell of a hacker. As it stands, in just six years, she’s saved—and made—this company millions with her management system on zero trust, her automation to respond to network anomalies, as well as the—”
“You don’t have to list all her accolades to me. I know how valuable she is.”
Matt pointed his finger at him, stressing his last point. “Find a way to make sure she stays put. Stock options, perks, flexible hours, I don’t give a shit. Just figure out what she wants and give it to her.”
Gage was furious. He’d just hung out with Beaumont at Rich’s apartment last night for D&D. They played video games a couple times a week. And while he still couldn’t believe it, he’d thought they were becoming friends—and he liked it. The idea that she’d been planning to desert the company without so much as a word had him seeing red.
“I’ll deal with Beaumont.”
“See that you do.” Matt rose and held his gaze for a moment. Sometimes Gage got the feeling his brother always had something more he wanted to say to him, but whatever it was…it never materialized. Their conversations were strictly limited to work, neither of them seeking to discuss anything personal.
Matt had been a distant bastard for nearly a decade now, the close relationship they’d shared as kids a thing of the past. Not that Gage could assign all the blame for that to Matt. Nope. He, Matt, and his other brother, Conor, had been steadily walking away from each other ever since—
Gage shut that line of thinking down in an instant, making sure it remained locked in the vault.
“Anything else?” Gage asked.
Matt paused for a second then shook his head. “No. That’s it.”
He left the office, closing the door behind him.
Gage took a few moments to collect himself then turned back to his computer, pulling up the file he needed for his meeting. He clicked on the button to print it, but nothing happened. Opening the paper tray, he found it full.
He recalled Matt’s information about Beaumont and picked up his phone.
“Beaumont, get to my office. Now.”
He stood up, walking over to the large window that offered a breathtaking view of the Philadelphia landscape.
By the time Beaumont arrived, knocking on his door, he was cool, calm, and collected.
“Come in.”
“You summoned, lord and master?” she asked, standing in the doorway, clearly annoyed by his gruff demand on the phone.
“Lord and master has a nice ring, but I thought we established Daddy as my chosen nickname from you.” He grinned when her eyes narrowed.
“Hell will freeze over.”
Today, she was wearing ripped jeans that looked like they’d gone through the shredder a couple of times and an ugly brown sweater with a line drawing of a cat printed on it. She was also wearing those godawful glasses that reminded him of Edna Mode fromThe Incredibles, and she had her hair pinned up in Princess Leia buns on the side of her head.
He’d actually started making it a point to run into her every day just so he could see what crazy getup she had on. Her sense of fashion—if it could be called that—was always quirky and entertaining.
Gage pointed to his printer. “My printer is broken.”
Despite his annoyance about her potential desertion, he was amused by the way she shot him an irritated look.
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “Seriously. I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”
Beaumont strolled over to his printer and slid the paper tray open.
