Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Finding the culprit
The doors to Rhys’ office closed behind me with a click.
"You were looking for me?"
He was still seated at his desk when he lifted his head. At the sound of my voice, his gaze snapped up from the screen in front of him to meet my eyes from across the office room.
Almost immediately, I watched the way his features softened and how the corners of his lips slowly curled into a grin. "Evelyn," he greeted.
I hated to admit it, but just the way he said my name was enough to send butterflies fluttering in my tummy.
"Rhys." I let a smile grace my lips as I approached him, closing the distance between us with a few steps, until I stopped by the edge of the desk. "So...what is it?"
"It’s about the bid," he started, and realization quickly dawned upon me as it clicked inside my head. "I found out who had been feeding information to the Hart Group."
My brows lifted slightly. "That was fast."
He reached for a folder resting on the corner of his desk and slid it across the polished surface toward me.
I lowered my gaze, my eyes falling on the folder that was lying on his desk. Inside were several photographs, copies of bank transfers, phone records, and building access logs.
Right on top was a familiar face. The scenes flashed past in my head like a short montage. The woman who had accidentally spilled coffee on me, the woman who warned me about being too close to Rhys.
Sara.
"It’s her..." I mumbled under my breath as recognition lit up my eyes.
"The procurement executive," he confirmed, his expression turned serious. "When I dug deeper into it, I realised that she had leaked every confidential quotation for the past few months. The forensic audit uncovered encrypted messages, burner phones, and offshore payments. The Hart Group paid her well, it seemed."
My eyes skimmed over the documents. "The transfers started shortly after our first failed bid."
Rhys nodded. "We estimate they’ve cost the company close to ten million."
I let out a slow breath. Ten million...that’s a lot of money.
Silence stretched between us for a while, neither of us saying a word.
"So...what are we going to do now? Should we fire her and report them?"
He paused, his brows furrowed in deep thought and concentration. Then, he finally shook his head. "No. We need the bid with the false information to go through first. And when they realise they lost, that’s when we will expose them. Besides, we could take this time to gather more evidence."
"You are right. The bid is coming up very soon, isn’t it? I heard there’s a big event for this entire project too." A smirk morphed onto my lips this time. "Wouldn’t it be a shame if someone were to expose them in front of everyone?"
He mirrored my expression. "I like where this is going."
"And it would be great to watch them find out they lost the bid." A snicker slipped past my lips just at the mere thought of it. "I’m just glad that we found out who it is."
Rhys let out a quiet chuckle as he leaned back in his chair, his fingers loosely interlocked over his lap. "Well, all thanks to you."
"You did most of the hard work," I said with a small shrug.
A smirk slowly crept onto his lips, his dark eyes shining with a hint of amusement. "You think so? Then do I get a reward?"
I folded my arms across my chest, pretending to give his question some serious thought. "A reward?" I echoed, one brow arching. "And what exactly do you have in mind, Rhys Carson?"
His smile widened ever so slightly, a teasing note embedded in his voice when he spoke. "I can think of a few things."
Heat crept into my cheeks, and I silently cursed how easily he could make me blush. Before I could come up with something, he rose from his chair. The movement was so sudden that I instinctively took half a step back as I kept my eyes on him.
"Like what? Lunch?"
He rounded the desk, stopping just a foot away from me before he leaned closer to murmur into my ear.
"I don’t need you to buy me lunch, that’s my job. I was thinking more like...a kiss," he suggested, the confidence in his tone was unmistakable. I could hear a low snicker when my breath was caught in my throat.
The words were spoken so casually that it took my brain a full second to process them. Then my eyes widened. "What...?" The word came out breathless, almost, my heart pounding loudly against my chest.
We might have already kissed, but this felt...different. It felt more real.
He leaned back to his full height, a nonchalant expression etched onto his face. When he saw the expression on my face, a low chuckle rumbled in his throat, the rich sound filling the office instantly.
"I’m teasing you," he said, but I didn’t miss the hint of disappointment that flashed past his face for a fraction of a second. Though I might have overthought it. "I’m not going to make you do something that you are not comfortable with."
"Who said I’m not?" The words came out barely above a whisper.
Before I could register what I was doing, my arm reached out towards him, and I felt his body stiffen beneath my touch as my fingers curled around his forehead. I lifted my head, and we locked eyes, a million thoughts running through my mind as my heart drummed against my chest.
It must have been the sudden surge of courage that was pulsing through my veins, because I found myself grabbing the front of his shirt as I got on my tippy toes. His eyes widened with surprise, and I leaned in to place a small kiss on his lips.
It was brief. I pulled away almost immediately when I realised what I had just done, and panic flooded my veins. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—"
I turned sharply, spinning on my heels to leave. I made it exactly two steps.
Then a hand wrapped around my wrist.
My breath caught. The next thing I knew, he had pulled me back towards him.
I barely had time to react before our bodies collided and his hand slid to the back of my head, fingers threading through my long, dark hair while his other hand came up to cup my face.
Then he kissed me as though he had spent far too long holding himself back. His lips were pressed up against mine, swallowing the soft gasp that left my mouth, forcing every coherent thought out of my mind.
I wasn’t thinking about anything else anymore. My hands rested against his firm chest, slowly creeping up to hang loosely around his neck and running through the dark strands of his hair as I kissed him back.
When I finally pulled away, he was already looking at me, emotions running wild in his dark eyes.
"Evelyn..." he muttered my name in a deep velvety voice that caressed my skin ever so gently. His hand was still on my face, my fingers still gripping tightly on his shirt. "God, you’ll be the death of me."
My heart was still thrashing against my ribs, and I could barely think straight when I looked into his eyes. "Am I?"
He nodded, a grin now plastered across his face. "Actually...this might be a good time to tell you that we will be going on a business trip."
My eyes grew wide, and my brows furrowed. "What? We?"
"Mhmm...we. That means you and me, both of us."
I frowned before smacking him lightly on his chest. "I know what ’we’ means. But why?"
He caught my wrist before I could hit him again and tugged me closer.
"Because you’re my personal assistant."
I rolled my eyes. "And?"
His gaze softened slightly. "And you’re my girlfriend." The simple statement sent an embarrassing amount of warmth rushing through me. "So it’s only natural that you come with me."
I tried to suppress the smile threatening to appear on my face. "Natural, huh?"
"Very natural."
"Sounds more like abuse of power."
A laugh escaped him. "If I wanted to abuse my power, I wouldn’t be asking."
I opened my mouth to argue before pausing. "Wait." I blinked. "You still haven’t told me where we’re going."
A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "Paris."
For a second, I thought I had misheard him. "...What?"
"Paris."
I stared at him. He stared back. Then my jaw slowly dropped.
"Paris? As in France?"
"No, Paris as in the secret city hidden in Antarctica." I smacked his arm again, but only a low chuckle escaped his parted lips as amusement shone in his eyes. "I’m serious."
"Who has a business trip in the city of love?"
He hadn’t had the chance to answer when a ding came from his phone. He instinctively reached for it, and a frown appeared on his face when he saw what was on the screen. He lifted his gaze, and our eyes met.
"It’s The Hart Group." I held my breath. "They made a public announcement of our attendance at their celebration gala."
Comments