Page 35 of Everything She Wanted

“And did he?”

“No. Luckily I was able to remove him from our system before he activated it.” He leans back against the counter next to me.

“You’re amazing.” I smile at him.

“It was a team effort,” he says, looking away.

“Really, it sounds like it was just you.” I laugh.

“No, everyone’s been so helpful.” He gives me a tired but relieved smile.

“So, what do we do now?”

His expression turns serious. “They’re getting the police involved. So, they don’t want to send anything out because it would look bad, especially since there’s no damage.”

“Of course.” It makes sense to me, but I’m a little sad we won’t get to use my releases.

“But Tom wants us to stay for a couple more hours just in case.” He steps away from the counter.

I know he didn’t need to fill me in, and I would have found out when I got back to the boardroom, but my heart warms that he came to find me and tell me.

I turn around to grab my Americano.

“Can I make you a coffee?”

“I’m good. I already had two since I got here.”

We head back to the boardroom, and the tension is noticeably less as we enter. We chat for a bit, but everyone’s tired and waiting for word that they can go home. It’s almost 3 a.m. when Zoren, the CEO, finally comes in.

“First off, I want to say thank you for dropping everything you were doing on a Saturday night to come in and help. It means so much to us. Second, the situation is being taken care of. We’ll keep the systems locked down until Monday and ask for your discretion as this is now a police matter.” He looks around the room and makes eye contact with each of us. We all nod, and there are some murmurs of agreement. “And finally, the best part is you’re free to go. Come see Amy for a taxi chit or use the corporate Uber account to get home safely. And you’ll get an email from HR next week to cover the extra time you put in. Thank you all and good night.”

He gives us one last tired smile and leaves the room.

My shoulders sag with relief. Everyone files out of the room. I save all my releases, thinking they’d be good to have for next time—hopefully nothing like this happens again, but this way I can be prepared.

When I look up, Nick’s standing at the door. “How are you getting home?”

“I don’t know.” I never take Ubers or taxis this late by myself. I know it’s fine, but for some reason, it always makes me uncomfortable. I’m usually with friends, family, or Eshaan anyway.

I know I could call Rachel and she would come, but I feel guilty. I’ve been keeping my distance after our fight.

“I can give you a ride.”

“That’s okay.” I know he lives not too far, and my place is way out of the way.

“I don’t mind.” He lingers at the door, and the thought of waiting outside for a car at 3 a.m. feels like too much. “I don’t know if I can sleep anyway. I’m so wired.”

“Thanks. That would be great.” I smile at him.

We make our way to the underground car park, and Nick slides into his Polestar and opens the door for me from the inside. I ignore the flutter of butterflies at the thoughtful gesture.

It’s pristine inside. I wouldn’t expect anything less.

“Any requests?” he asks as he opens the music app.

“Maybe some lo-fi.”

“Sure. I like listening to that too.”