Worthy of the Billionaire

He clicked the light-switch off and tackled me back into the bed, his grin contagious even in the dark. He deftly maneuvered me into the nook of his arm as he settled back onto the pillows. I played with the pearls, wondering why he had made me promise to keep it. He whispered into my hair as we snuggled down for the night. I felt safe and warm. I felt sleep tugging me with its sweet embrace, and I let it take me as I relaxed into his strong arms.

***

$6,000. That’s what a strand of similar pearls was going for on Ebay. My hand trembled as I stroked the beautiful beads. I almost took them off, feeling like something worth that much should not be gracing the neck of someone with $127.65 in their bank account. I was afraid I would somehow lose them, that they could magically fly off my neck the minute someone found out how much they were worth. I took a deep breath in, finding that it really didn’t help soothe me as much as I had hoped. So, with a shaky hand I collected my papers and went into my first meeting of the day knowing that I had a small bank on my throat.

As I walked into the boardroom, Mr. King caught my eye and grinned at me. He touched his neck and winked, making the gesture look random, but knowing that I would see he was glad I was wearing his gift. I shook my head and took a set my supplies down at an empty seat. The meeting hadn’t started yet, and only three of the five board members were present. Two older men stood by a coffee pot discussing a round of

golf, while a stylish woman sat at the table glaring at her laptop.

My fingers shook as I shuffled my papers and tried to look calm. I was just being introduced to the board. I didn’t have to present anything yet or answer any questions, but the pit in my stomach apparently thought I was. The woman at the computer glared at me, waves of disdain radiating off her. I wondered what had her in such a mood.

The last two members shuffled in, deep in conversation that stopped as soon as they sat. Mr. King introduced me and the meeting began. The meeting didn’t pertain to me, so I began looking over the financial reports for the quarter. Something about the numbers felt off and I buried my nose into the laptop, trying to catch the scent of what bothered me.

The room was suddenly quiet. I looked up realizing that almost everyone had left. The angry woman slammed her laptop into a case and stalked out, silent fury dripping from her every pore. I looked after her for a moment, the funny numbers in my laptop forgotten. Mr. King shook his head at her as the door slammed behind her. He sat on the table next to my computer so he could look at me.

“What’s her problem?” I asked him as I stared at the closed door.

“No idea. Dinner tonight?” He managed to keep an innocent face.

I did my best impression of coy, as I slowly closed my laptop and pretended to think about it. He laughed at my pitiable attempt and ran a finger across my pearls. I shivered with anticipation.

“They look good on you.”He paused, obviously deciding if he should say more. My curiosity piqued at why he had chosen these pearls, and I resolved to ask him at dinner.

“Dinner’s at 7 sharp. I’ll give you a ride.” He winked and hopped of the table.

“Oh, and I was planning something special for dessert...” He let the sentence drift as he strolled out the door. I bit my lip and started counting down until dinner.

Worthy of the Billionaire's Trust

I woke with a start, the room dark and unfamiliar. A warm presence to my right mumbled and hugged me in closer, and I slowly relaxed back into his soft embrace. The clock in Gregory King’s ornate bedroom read a little after 3am. I still had at least two more hours left to sleep before my day would begin. I knew I was going to want to stay in bed, the idea of playing hooky with Mr. King made me smile, but I knew he would never go for it.

Running his business was practically an obsession with him. I was very much his employee, not his lover, at work, so these quiet moments were precious and few. I snuggled back into Mr. King’s warm arms, letting his gentle breathing lull me back to sleep. My wrists ached from the cuffs he had me in earlier that evening, but the bruises were worth it. Every night spent with him was worth it. I let my thoughts wander as I closed my eyes to shut out the numbers on the clock.

My brain immediately tried to tick off the various meetings on the schedule that day; three development meetings, a payroll issue, lunch, a board meeting in which I was presenting the financial stability projections for the quarter, and the myriads of small issues I knew were going to pop up throughout the day. I let them all wash over me, letting each one have a second of my time before going on to the next. It was strangely relaxing to plan out my day in the safety of the dark morning. I loved my job.

I had been working directly with Mr. King for almost three months now, and I had found my rhythm. It had taken a few weeks to acclimate, but I was excelling and finding solutions to problems before they even registered as problems. It was also wonderful to be with Gregory King again. I felt him twitch in a dream, holding me tighter as he mumbled into my hair.

He was two separate people, and I found myself wanting to please both of them. The sweet and thoughtful man from college only came out when we were alone and filled my nights. The powerful businessman version, demanding and controlling, filled my days. He made sure to keep the two identities separate, and I had learned quickly that despite our evening rendezvous, I could expect no quarter from him if I failed any of his business demands.

I could feel sleep slowly creeping up on me. My brain slowly let the sweet darkness envelope me and I drifted off, safe and warm in Mr. King’s arms.

***

Something felt off. The office had its normal hum, the secretaries busily clicking at computers, the phones ringing, and sporadic chatter filling the morning air, but I felt a tension in the air. It felt like a thunderstorm was coming, the office mood heavy and jumpy. The interns seemed to be hiding more than usual, and the secretary’s voices seemed to squeak too brightly. Just as forest animals know when a storm is coming, the office knew something big was going to happen. I gathered my usual morning information, and went to find Edward Thayer, head of the antiviral department, to get the production updates I needed to brief Mr. King with that morning. Thayer was in panic mode when I found him.

“Oh God, Claire! I don't know how something like this could have happened! What the hell are we going to do? What am I going to do? I can't face him alone with this...”

Claire could almost see the life draining from him as he spoke. His skin was pale, except for flushed cheeks, and his hair looked like he had run his hands through it all morning. He was fluttering about his office like a frightened butterfly, never landing anywhere, but almost touching everything. He tried to pick up a folder, but it slid through his hands and fell to the floor. He stood for a moment and stared at the papers, his face crumpled like he might cry. I quickly bent and picked up the scattered papers and put them back in his shaking hands.

“Ed, you know I have your back in any meeting you might have with Mr. King. Now, what on earth is the matter?” I asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. His whole body seemed to be trembling.

“You haven’t seen it yet then? Oh Claire- it is bad. So bad... Mr. King isn’t going to just fire all of us- he is going to personally kill all of us. At least twice.” his voice drifted into a mumble as fear shook through him.

I knew that, since Thayer had gotten this job he sometimes had a crisis of confidence. I understood, since he had overnight jumped three pay grades and been put in charge of over a hundred people. Usually when he got like this, I could defuse him with humor. “Let me see. It can’t be that bad- at worst he will just kill you and make you zombie slaves. Saves on payroll,” I tried gently, but my humor went right past him. His hands shook as he opened his laptop and handed it to me. Up on the screen was a email file addressed to the head of the antiviral company.

Dear Mr. King,

I have hacked your system. You destroyed me and now I am going to destroy you. Attached you will find a portion of the antiviral source code to prove that I have it. I have the entirety of it and will be selling it to anyone interested in purchasing the information. I also have used to it to develop a virus that is implanted in every computer in the King Corp. building.