by Bryce Evans
* * * *
Ryder made it into the kitchen, sat down, and picked up his newspaper before Zoey got the key in the door. He didn’t want London to get embarrassed if Zoey found out, and he didn’t want anyone to know because he knew it couldn’t go anywhere. London was special, but he couldn’t take this further. He felt ashamed that he couldn’t control himself around her. Their lives were too different and his mate would need to be able to handle any other shifter who challenged her. He watched as Zoey walked in and looked around like she was looking for something.
“What are you looking for?” Ryder asked, as he watched her movement.
“I forgot my notepad that had my list on it.” Zoey answered, and then walked over to where Ryder was sitting flipping through the pages of her notebook. He watched as Zoey inhaled deeply making her nostrils flare out. She knew. Damn. Ryder cursed as he watched his baby sister slowly get up without looking at him then turned and started walking to the door. She stopped walking then bent down and picked something up off the floor. She held it up, which allowed Ryder to see that it was a button. He cringed as she dropped it in the garbage can. She slowly opened the door and paused.
“Ryder.” He looked up knowing she was mad. “Don’t do it. Don’t make her fall in love with you and then crush her. She is my best friend, and she doesn’t deserve that. She has had enough heartache in her life.” Ryder dropped his head at the disappointment he heard in her voice, as Zoey walked out closing the door behind her.
He wanted to punch something. He never meant to kiss London, but the little witch pushed his buttons when she stood up to him and planted her finger into his chest. It seemed natural when he grabbed her and planted one on her. The control he wanted from her and the belief he had to have her was madding once he tasted her lips. This was never meant to go this far, but it did. She could never be his and he needed to leave before he went back and finished what he started. London was a drug he had to have and now after tasting her he would always crave her. Thinking that if he got a taste of her he wouldn’t want her anymore was just naive. How stupid can you be, Alpha?
Ryder breathed in deeply, and closed his eyes as her scent filled him. When he went home, he would find someone who could make the need for her go away. He knew he would need to stay away from London if he ever wanted to keep his promise to not hurt her.
Walking to the door, Ryder picked up his stuff, and left without saying good-bye. He contacted his driver and waited at the end of the stairs for him to pull up. He would fly back tonight then send his plane back tomorrow to pick them up.
His first stop was Landon Computer Inc. He had a meeting with the President, Pierce Landon. Neither London nor Zoey had a clue that he owned the Johnson Company, and when Zoey had told him about the program London was building, it peaked his interest.
He had purchased the Johnson Company five years ago, but continued to allow the CEO to run the company until he heard about this program. He knew he would be in contact with London and he would ask Pierce to allow London to move to Alpha City so she would be in charge of the program. However, that didn’t turn out the way he wanted. London was the backbone of that program. Sure they could find someone to figure it out but that would take time and time wasn’t on their hands. If this were the only thing he could do for London then he would seek revenge for her.
Ryder rode the elevator up to the top floor where Pierce Landon was waiting for him.
“Ryder, it’s good to see you,” Pierce said, greeting Ryder with a hug instead of a handshake. He had known Pierce for a long time. Pierce and Ryder’s dads had been friends, and when Ryder took over the friendship continued.
“Thanks Pierce. It’s good to see you,” Ryder responded, walking with Pierce into the conference room where Tracy Allen and John Belleview were waiting.
Tracy and John both stood up when he walked in the room. Pierce introduced them both before he sat down across from Ryder. Before Ryder sat down, he noticed Roxie and others sitting at the edge of the room watching. The fake smile was plastered on Roxie’s face. She had no clue that he was watching how she acted toward London earlier.
Ryder smiled as he waited for Pierce to talk about the product he wanted to sell him. Pierce advised that Tracy Allen was the designer of the program and she would be giving the presentation. Ryder just smiled waiting for his chance to ask the questions he knew she wouldn’t know. By the time he was done Tracy and Roxie would both be out on their asses.
Ryder listened for a while before stopping Tracy in mid stride. “Hmm, Ms. Allen, your presentation has been very good so far, but I did notice that you didn’t say anything about where you got the idea for this program. I’m always fascinated at how programmers are inspired to create their particular program.”
Tracy cleared her throat before she spoke. Ryder could tell that he had startled her with his question. “Yes, well, Mr. Malone, I can’t remember the exact date and time I started thinking of this program but it hit me one day and I started it and finally finished it.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes at her answer and watched as Pierce twisted in his seat. If anyone knew that was a piss poor answer then it would be Pierce. The story would go along with the presentation. It showed the why and how the program came about. Ryder knew that it would be talked about when presenting the program. Why Pierce didn’t pick up on it earlier was beyond him. Most of the stories were entwined into the commercials used to sell the product.
Tracy should have been able to explain what gave her the idea. Did she see something and knew she could write a program for it? Did she have a relative in the service or on the police force and knew what type of training they needed? But nothing like that came from Tracy. She didn’t know because she was a thief who stole the product and wouldn’t know why because it was London Grey’s idea.
“In the prototype you sent me, I asked if the bugs had been worked out on the coding for Unit number 33 and you said that you were working on it. I would like to finalize that now.” Ryder asked, and then watched Tracy squirm.
She had no clue what he was talking about. Tracy looked back at Roxie who quickly looked away from Tracy. Just what he thought, Roxie would turn on Tracy when the time came. She would watch Tracy take the fall and never look back.
“Do you know what the problem with the code is, Ms. Allen? People’s lives will be affected if these problems are not worked out. This product will be used for training law enforcement and our military, and they will pay millions of dollars for it. The bugs we have already experienced would damage our reputation if it weren’t worked out. So I ask again, Ms. Allen, have the bugs been worked out or can you give me a reason as to why they haven’t?”
Tracy looked sick. Her face paled as she looked down at her note pad then looked back up at Pierce. The room became very quiet as everyone stared at her. As the person who wrote and made the program up, Tracy should know the ins and outs of this program but she looked completely lost. She didn’t have a clue on how to fix the problem since the program wasn’t hers. The look wasn’t lost on Pierce Landon either, as he looked over at his Vice President, John Belleview.
“Can everyone excuse Ryder and me for a minute?” Pierce said to the people in the room. “John, can you stay with us please?” John nodded and they watched as Tracy practically ran out of the room.
When the door closed, Pierce turned to Ryder. “I’ve known you a long time, Ry. You know something or something is up. Which is it?”
Ryder smiled then looked over at John. “John, did Tracy Allen ever tell you how she came up with the Active Shooter (AS) 2000?”
“No sir, I never asked.” John narrowed his eyes then looked over at Pierce. “I have a bad feeling now. What did she do?” John leaned forward. Ryder could see him getting agitated waiting for an answer.
“She is not the writer of the AS 2000. If she were the writer for it, she would have known the questions I asked. Tracy knew very little about the program. Do you remember London Grey?” Ryder inquired
.
“Yes, she resigned yesterday I believe.” It was like a light bulb went off in John’s head. “She’s the programmer isn’t she? Shit.” John jumped up and started pacing the room. “I should have known it. She was there when Tracy presented the program to me. I feel like a fool. When I sought London out at Milton College, her Professors advised me that she was a natural, like Pierce. Someone who could pinpoint a problem in today’s world, and then writes a program to help correct it. Genius was the word they used to describe her.” John continued pacing, “Damn. I feel like such an ass. I just promoted someone who stole somebody’s work, and now London is gone.”
“Don’t feel bad, John. My sister and London have just become business partners. They will be competing against you,” he paused to let that settle, and then continued, “or you can wait a week to let them get settled and then contract with them on this program. I will still purchase it as long as she doesn’t know that I’m the President of the Johnson Company.” Pierce turned in his seat and studied Ryder.
Laughing aloud, Pierce got up from his seat, went over to the coffee cart, and started pouring coffee into a cup. Pierce held up a cup. “Anybody want one?”
Ryder and John both shook their head no.
“Never thought I would see the day when Ryder Malone would do something like this for a woman.” Pierce took a sip of his coffee, then turned around and leaned against the cart. “I should have known that Tracy Allen didn’t write this program. These are not the type of programs this woman has done in the past. This program is very complex and well I should have known. This will be worth billions of dollars once it gets out that it can be written for the CIA, FBI, and Home Land Security. How do you know London?”
“My sister and London are best friends and were college roommates. I was here with my sister the day London quit. Roxie the woman who is now her boss actually threatened her, and then put her hands on her. London took care of her real quick, but the damage had already been done. Her program was stolen and then they expected her to fix the problems in it too.”
“Well now we have a couple of problems here but nothing that can’t be fixed. First, John you need to speak to Tracy and find out why she lied. If she even lies to you one time, you fire her on the spot. She’s a good programmer, and I never saw this coming from her. Second, bring her back down and she can have a job as a basic programmer or she can walk out the door. Third, fire Roxie. Fourth, we put this on hold until London gets settled and then we will fly to Alpha City to personally speak to the dynamic duo. We screwed up and I have a feeling that is what Eloise wants to talk to me about tomorrow. We seem to be out of touch with things, John. We need to get back to the basics. We’ve left it to others to manage while we lived the high life, my friend. It’s time to get back to how we started.” Pierce Landon took another drink then looked at the laptop sitting on the table. “I miss it. The old days, when we were just getting started building the business. Maybe we need to get more involved with middle management and see for ourselves what people are inventing. It would stop people like Tracy from stealing others work. I miss the excitement of watching others build something from just a single idea. And finally, Ryder, you could have just come to me and told me what was going on.”
“I could have, but I needed you both to see what was going on for yourselves. I was here when London quit and saw what Tracy’s little minion said to her and how she treated her. You have some problems and I wanted you to see it firsthand. London is a fabulous programmer. She loved her job and she sees you practically as a God.” Ryder smiled and rolled his eyes at John, making them laugh about the comment.
“No really. She’s spent a long time studying you and wants to be just like you,” Ryder said, laughing. “Pierce, I think you can rectify what has happened and if you play your cards right you will prosper from contracting with their company. It’s a small company, but before you know it, it will be as big as you guys. My sister is very good at business. She has had a lot of experience with my companies. She’s a smart cookie, and you already know what type of work London does since you have seen the program she just created. I think you will find it interesting to hear why she created the program. Plus, you need to find out if Tracy and the other woman have stolen other programs. It’s not good business, Pierce, and you are too good a man for someone to do that to you and make you look bad. I just needed you to see it in person and I needed her to feel a little bit of the pain that she caused London. Plus, I owed you one.” Ryder finished, and then picked up his cell phone to look at the time.
He needed Pierce to understand the reason he did it this way. He owed the man a lot. Pierce was his father’s friend and knew about a deal that Ryder was in. He saved Ryder a lot of money by coming to him before the deal went through and told him about the people he would soon be in business with. Ryder never forgot it and told him then that he would find a way to pay him back and now he had made good on that debt.
Chapter 16
London heard the front door shut for a second time, so she opened the door to her bedroom to peek out. Her brows rose as she looked out into the empty living room. The apartment was little so unless he was hiding in the refrigerator, Ryder had left. She figured as much. He must have realized that whatever happened wasn’t in his best interest. London couldn’t stop the shudder or the thought of Ryder only wanting her for a piece of ass. He didn’t think enough of her to at least say that this would be a mistake because of her friendship with his sister or just to say good-bye.
Sitting down on the couch, London looked around her little apartment and thought how strange her life had turned out. She only wanted to be happy. Life had been taking bites out of her for a long time now. When was the last time she actually had something to laugh about? It was time that life gave her a break and if it didn’t then she would take it back. London made a promise to take control of her life and make it into something great.
Damn you, Ryder Malone. He wasn’t good enough for her and if a good-looking man asked her out when she moved to Alpha City she was going to take him up on it and to hell with Ryder. He was done twisting her up into knots. People were always taking, taking, and taking from her. Well it stopped tonight.
Her partnership with Zoey came at the right time and she planned to make their small little company into something that could play in the big leagues. It was also time she got in touch with Me-Len and learn how to be a better witch-whatever that entailed-she planned to be the best at it. Alpha City needed to watch out because London Grey was coming to town to make a name for herself and live her life to the fullest. Her days of sadness had just ended, and London the survivor, was here to stay.
* * * *
Ryder hung the phone up after explaining to his sister that he needed to leave earlier than expected in order to get back to Alpha City, and thankfully Zoey didn’t argue with him. She knew what he was doing, but the computers she needed wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow. It was better this way and Zoey had given him another excuse for them to stay one more day.
For the first time in his life, Ryder hated the fact that he had to select a mate that was a shifter. He needed someone who would understand their way of life. His mate would need to be a strong shifter and someone who was able to lead alongside him like his mother did for his father.
Ryder called Meryl Pierson to tell him that London would be coming to Alpha City to live. She would need to get in touch with Meryl, since he was over the local Coven.
“Meryl, I have some news to share. London’s coming back with Zoey to live and open a business together.” Ryder informed the older man.
“That’s great news, Ryder, actually I have some news of my own,” Meryl said excitedly.
“Well go ahead. It sounds like you are about to burst.” Ryder teased his advisor.
“Things have progressed with me and Lenny McGregor. She plans to move to Alpha City soon.”
“Well, look at you, old man! You move quickly. I’m glad to hear it. I think it
will help London adjust when she gets to Alpha City, to have her only family around her. I’m happy for you both, Meryl. I really wish you and Me-Len all the best.” Ryder said enthusiastically, even as his heart ached with the knowledge that he could never be with London like he wanted.
“I’m glad you called. I needed to talk to you for another reason too, Ryder. Recently, the Coven has felt new magic moving into the city. We are trying to pin-point where it’s coming from, but the location spell isn’t working. Whoever it is, seems very powerful, and knows how to dodge what we are doing. We’re still working on it, and now that Lenny is moving here I will have her help. The Coven agrees that we need her working on this. She has a great deal of experience fighting against dark magic, and I would like to put her on the pay roll.” Meryl suggested.
Ryder could tell that Meryl was worried about something and if he was worried then he should worry too. If Lenny McGregor was as good of a witch as Meryl said then he would be a fool not to hire her. Knowledge and experience were very important to him.
“I agree. Tell her I will give her a fifty thousand dollar bonus if she can get here tomorrow. Pay for movers to get her house squared away, Meryl, so she can meet with us tomorrow. I want her here fast. I will contact the Council and they will meet with us too. Also Meryl her salary will be pay grade 23. Make it happen and congratulations my friend.”
Ryder hung up the phone and dialed his assistant, Will Chambers, to schedule some meetings. It looked like something was brewing in Alpha City and that worried Ryder. Now may not be a good time for London to come to town.