The Billionaire’s Intern: An Older Man, Younger Woman Romance

by Arlo Arrow

  “I know that,” I said with a nod. “But, that’s why you are going to help me create a trap for her. You told me before that you had friends in other departments.”

  His eyes lit up as he chuckled. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of friends in this company. Just tell me what you need.”

  “So, here’s the plan…”

  "First of all, we needed to monitor her. Julius was the one to talk to the security team, and they offered to bug her office and monitor her computer. She didn’t usually arrive until around nine or later on most days, and lucky for the plan, she decided to be late that day. Everything was set up by the time she made it to her office.

  I sat in my office and received updates of everything going on through my connection to security on my computer system. When she left her office to make rounds on her lower floors, I put a call to Julius.

  “I need you to spread a rumor. I don’t know how you’ll do it, but I need it done quickly.”

  After all, just monitoring her wasn’t enough. I didn’t plan for it to be a long vigil; if she had it out for Jasmine, then all we had to do to get her taking action, was to make her believe Jasmine didn’t take the fall—and more, the FBI found new evidence and a new suspect.

  “You can have your secretary help you. I want this spread around in an a couple hours, though less would be good. Spread a rumor that Jasmine was released from prison and cleared of all charges. She’s coming in to work.”

  “Hmm,” Julius murmured. “That would be easy enough. I can get right on it, but don’t you think we might need more?”

  I arched an eyebrow, interested. I was starting to think that Julius Quells enjoyed all the cloak and dagger more than he’d let on.

  “Why don’t we add that… the Feds have a new lead? Or rather, they released Jasmine because they found the real culprit. They could be en route to the company to make an arrest.”

  I rubbed my thumb against my lower lip. “You know,” I said slowly. “That isn’t half bad. If you think you can run the story so it seems natural, then by all means, go wild.”

  He chuckled. “The only problem we have now, is what happened once the news leaves my office. You know how these things go, the story’s going to change and who knows what it’s going to turn into.”

  “It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” I said, frowning to myself. “As long as Jasmine being free and coming back, and the FBI on their way here doesn’t change too much, it would have to do.”

  I cut off the call and occupied myself with work as I waited. I’d decided on not calling for a replacement secretary just yet, it was actually part of the plan. Marianne hadn't stopped by my office ever since that one day, but I didn’t need her to come back again.

  Everything took some time. Over an hour later, there was a notification on my computer from security. Marianne was finally back in her office. More than that, she was accessing her computer, and the activity was somewhat abnormal. I had them keep track of it all.

  I got a call from Julius. “I just got the news.”

  “Yeah. Whatever she’s doing right now, as long as she implicates herself somehow, we’re in the clear. I don’t know what files she’s accessing. We might have to wait until she’s done to know. But just in case, talk to the IT department would you?”

  “Of course. I’ll get right on it.”

  We got off the phone, and I leaned back in my chair. I was no longer in the mood to work, so all I could do was wait to see the results of our little exercise. I at least hoped I would have something to give to Jasmine.

  She wasn’t far from my mind, but I knew she wasn’t happy with me currently, either. Hopefully, getting her in the clear with the feds would be enough to earn me her forgiveness.

  Chapter 17

  Jasmine

  I was lying in my bed trying to read a book when I got a call early Thursday morning. After my weekend in jail, I’d pretty much holed myself up in my home. My friends visited me on Monday after I was let out and spent the night, but they had their own lives.

  I, on the other hand, might not even have a job left.

  When my cell rang and I saw that it was Gabe, I didn’t know whether to pick it up or not.

  A part of me wanted to still be mad at him. And not just because he’d completely dismissed me in front of another woman. I got arrested thanks to whatever shit was going on with him, his dadand the company. I was pretty sure the fact that I was a secretary to both didn’t help my case.

  Still, the man was my boss until I either quit or got fired. So I took a deep breath and answered the call.

  “Hey, Jasmine.”

  His chuckle came across the line, and I bit my lip as the sound went through my body, heating it up. I closed my eyes and dropped my book on the bed next to me. I was tempted to throw a tantrum because it was so unfair that was all it took for my body to react to the man when I was still mad at him.

  “What,” I snapped, just to get the sound to stop.

  “Jasmine, is that any way to talk to someone when they call you?”

  His tone made me pause and narrow my eyes as I went on the alert. For some reason, Gabe was in a good mood, enough that he was ignoring my rude behavior. Then my heart started beating a little fast. If he was calling me, then did the news have something to do with me?

  “Tell me what happened,” I got out in a rush, my back straightening out as my free hand curled against my thigh. “Something did happen, right?”

  “Oh, yes, something did happen.” He paused to laugh. “It’s good news, so don’t sound so anxious. The charges against you…”

  His voice trailed off, and I knew he was doing it on purpose to keep me in suspense. There was hope growing in my chest and dread pooling in my belly. I was about to snap at him when he finished.

  “They were dropped.”

  At his words, all the air whooshed out of my chest. I was left sitting slumped on my bed. I could barely take it in, the breath hitching in my throat as I brought a hand up to my mouth.

  “The charges were dropped,” I repeated, voice quiet. “So I won’t…”

  “You won’t be bothered again, by the police or the Feds, anybody. If you want, I could go to the officers that arrested you and ask them to deliver a formal apology. I could even bring my lawyer along.”

  I huffed a quiet laugh, pressing the back of my hand to my mouth as I blinked the tears out of my eyes. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment how much I’d still be worried. If the police had decided to pursue me as a suspect…

  “Thank you,” I whispered, the sound wet with the tears I was trying to hold back. “Thank you so much, Gabe.”

  He hummed. “You don’t have to thank me, though. See, the authorities finally did their job right.”

  I rubbed my hand over my eyes. “Meaning?”

  “I mean, Jasmine, the real culprit was caught. There’s enough damning evidence that there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about this, so every other suspect is in the clear unless she says something.”

  “Her?” I murmured, distracted.

  “Forget about that,” he said quickly. “I wanted to ask if you’ll be coming in for work today.”

  I pursed my lips. “Gabe, I was still locked up in jail for a little over two days.”

  “And you’ve had two days to relax,” he countered. “Don’t worry; you won’t be doing any heavy duty work today. I’d just really like for you to come in.”

  His voice went soft at the end there and it was doing funny things to my insides, different from what his laugh did. When he spoke like that, it made me melt and want to be agreeable. I hadn't forgiven him yet, but if he asked me to in that tone, I would probably do it in an instant.

  Still, I chewed on my lip, hesitating. “Didn’t you have someone replace me for the days I wasn’t there?”

  “Well,” he said slowly. “There wasn’t as much to get done, for one, and then once the FBI came, I had to stop work and cooperate with them. Hopefully, operations won’t be shut dow
n as long as the last time, but yeah. It’s only going to be some basic work for a few days. It’ll be even more boring,” he added with a laugh.

  I felt my lip twitch into a smile. “All right,” I conceded. “I’m coming in. Hope I’m not too late for you, boss,” I teased.

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ll forgive you just this once. Oh, and feel free to use a taxi instead of taking the train. I’ll reimburse you on your next pay check.”

  I grinned at that. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  Once I cut off the call and got moving, I was a lot more excited than I’d expected to be. Although, just about anything would be better than staying cooped up at home because I was too afraid to head outside. To not have the threat of getting arrested hanging over me was incredibly freeing.

  I rushed to take a shower and get dressed. When I picked up my purse and shoes, I was out the door maybe fifteen minutes after I got the call. I took a taxi as he’d said and I was at the building in another twenty minutes with light traffic.

  Going up the elevator left me a bit nervous. Gabe and I hadn't talked, but I had decided that we needed to. But then the elevator stopped and the doors opened and I froze.

  There were a bunch of people on the floor when usually not ten people at a time were ever up there. Then, for whatever reason, as I stepped out of the elevator and people started to catch sight of me, they began clapping. They were all smiling at me and I didn’t know why.

  Then, through the crowd of people came Gabe, having to push his way through. Out of politeness, attention was diverted away from us. I was just thankful it stopped the clapping. But they weren’t making moves to leave the floor, either, so I was still confused.

  “Gabe, what the fuck is going on?” I whispered once he was close enough. “What is everyone doing here, and what’s with the fucking attitude?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, as if he’d only just noticed the crowd, and turned back to me with a lop sided grin.

  “Everyone was in the mood to celebrate, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them no.”

  “Uh,” I said, frowning. “You could have just given them the day off? Told them to stay at home?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Jasmine, it’s not like I forced anyone to come in, and I have tried to get them to leave. But, as miraculous as it seems, not everyone detests their job.”

  I scowled. “I never said anything about hating my job,” I said, giving him a pointed look.

  That had his good mood dimming just a little as his expression grew serious.

  “I do know, Jasmine. You made it pretty clear on several occasions. But I really…” his brow furrowed as he struggled a little. “That’s why I wanted to see you so badly, so you and I can talk.” He gave a small, sideways smirk. “Or, you know, we could have a meeting in my office.”

  I looked around at the crowded floor. “Can I even find a way through in all this chaos?”

  “It’s fine,” he said, placing a hand on my lower back. I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. I looked up, confused by the small smile he was giving me. “It doesn’t have to be right now. Come on. There are some people here that want to congratulate you on being in the clear.”

  Chapter 18

  Gabe

  After making rounds and shaking hands with more people than I could count, Jasmine and I finally made it to my office. I didn’t miss her sigh of relief as I closed the door behind us. As much as I was letting them have a party on my floor, there were restrictions, so we barely heard the noise from outside.

  “Please, take a seat,” I said, my stance stiff and my tone professional, as I gestured her over to the table.

  I grimaced and cursed myself for my awkwardness.

  “Is this anything official to do with work?” she asked slowly. “Because , if so, maybe moving to the desk would be appropriate.”

  “No,” I said, almost too quickly, before I could stop myself. Then I cleared my throat and forced my body to relax. “Well, it is partially business related, but you and I do need to talk and I don’t want it to be as boss and employee.”

  She sent me a curious look, one eyebrow arched inquisitively, but she did cross the room to take a chair at the table. I moved and took a seat opposite her. I sat stiffly, placing my hands on my thighs and sitting with my back straight. Jasmine looked as unsure of herself as I felt, fidgeting, plucking at her skirt with her fingers, then pushing her hair behind her ear, then clasping her hands only to unclasp them a second later so they could fidget some more.

  After a moment, I sighed, frowning to myself as I looked down at the table.

  “Okay. I think we can probably agree that we’re acting ridiculous right now.”

  I glanced up at Jasmine to see I had her full attention.

  “You’re right,” she said slowly. “We do need to talk, so you might as well start.”

  I grimaced at the prompt, even knowing she was right. I had to be the one to go first.

  “All right,” I said, slapping a hand down on my thigh. She jumped a little at the noise my action made, but I pretended not to notice. “First of all, the issue of your job. I was looking through the company’s policy, and…”

  She frowned when I didn’t complete my sentence. “And what?” she asked, impatient. “I’m not in the mood for playing games here, Gabe.”

  “It’s not a game,” I countered. “And I plan to talk. I just don’t know how to explain it properly...”

  “It’s bad news,” she guessed, her shoulders slumping as she loosely clasped her fingers in her lap.

  “Yeah,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “The moment you were arrested, you technically already lost your position at the company.”

  Her eyes widened as she sputtered. “B-but that wasn’t—wasn’t I cleared—”

  I held up a hand to stop her disjointed flow of words. “I went through all the regulations, and it’s solid. I suppose it was put in place to protect the company’s image. I mean, my dad had to leave his position behind the second he was targeted by the FBI. Just because he was the CEO and you the secretary, doesn’t change anything.”

  Jasmine’s eyes grew shiny and I watched as she blinked away her tears. She looked down at her lap, but only for a moment, before she was raising her head again. She rolled her shoulders back and looked at me with her chin raised, expression determined.

  “So, what happens now?”

  I was impressed and I let her see it in my expression.

  “What happens now is… I apologize to you.” A small furrow appeared on her brow that probably meant she was confused. Or annoyed, or both. “The thing is, with you cleared of all charges and it's clear that you were framed, then I could give you your old job back. If you want it?”

  Immediately, her eyes opened wide and she leaned forward eagerly. I hated to break her heart, but I wouldn’t lie, either.

  “Don’t get too excited so quickly. I said I could, not that I was going to. You might not realize it, but Jasmine, there is no fucking way you and I could work together again.

  She scowled, still looking a bit confused, but she obviously got that I wasn’t lending her a hand to get her job back.

  “What exactly do you mean by we can't work together?” she asked, voice arched.

  I half sighed, half chuckled. “Jasmine, no offense, but you are a terrible secretary. That’s probably part my dad’s fault. He did tell me a little about how the two of you worked. Then you’ve only been with me for a few weeks and you can't say we acted entirely professional at all times.”

  She opened her mouth, only to snap it closed again and frown because she knew it was true. It wasn’t just us fucking in the office. She pursed her lips.

  “I mean,” she started. “I know I was lazy to begin with. I just didn’t work a lot when I was with your dad. And I might have been rude… sometimes…”

  I barked a laugh, louder this time. “It was more than just sometimes, Jasmine. Had it been anyone else, you do realize you wouldn�
�t have stayed employed for as long as you did?”

  She folded her arms under her breasts as she glared at me. “I wasn’t even trying at times, because my boss can be such an ass.”

  I chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that…”

  After a moment of keeping up the defensive stance, her body softened. Her hands dropped to her lap, her glare turning into a frown of worry.

  “So, just like that, I’m out of a job. What am I supposed to do now?”

  I shifted in my seat and smoothed a hand down my lapel as I grew nervous once more. “Well, I have some news for you,” I started tentatively. “Depending on how you look at it, it’s great news.”

  She looked up at me, eyes narrowing. I couldn’t stop fidgeting, and she must have read something in my behavior that had her on guard again, her fingers clenching tighter together.

  “Did something happen?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing happened, Jasmine. Everything’s all good. But since you lost your job on short notice, you are owed a severance package.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh. I hadn't even thought about that.”

  “I’m not surprised you didn’t. You were under a lot of stress.” I rubbed my suddenly sweaty palms on my thighs. “But see, because of your position and the work you’ve done, not to mention all the shit that both my father and I have put you through, is the reason why I won’t get your job back for you.”

  She nodded her head frantically, leaning forward, eager to hear what I had to say. I took a deep breath.

  “Do you remember that evening we went out to dinner and you told me your dream was to open a bakery?” She looked confused, but she nodded. “Well, I did some research, and with the big package you’ll be receiving, it’ll be enough for you to realize your dream.”

  Jasmine sat so still for a moment, she didn’t even blink, and I wondered if she’d even heard me. I opened my mouth to call her name, only to be interrupted as she took in a sharp breath and leaned back into her seat.