Power: Power Series #1

by Victoria Woods

  A slow, mischievous smile spread to his lips. God, he was even more handsome when he smiled, even if it was devious in nature. How is that possible?

  “Now that we’ve had our playtime, let’s get to work. Come with me.” He held the door open for me, allowing me to walk ahead of him.

  He put his hands in his pockets again as we walked in silence down the hall. He obviously wasn’t much of a talker. It worked for me because I was generally shy with strangers. Is he a stranger, though? I had just tasted him with my tongue and felt his length against my body.

  We walked past the bank of elevators that Jessica and I had used earlier, arriving instead at another elevator bank with only one elevator. Shyam scanned his keycard on the scanner and ushered me inside. My intuition told me to turn and run away. But I didn’t listen.

  Inside the elevator, there was only one button, marked with a “B.” B for Basement? This elevator had only one destination—deep down under this world of well-dressed employees and marble floors. Once I descended, would I ever return?

  He pressed the button and stepped back in line with me in the elevator car. As if knowing my trepidation, Shyam eyed me silently from his periphery as we descended. Maybe he felt guilty for plunging me into whatever darkness I was about to experience. Or maybe he didn’t feel any guilt at all. Maybe he enjoyed pulling me under with him.

  The doors opened, and this time, Shyam exited first. He forwent all manners he had shown me previously in the world above and guided me into this world.

  The “basement” looked nothing like the rest of the building. It was unpolished and bare. Paint chipped off the walls, and the floors were made of unfinished cement. A long hallway extended from the elevator, with no doors or windows in sight. There was no natural light like there had been on the top floor of the building. No floor-to-ceiling windows with expensive light fixtures. Instead, bare bulbs hung from the ceiling in between exposed pipes.

  Shyam was already midway down the hall when he turned and noticed I wasn’t following him. My brain was screaming at me to turn around and never come back. Whatever was down here wasn’t something that I should involve myself with. Instead, I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked slowly toward my guide for protection. I couldn’t explain the safety I felt when I was close to him, especially when he was most likely the devil, and this was probably his playground.

  We walked to the end of the stark hallway and turned a quick left, stopping at a door just past the corner. There were no windows around it, so I couldn’t tell what was inside. There was a scanner beside the door, but it was much higher than the others I had seen in the rest of the building, and a lot bigger. Shyam took my hand and pulled me closer to him, then lifted my hair and pulled it back from my face. The back of my neck tickled in anticipation as he moved behind me, holding my hair firmly in one hand. I was sure he could see the goosebumps that spread over my skin. He gently pushed my chin forward with his other hand until my eyes were in front of the device. I rose on my tip-toes to reach it better. A retina scanner.

  This must have been why I’d had to take an eye exam during my HR orientation. I had been told that they were just taking photos of my eyes to test for vision problems. It had seemed weird, but I’d figured these big companies were just extra careful when it came to workplace liabilities. In actuality, they had scanned my retina for access to the labs. I felt stupid for not questioning it more at the time.

  The scanner beeped in approval and a click sounded. Shyam opened the door and stepped through, with me behind him.

  Motion-sensing lights flicked on as we entered the room. Three rows of computers, each with dual screens, filled the entirely white room. No one else was inside but us. It surely was a computer lab. But why does it need to be in a basement so far from employee use? And why is no one else using it?

  Shyam pulled out a chair in front of one of the computer stations and motioned for me to sit. He hovered behind me and lifted my index finger to a fingerprint scanner next to the keyboard. Why all these security measures? Suddenly, the left monitor lit up with a white outline of the world map. Little white dots freckled the map and moved jerkily, like video-game characters on the move. The right monitor projected tables of data—data linked to each one of the moving dots. It was biographic data about people. They were tracking people!

  Astonished, I stared at the moving dots while the tables of data updated automatically. “What is this?” I whispered, unsure of who I was talking to—Shyam or myself.

  “Tracking data for anyone of interest to my company,” he answered my hanging question.

  “Like owners of new startups?” I asked, hoping the answer would be something benign, even though I knew better. It was common for tech companies to collect private data from users, but what they did with that information was another story.

  “Anyone who is involved with buying our product,” he corrected.

  He read the confusion that was etched onto my face and continued, “Drugs, Amelia jaan.” Dear.

  My heart slammed against my chest. The rumors were true. Shyam and Jai really were drug dealers. And this data was being used for something bad. Very bad.

  “Is this why you bought IP Innovations? For our tracking software?” It was all starting to make sense to me.

  “Yes,” he answered bluntly.

  I swallowed hard against the bile in my throat. “Why do you need me if you already have the software?”

  “I am using it to find information about a specific person.” He had answered all my questions so far, but I got the sense he was holding back, only offering answers to what I asked. Nothing more.

  Don’t ask. Curiosity got the best of me. “Who?”

  “I will never lie to you when you ask me a question, so be careful of the things you wish to know.” His warning lingered over me like a dark cloud cautioning of a tumultuous storm. “Do you still want to know?”

  Did I? Could I still get out of the underworld? I didn’t have to know his answer. I signed an NDA during the acquisition and legally couldn’t discuss anything I knew about the software, including this, with anyone. I could go back home to Seattle and pretend none of this had ever happened.

  When I didn’t respond, he continued, “A competitor and my biggest enemy.”

  “Another drug dealer?” I already knew what he was going to say.

  “Yes.”

  Dread filled my gut. “Why do you need information on him?”

  “He betrayed an alliance set by our families generations ago. There are boundaries in this business, and he disobeyed them.”

  “Where does he live?” I couldn’t stop myself from finding out more.

  “India. I don’t have an exact location yet. His base is in Bengal, but he has been in hiding.” Shyam sighed, letting out some of the frustration he seemed to be holding in.

  “And you need the tracking software to find him?” Our software would be useful for tracking down someone of color.

  “He is the only person in this network that I do not have useful data on.” He tensed up, clenching his jaw.

  “Why?” I found that perplexing. It was rare that anyone could evade tracking software. Every app collected some sort of data on a user. The only way someone could avoid having their data collected was for them to essentially live off the grid and not engage in any modern technology. No cellphone. No computers. No credit cards.

  “He has an IT team of his own to block any tracking software we’ve implemented to collect data on him. It’s almost like he doesn’t exist.”

  “And if you had facial-recognition software that was unaffected by cloaking, then you could accurately track him?” I was finally understanding Shyam’s need for our software, and why he needed it so quickly.

  He stroked a finger along the side of my cheek. I closed my eyes, savoring the contact, drunk off his touch. “The software your team created would fill the void that my current software has. By combining the two, I can locate him. You have working knowledg
e of the facial-recognition component, and I need you to use your anti-cloaking feature to find Tarun.”

  His name is Tarun? Knowing the name of Shyam’s adversary made it even more personal.

  “Jessica mentioned this lab. Do all of your employees know it exists?” I couldn’t imagine why he’d let other people know about this lab or what his “night job” was.

  “We do have other labs in the building used strictly for Sethi Tech development—that is, what our employees think Sethi Tech development is. Our employees have no idea about our drugs and our network. This lab is only used by Jai, our men who aid us in moving our product, and myself. Only a select handful of people know of it or have access to it. Jessica doesn’t know what it is used for. As for the location, the lab is most secure in the basement, where hackers are unable to fish for our internet signal and break into our system. We can work in privacy down here without worrying about prying eyes, both in the real world and the virtual world.”

  “What will you do when you find him?” I regretted asking as soon as the words flew out of my mouth. He was a criminal. I didn’t have to be one to know how they treated their enemies.

  He stood up straight behind me. The loss of his warmth was almost painful; up until now, it had kept me steady and grounded. “I think that’s a question that you don’t really want answered,” he said.

  I changed my line of questioning, afraid of what he might say if I pressed him. I turned my face to look up at him. “What if I don’t want to help you?”

  His hazel eyes fixed on mine. “Then you can sever all ties with Sethi Tech.”

  I can leave? That would mean I would have to cut ties with Shyam too. “How do you know I won’t report you to the police?”

  “You signed an NDA. Legally, you cannot discuss the software, or anything you have seen or heard at Sethi Tech, with anyone. And the police would never dare get in our way.”

  Of course, he had the cops in his pocket. He owned the biggest tech company in America. He had enough money to buy the entire police force if he wanted to.

  “Why can’t you just have Jai do all of this?” Jai was a tech genius and his most trusted confidant, since he was blood, so it would be more fitting for his brother to tailor the facial-recognition software.

  “He’s a brilliant programmer like you, but he didn’t build this program. You did.” I blushed at his compliment. One minute, he was telling me he was an international drug dealer, and in the next, he was making me feel like a blushing schoolgirl.

  “Are you prepared to help me?” His eyes were dark and intense.

  I still had so many questions. My mind was racing, and I was no longer capable of putting together coherent streams of thought. I couldn’t decide right now. Logically, I should leave this company and run far from this man. But a pit formed in my stomach at the thought of never seeing him again.

  I exhaled before responding. “I need time.”

  XIII. Amelia

  After Shyam’s revelation in the lab, I desired space to think. Shyam didn’t say much after I told him I couldn’t decide immediately, though he seemed withdrawn. The wall that had slowly been crumbling, brick by brick every time we were together, was fully erected again. He said I could take the rest of the week off and give him my answer by the weekend—spoken like a true boss and not someone who was attracted to me.

  I spent my time off mindlessly coding for random projects that I had started in the past but never had a chance to finish because I was always busy with work. Every so often, Shyam’s face would burn my mind as I coded. I could feel his commanding touch on my skin. I could taste his lips on mine. In the short time that I had known him, he had gained total control of my body in a way I hadn’t known a man could. We hadn’t even had sex yet, but I felt like he knew me so intimately. My heart felt heavy every time I thought about walking away from this beautifully intense man.

  I should quit. I knew it was the right decision. But it felt wrong to consider it. I was green in my career, but I knew I could pave my way in this world of men if given the chance. I just needed to play my cards right.

  I thought working for Sethi Tech would fast-track my path to becoming a Senior Developer. But how could I be an honest programmer while working for a company that ultimately made dirty money? What if I got caught by authorities for my role at Sethi Tech? I would become a casualty and land myself in federal prison for aiding drug dealers. Plus, the government wasn’t too keen on civilians using facial-recognition software for tracking people down. I knew Shyam had said he controlled the police, but little people like me were usually thrown to the wolves to protect the guys running the operation. I really didn’t know him that well. How could I trust that he wouldn’t turn me in to save his skin if he ever needed to? A part of me knew that I could trust him, but how could I be completely certain?

  I was a logical person by nature. It was how a developer’s brain worked. My thoughts were usually based in “cause and effect”—if I participated in illegal acts, then I would probably get arrested. If I stayed at Sethi Tech, and didn’t get caught by the police, I could move up in the tech world.

  This was the first time my emotions had gotten in the way of making a decision. I wasn’t used to this feeling, having my heart rule my head. It was stupid. We weren’t even in a relationship. I shouldn’t base my decision on something uncertain.

  All these thoughts did nothing to alleviate the ache I felt when I thought about handing in my resignation and leaving Shyam for good. I wanted to see more of him. I wanted to feel him. He was the only man who could turn me on just by being in the same room. I had never felt this attraction with another man before Shyam.

  My phone buzzed, pulling me out of the dizzying spiral of thoughts that had sucked me under.

  Hey, hotshot! Remember me?! Come out with me tonight! Unless you’re too busy with your fancy new job!

  Natalie. I had forgotten that we had talked about meeting up. I had never gotten back to her to set a date, but I didn’t feel like going out tonight.

  I’m so sorry! I completely forgot to text back. Actually, I’m not feeling up to going out. Probably just going to call it an early night.

  My phone lit up with a call. Shit. She was persistent.

  I answered, knowing she was calling to harass me. “Hey.”

  “Don’t ‘hey’ me, you bore. First, you don’t text me back, and then you try to weasel out of going out with me?” she demanded in her larger-than-life voice. I missed her personality in my life.

  “I just feel like staying in tonight. It’s been a long week.” Too long.

  “Mel, what’s wrong?” she asked. “You sound depressed.”

  “Just stuff with the new job.” I didn’t want to get into details over the phone.

  “Uh-oh. Those Sethi brothers treating you like shit? Do I need to show up at that office and straighten them out?” Natalie and I weren’t related, but she always treated me like her little sister. It was a nice feeling, since I didn’t have any siblings of my own.

  I debated how much I should share with her. I definitely wouldn’t tell her about the drug-dealing stuff, but I could share the hooking-up part. Shyam wasn’t her boss, so it was okay to confide in her, right? Plus, this stuff was just festering inside me. It would be helpful to vent. “Um, not really. Well, just one brother, I suppose.”

  “Let me guess. The one who had eyes for you at Nirvana?”

  She had noticed and never even harassed me about it? “Maybe. How did you know?”

  “Are you serious? That man looked like he was ready to throw you down on a table and fuck you in front of the entire club.” The image made me squeeze my thighs together to alleviate the ache.

  “Hello? Earth to Mel?” Oops. I must have taken too long to respond while envisioning Shyam on top of me.

  “Hmmm, yeah, I’m here.” It was clear through my voice that I was distracted.

  “OMG, you fucked him already?! And you didn’t tell me?” She was practically yelling
at me over the phone.

  “What? No! I mean…Not really.” Just made out with lots of tongue and humped. Oh yeah, and finger-fucking.

  “Not really? Yeah, your ass is coming to the bar with me. I need details, now! I’ll stop by in an hour to pick you up.”

  I didn’t want to go, but I supposed I could use some girl talk and alcohol right now. Drinking alone at home just sounded sad.

  I gave in. “Okay, fine. You won again at wearing me down.”

  “I always do, babe! See you soon!” she said before hanging up.

  *******

  “Oh my God!” Nat sat at the bar, wide-eyed with disbelief at my soap opera of a situation. I had spared her all the illegal details. It was safer for her if she were truly oblivious to Shyam’s criminal dealings. I also hadn’t shared my thoughts about leaving Sethi Tech, because she’d have pressed me for a reason for wanting to.