The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 80

The next morning Kat awoke to more brightness than she expected, the usual early morning light as glaring as the windows of the basement unit would allow.

Kat blinked and stretched, a hint of a flush rising to her ears once she realized her muscles were sore from the previous night's exertions. Remembering the cryptic conversation she'd had with Andy the night before, Kat popped up suddenly, craning her neck to make sure no one was there. She was completely alone.

She sat back on the bunk, allowing her head to drop into her hands. She had no idea how Andy was thinking or feeling, no idea what they were going to do to adjust the plan to make it feasible after her discovery in Thomas's office. She didn't even know what her near future would look like, if she would be going back to work or not. She doubted it, doubted it very severely.

Despite what Andy had said, despite what she had insisted she didn't need or want to know, she had to have been aware of where Kat was that night, why'd she'd come home at that hour. Andy would never let her go back there. She'd been clear that yesterday was Kat's last day, and that was before she'd been presented with a mountain of evidence that Kat and Jove were sleeping together, evidence that Kat herself had inadvertently provided.

Kat sighed then stood, heading for the bathroom to get ready for the day. She swung open the door, expecting quiet, and startled when the other 5 members of FES turned to her, alerted to her entrance into the room by the sound of the door.

"You're up," said Andy. "Just in time."

Brent nodded.

"Andy told us about the badge stuff, that the first plan isn't going to work."

Kat, unable to look Andy in the face, focused on Brent instead, nodding herself now.

"So we're coming up with a new plan," he finished.

"Came up with," Emma corrected, tucked so closely under Conner's arm she was nearly sitting in his lap. "Andy already thought of something good."

"What?" Kat asked Emma, still unable to look Andy in the eye.

Emma looked over at Andy.

"You explain it."

"I say we try and hack his computer," said Andy simply. "Infiltrate his stuff. I think that's the best way to get some leverage on him, then we move from there."

Kat nodded, confused. Blackmail? Their whole goal had been to avoid major crimes and blackmail didn't fit that bill, a serious illegality made more serious by the hundreds of millions of dollars involved.

"I think because he's had you writing that speech, he trusts you a little bit," said Andy pointedly, staring directly at Kat. "And we're gonna exploit that trust."

Kat continued to nod, a lump rising in her throat.

"So you're going back to work," Andy continued. "And you're going to finish writing his speech. And then, you're going to risk your life to protect him and earn his trust even more."

"I," Kat stammered. "What?"

"All that work we did on the first plan," Brent jumped in, eager to explain. "It's not gonna go to waste. We're still gonna use the guard-free windows of time you worked out and we're still gonna use the flashbang, but we're gonna use it on him."

The lump in Kat's throat grew, making breathing more laborious.

"On him?" she asked.

"The day of the speech. You can plan to be with him, I mean, you wrote it, and it'll all happen in the auditorium corridor afterwards."

Kat's heart began to race, realizing Andy knew just as much about Tillibenton as she did, had studied the handbook notes for as long, had memorized the schematics just as thoroughly. Andy was the reason the group was aware of the auditorium or the hallway outside of it, and for some reason that terrified Kat to her core.

"Conner is gonna enter through the fire exit like we planned, he's gonna plant the flashbang in the hallway, and you plan to be with Tillibenton when he leaves," said Andy, her eyes still on Kat as they had been since she'd entered the small living room. "The flashbang is gonna go off, you'll be the only one who knows it's not dangerous, and you'll throw yourself on top of him, really make a big show of it, like you'd die for him."

Andy's voice had a hard edge to it that made Kat's knees weak and Kat still couldn't bring herself to meet her eyes, to allow her any insight into what Kat was thinking, how she was feeling.

Kat nodded, the only response she trusted herself enough to attempt in the moment.

"Is the speech still next Friday?" Andy asked.

Kat winced, wishing she'd never told Andy the anticipated day of the board meeting but unwilling to lie after what happened last night.

"Yea," she confirmed quietly.

"Then we wait till next Friday. You keep going in, try to get close to him, try to get him to trust you."

Kat finally allowed herself a peek at Andy's face, wracking her mind for what game Andy could possibly be playing. If she knew what was going on, if she knew that Kat and Jove had gotten caught up with one another, why was she encouraging it in any way? Why didn't she want Kat confined at home in the den, unable to betray them because she was unable to see him?

Andy shot her a small smile, the last thing Kat was expecting, and pointed to the bathroom door.

"You better go get ready," she warned. "It's really late, it's almost 12."

Kat, still discombobulated and confused, walked through the center of the room, all eyes on her.

She was going back. She was going back to Jove, and she was allowed to enjoy it this time. The sudden turn of events, of her fortunes, made absolutely no sense, but Kat was unwilling to look the blessing in the mouth, unwilling to inspect it for the barbed rows of teeth she was worried lay within.