To Trap a Billionaire

Twelve.

The next morning, I was up before Arlo. I busied myself making breakfast. I figured it was the least I could do after everything. I made egg whites, turkey bacon, and wheat toast. I wasn't a health nut or anything, far from it actually, but I knew Arlo was. I was smearing the strawberry jam on the toast when I heard Arlo coming down the stairs. He kissed my cheek from behind me as he looked at my work.

"What's all this?" he asked.

"Breakfast. Good morning," I answered with a light smile as I turned my head to look at him.

"Morning," he chuckled before he pecked my lips gently. He moved to sit as the bar as I put a plate in front of him. "Healthy," he said raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Sorry, if you don't like it, I can-"

"No!" he stopped me quickly. "I actually prefer it, I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't take you for the health conscious type," he explained. I shrugged.

"I don't eat much junk food, but I'm not measuring out carbs either," I said before taking a bite of my eggs.

"Well, it's delicious, thank you," he said before he continued eating. I moved my plate to the seat next to his and ate my food quietly. When he finished, he let out a breath and hopped down only to kiss my cheek again.

"Thank you for breakfast," he said gently. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself today? I can plan something for you. What do you want to do today?" he asked. I chuckled and took my plate and his to the sink.

"I'll be fine on my own," I tried to assure him. "I want to run some numbers anyway. Probably do inventory on my things also to see if I need to go back for anything," I added. His arms wrapped around my waist from behind as I turned the water on in the kitchen sink.

"I don't want to leave you," he admitted.

"I'll be fine... plus, you have a signing meeting today with 5 of your top shareholders. Today is not the day to play hookie," I reminded him. He chuckled.

"Tomorrow then," he said with a playful smile. I chuckled and pushed him back gently.

"Go get dressed. You're about to be late," I said, changing the subject. He kissed my cheek again before going back upstairs. I put the dishes in the sink to soak and went to grab my laptop. I went back to the living room and sat on the couch. It was only a few minutes before Arlo was rushing back down the stairs.

"Wifi passcode?" I asked as he kissed my cheek.

"I'll send it in the car. I'll come back at lunch. Have a good day. Call me if you need anything," he said in a rush as he hurried out the door. I chuckled and shook my head at him. He was so cute. A couple moments later, my phones lit up with the passcode. I couldn't help the light smile that made it's way to my face. I typed it in before going to grab my scrambler box. It scrambled my IP address and didn't allow anything to be traced back to me or my location. I used it when I was doing something illegal, and that's exactly what I was about to do. Once the signal was properly scrambled, I logged into Arlo's company through a backdoor in their firewall and pulled up the security footage. Even though I wasn't going, I still had a mark to run and I had to know what was going on to still be useful.

I watched and just managed to catch him going into the building. He greeted the temp, went to the elevator, then reappeared on the top floor. I watched as he poured over his files studying. He stared at the phone every now and then until he finally picked it up and dialed. I wasn't even surprised when my phone rang. I smiled a little to myself as I answered it.

"Hello," I answered.

"I'm in my office," he said. I chuckled and sat back against the couch, watching the footage.

"I figured as much," I answered. He hesitated. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Just... looking over some notes for today... I underestimated how much I needed you here," he chuckled.

"You were running a company way before I came along," I joked.

"Not as effectively," he countered.

"You'll be fine," I chuckled. I heard a beep before mumbling from his intercom.

"That's me. I'll see you at lunch, we can go wherever you want," he promised.

"Really, I'll be okay; go... and don't forget to hint at the new tech but don't give it away fully," I reminded him. He hesitated and I knew what he wanted to say, but he didn't say it.

"Okay, I'll be home for lunch. Bye Lyra," he said before he hung up. I tapped into the intercom in the conference room where the shareholders were waiting. Arlo let his office and went a bit hesitantly to the conference room. I listened in and watched their faces. Arlo was distracted, and they could tell. They were listening but only partially. He needed me. After an hour, the meeting ended and the shareholders left. By the look on Arlo's face, he knew he messed up. He went to his office and took a few calls before he pulled his suit jacket off of the back of the chair and stood.

Just as he started heading for the door, Gwendolyn walked in taking both of us by surprise. I turned on the intercom in the office and zoomed in on the two of them. She looked satisfied with herself.

"I see your pet project has disappeared," she said smugly. I couldn't help but to roll my eyes. If only she knew where I actually was right now.