I walked down the hall, stopping at Sandy’s desk. She studied me with a serious expression.
“Should I be scared?” I asked, trying to get her to smile. It didn’t work.
“You took a big risk.”
“It was one I had to take.” I drew in a big breath. “How angry is he?”
“Enough you should be prepared.”
“Even though it all worked out?”
She shook her head. “That isn’t the point, Reid.”
“I know.” I met her eyes. “I had to, Sandy. I had no choice.”
Her gaze softened. “I know. But there are consequences to our actions, even if they are done with good intentions.”
“Okay.” I squared my shoulders. “I’ll go in and take it.”
She squeezed my hand. “Good luck.”
I knocked before stepping into Bentley’s office. All three of them were there, their faces grave. I swallowed at the sudden thickness in my throat, wondering if I was as prepared for this as I thought a few minutes ago.
I sat down in front of Bentley’s desk. He studied me for a moment.
“You had a busy weekend.” His tone was cold.
I shifted in my chair, uncomfortable. “Yeah.”
“If your plan had gone awry and you’d been detected, a multitude of problems would have arisen. The implications of all of them disastrous. If you’d been caught, you’d be back in jail.”
“But that didn’t happen. I was careful.”
He carried on as if I hadn’t spoken. “You would have ruined your life, embarrassed the company, and ended up in the one place you swore you would never go back to.”
“I had to do it, Bentley. I know how these hackers work. By the time the bank got to it, they’d have sold Becca’s information and debts would have been racking up against her. It would have taken years for it to all get sorted! I knew I could shut it down. I had to do it.”
“That wasn’t your concern.”
I reared back, shocked. “What? How the fuck can you say that?”
“Reid,” Aiden admonished.
I ignored him.
“Not my concern? Becca is my concern!”
“Your concern should have been your prison record and staying clean. What were you thinking? If you’d been caught, Reid, I don’t know if we could have helped you!”
“I wasn’t caught, and I knew I wouldn’t be. I took the necessary precautions—extra, even. Technically, nothing I did was illegal. I didn’t touch the bank’s site. I only used it for a reference point. I went directly after the people causing the issue. I shut them down. Nothing I did can be traced back to me, BAM, or The Gavin Group.”
Bentley ran a hand through his hair and glared at me. “You were still hacking. As for The Gavin Group, that’s another thing. Involving a business associate. I’m not happy about your doing that.”
“Richard gave me permission. He said he spoke to Graham.” I huffed, my anger starting to build. “At least he trusted me to know I wouldn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to.”
Bentley leaned on his fists, fury rolling off him. “What you were supposed to do was let the bank and their people handle it. You can’t break the law every time it suits you, Reid. This needs to stop.”
It hit me. The whole maelstrom of emotions from the weekend. Too much had happened, and I was done with reacting calmly to it. I was furious, the words out before I could stop them, my voice louder and more abrupt than I had ever used when speaking to my boss.
“So, what are the rules, then, Bentley? I can break the law, use my talents, when it suits you? The company? It was fine when you needed my help to find your girlfriend. Or when Maddox needed my skills to stop his past from ruining your company. Let’s not forget how thrilled you were when the system I built brought the company accolades, or the reports I created made you all look good with your new business partners.” By the end of my speech, I was almost snarling in anger. “So it’s fine to bend the law for you or Aiden or Maddox? But not for the woman I love? Not without your permission?”
The room was silent. All of them stared at me in shock.
“Screw that. You’re angry with me? Fine. Fire me. But I don’t regret it. I will do whatever it takes when it comes to Becca. What I did not only helped her, but some other people who were caught in this fraud ring. The information I sent to the police will help the bank and the fraud squad stop these criminals, and the only thing I feel is relief I was able to help. For your information, I knew the risks and I was prepared for those consequences.” I stood so fast my chair toppled over. “But I wasn’t prepared for this bullshit. I thought, of all the people who knew about it, you three would understand and support me. Obviously, I was wrong.”
I turned toward the door. “I’ll be in my office. If you want me out of here, let me know, and I can be gone in an hour. You won’t have to worry about me embarrassing your company again.”
I stormed down the hall, ignoring Sandy and headed to my office. I shut my door hard enough the hinges rattled and headed to my desk. Dropping into my chair, I held my head, cursing myself.
What had I done?
I’d yelled at my boss who had the right to be angry with me. Basically, I told him to fire me. I pulled on my neck muscles. I had let my temper get the best of me. I reacted instead of thinking, the exact way Rodney used to warn me against doing.
I was an idiot.
I glanced around, sadness and regret replacing the anger. It wouldn’t take me long to clean out my office. I knew there were some filing boxes in the cupboard, and I dug around to find them. I set them on the sofa, but I sat down again, unable to start the process of transferring my things into the containers. They had just given me a condo, which I was certain they would take back. Where was I going to go?
How was I going to explain this to Becca? She would be so disappointed in me. Of everything I could think of, that would be the hardest part to handle.
I wondered if Bentley would allow me to apologize. Thinking about what I had said, I was sure the answer was no. Nobody spoke to him the way I did a short while ago. Not if they wanted to work for him. I had blown it.
Defeated, I hung my head again, not even bothering to lift it when the door opened and I heard heavy footsteps.
“I haven’t touched the computer, Aiden. You can take it and change all the passwords while I pack up,” I mumbled. “Leave Maddox to watch over me so you know I don’t steal anything or touch the system.”
“I don’t need your computer,” Bentley’s voice informed me.
I lifted my head. He stood inside my office, his arms crossed. Aiden and Maddox were beside him. This was my only chance, and I wasn’t too proud to try.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked. “I’m really fucking sorry, Bent.”
“For what you did, or for telling me off?”
“Telling you off. But even losing my job, I don’t regret what I did.”
“Did you quit?”
“No.”
“I don’t recall firing you.”
“I assumed that was why you were here.”
“You assumed wrong. I came to apologize.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out.