Kai asked. He picked up his cup and took a sip of the dark brew. Perfect.
Michelle grinned. “I wouldn’t turn one down, but that’s not what I’m here for.”
“Spill.” Kai didn’t plan on spending the rest of his day playing twenty questions with his assistant.
“You spill. How’s it going with Jonathan? You never mention any of the guys you’re dating.” She leant forward like she anticipated him sharing some juicy secrets.
Kai laughed. “First of all, there’s nothing yet to share and second, even if there were, I wouldn’t.”
“Aww…c’mon, boss!” Michelle whined good-naturedly. “You gotta give a girl something. I’ve worked for you for five years and your eyes have never lit up when anyone else has called you before. This one’s special—I can feel it.”
Kai rolled his eyes even as he secretly agreed. “Cut back on your romance reading is my advice. Now go back to work. I promise to share if anything noteworthy happens that will affect you in any way.”
Michelle sighed. “Which is code for mind my own business.”
She stood and straightened her skirt. Kai grouped the stack of folders he wanted her to file.
“And that’s why I stick around with you,” Michelle announced cryptically.
“What?” Kai had completely lost the train of their conversation.
“Any other guy would be checking out my body. You hand me paperwork.” Her affectionate smile warmed Kai.
“I’m glad my homosexuality is working for you. Now go put these away.” He made a shooing motion with his hand.
Michelle headed out but stopped at the door to turn around. “You might want to take another look at the Philips deal. I think you’re right. Mr Andrews is neck deep in that one. I haven’t found the connection yet, but the business plan doesn’t look strong enough for the amount of support Mr Andrews is giving it.”
Kai nodded. “Thanks.”
He trusted Michelle’s instincts—they were almost as good as his own when spotting something odd. If both of them were picking up vibes, it definitely needed further assessment. Maybe he’d have Jonathan’s security people do a little investigation of their own. Surely they could do a little background check on Mark Philips while they were doing everything else.
Kai stood and snatched up the file. Sometimes he thought better when he paced. Flipping through the Philips proposal, he tried to spot the point where things didn’t work. Why would Andrews be so adamant about funding this business? The ding of an incoming email had him turning back towards his desk.
Glass exploded from his window, spewing across the floor as his office window shattered.
Instinctively, Kai dropped to the carpet. The Philips file spilled across the floor in a wide swathe of white across the dark brown fibres. Kai ignored the mess as he crawled to the other side of his desk and stayed ducked on the floor behind it.
“What the fuck!” he shouted.
Kai’s mouth fell open as he saw a red sighting laser appear on the wall across from him a few inches above his head. He might never have seen a sniper except in the movies, but with the window gone and a glowing red dot floating across from him, all thoughts of anything else causing the damage flew from his head.
The door began to open.
“Don’t come in!” he shouted.
“What was that sound!” Michelle yelled from the other side.
“Someone is shooting at me! Call the police!”
Kai’s phone sat on his desk, out of reach unless he threw himself into the line of fire to retrieve it.
“Are you safe?” she asked.
“For now,” Kai assured her. He tried to sound calm but even to his own ears his voice had a tinge of hysteria. He’d never had anyone try to kill him before. Maybe one or two business executives might have considered it from time to time, but no one had ever seriously tried before.
Another sound and a chunk of plaster disappeared. Kai realised the shooter had spotted Kai’s shadow. Kai tried to remain calm,