Page 142 of Illicit Games

“That’s… I don’t do that.”

His eyes turn molten at my innocence. “You do.”

“But that only happens in porn.”

“Untrue.”

“So, you’re saying I’m a porn star?”

“Only mine.” He smirks possessively and shuts me up with a drugging kiss.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Iris

Since Arjun’s firing, I’ve been handling some of his tasks. Kian has hired a replacement from the interviews I set up a while back. His name is Manu Batra and he will be starting next week. Kian has assigned me to help him settle in and hand over the responsibilities that I’ve been managing.

I’ve been preparing notes and SOPs to make it easy for Manu. Since it’s time-consuming and I don’t want to make a mistake, I asked someone from the IT department to share Arjun’s laptop with Kian’s permission.

Plus, Kian has an upcoming meeting which Arjun was working on and he needs me to familiarize myself with the information as I’ll be joining him instead.

“Iris?”

I look up from my desk and recognize the broody man. “Hi, Zen.”

“I brought you Arjun’s laptop,” he says, holding the device in his hands and approaching my desk. Tapping the sticky note on top, he shares, “Here’re the credentials to log in. Once you’re done, please return it to me.”

“Of course. Thank you!”

Nodding in acknowledgement, he turns around and is gone in the blink of an eye. Shaking off his quick departure, I power up the laptop and type in the password. It doesn’t take me long to locate the files I’m searching for.

Arjun’s shitty attitude aside, he was excellent at his job. He’s even more organized than me and has concise notes for everything. I spend the next few hours working, feeling more confident by the minute.

When I’m finished, I hesitate to log out and send the laptop back to Zen. My curiosity nags at me to check his messages in the employees app. Everybody knows people gossip in those as well rather than simply using the communication app for work.

With no one around, I click into the app and go into the chat section.

Kian was right. I am nosy.

Even though no good can come out of it, I search Rhea’s name to confirm whether or not they were in a relationship. I wonder if they chatted and made fun of me in their messages. And I’m correct. Men and women gossip the same.

They’ve accused me of sleeping with Kian to get the job, which I didn’t need.

Saying I’m a double-dipping hoe.

Wow!

The conversation only gets worse. Maybe it’s not a bad thing he was fired. Such a despicable human being. Eventually, it’s Rhea who switches the topic. It’s plainly obvious that they were hooking up because they mention meeting in the printing room.

Wait… did they know there were no cameras in there?

I scroll up, noticing it’s Arjun who suggests the room and the floor. A nefarious feeling stirs in my belly. I recall the night ofmy first attack. The last person to see me was him, right before he left for the day.

Did he even leave the premises?

Could he be… No. I’m being crazy. My murder-mystery-solving brain is confusing fiction with reality.

I pull out of their chat, preparing to power off the laptop.