Page 128 of To the Chase

Salvatore stiffened, the fingers on my waist flexing. I peered up at him, unsure where Paul was going with this, or why Salvatore had reacted that way. He turned his head to look down at me.

“Astrillex is a tech firm in LA. We were acquaintances when we lived out there, and—” Salvatore’s lips rolled over his teeth as he measured his words. “They’re loud and flashy and like to brag about their culture while acquiring smaller companies and gutting every original founder in sight. I was not a fan, but Sam was friendly with them.”

Paul nodded. “Right. That’s exactly right. They’re a pack of vultures.” Grimacing, Paul yanked his vest zipper up to his throat. “Anyway, my friend Jenna called me last week for a reference on a former intern. Normal, casual talk, you know. Then she mentioned she had seen Sam last week when he’d gone to their office. She hadn’t thought anything of it, except she overheard him telling their CEO he’d be able to bring over samples of our threat-mapping framework to show how it could be improved. Called it a ‘case study.’”

I wish I understood what Paul was saying, but even as a layperson, it didn’t sound good.

Salvatore’s fingers dug into my side, just shy of pain. I put my hand over his and threaded our fingers, giving him something else to grasp.

Paul hesitated before adding, “She asked if that was normal for Nox. Obviously, it’s not.”

“No, it’s not,” Salvatore ground out.

Paul’s face turned ashen. “I’m sorry, but that’s not all.”

“Christ,” Salvatore muttered. “What else has he done?”

Paul took a breath and pulled out his phone. “Last month, someone inadvertently added me to a private Slack channel. Honestly, I didn’t think much of it, but one day, I was curious and scrolled. Nothing really caught my attention. Just a few mid-level devs discussing current projects, then Sam joined, and it turned into something else.”

He turned the screen toward us, and Salvatore’s name was in bold at the top of a message. Most of what I read went way over my head, but a few things jumped out. Someone had said,‘I’ve noticed he can get stuck in loops and delay approvals for weeks.’And Sam had replied,‘We need someone who can move fast, adapt, see the bigger picture.’

Paul’s voice was quiet. “Sam started this conversation, framing it as company growth. I read between the lines, and…I think he’s trying to get the devs on board to replace you.”

Salvatore still didn’t move.

“I apologize if I’m overstepping,” Paul said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “But I thought you should see it before things go further. I didn’t want to assume anything. I just—”

“Thank you, Paul,” Salvatore said, his voice tight, restrained. “I appreciate you coming to me. You did the right thing.”

“Of course.” Paul yanked his zipper down to his chest. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Salvatore glanced at me then at the table covered in my catering supplies. “Would it ruin your day if I canceled the meeting?” he asked.

“Do what you need to do,” I replied.

He nodded then looked at Paul. “Team meeting is canceled. We’ll reschedule for later in the week. Bea will put out snacks in the break room before she leaves. Please let everyone know.”

“You’ve got it, boss.” Paul hesitated at the door. “For what it’s worth, the Slack channel represents a very small portion of your developers. I keep my finger on the pulse here and an ear out for what people are saying. As a whole, most people feel they’re part of something revolutionary at Nox and that you’re taking us in the right direction.”

“Thank you,” Salvatore replied blandly.

Paul nodded once and backed out of the room.

Silence fell like a heavy blanket.

I waited, and not just because I didn’t know what to say. I was giving Salvatore time to process and get a handle on what Paul had just told him. He had to be overloaded, and I wasn’t going to add to that weight.

He stood perfectly still for a few heartbeats then pulled his hand from mine and walked over to the table where I should have been setting up my spread. Bracing his hands on the edge of the table, he bowed his head and exhaled a breath that sounded like it’d scraped his lungs raw.

I gave him another minute.

When he didn’t speak, I crossed the room, curling my arms around his middle and resting my cheek against his back. His muscles vibrated with tension, but little by little, some of it eased.

“Tell me,” I whispered, stroking up and down his torso in a slow-motion rhythm.

“He went to Astrillex and pitched to them like he was a free agent.” His hand covered mine, warm and solid. “He offered to show them a glimpse of our internal threat-mapping models. Bea, this is proprietary work we have spent years refining. It’s work we’ve never published or shared.”

I felt his pain more than I understood the specifics, but I knew enough to know in Salvatore’s world, trust was everything. It had to be, with how sensitive the data they protected was. And Sam had stomped all over that trust like it was nothing.