MY BOSS IS A LION Read Online Free PDF Page A

for the door to his private office, “my clients expect the utmost confidentiality. The information you’re going to be handling is highly sensitive, as the nature of my work should tell you. I expect you to treat it as delicately as the job demands. Is that clear?”
    Rose nodded, staring at Joe with awe in her eyes before giving her head a little shake and saying, “Absolutely—yes.”
    “You understand that there will be consequences if you do otherwise?” he added, and this time his eyes were deadly serious. Rose seemed to hesitate a moment, looking into his eyes and starting to lose her nerve for just an instant before she marshaled her will.
    “I understand,” she said resolutely. Joe looked at her long and hard before he allowed a smile to crack through his stony gaze.
    “I’m sure you’ll flourish. I look forward to watching your progress, Rose. I will have you sign some employment paperwork and a confidentiality release in a little while. I’ll be in my office if you need anything..”
    She gave him a final smile before he disappeared into his office.
     
    ***
     
    As Joe settled into his office, the next hour or so passed about as he imagined. Always one to keep an eye on his business, Joe had taken the liberty of establishing a connection between a side-monitor and Rose’s new computer. He could monitor everything she did—every file she moved or so much as looked at. He thought it better that he didn’t mention it to his new hire; as much as he fully intended to keep her around, he always liked to see what people did when they thought themselves alone.
    He went about his daily routine, sending emails and studying a few of his case files before thinking about heading home. He’d planned to hang around until about lunchtime—he couldn’t let himself get too drowsy on the job, after all.
    Admittedly, Joe felt guilty for turning Rose loose as early as he did. Most of his files were heavily encrypted. They had to be—they were all far too sensitive to leave unprotected. Without much introduction to any of the work she’d be organizing, she’d be flying relatively blind as far as organizing them all went.
    Joe didn’t mind that, he thought as he watched her work on the side-monitor. It would let her figure out her own way of handling things, which he thought was always best for administrators, and it would let him see how she handled such independent work. The more of it she was able to take over entirely, he figured, the more time he could spend in the field--just the way he wanted it.
    But as the minutes passed and Joe glanced over to the screen periodically, he paused, noting some unusual activity. One of his old case files was open on her screen, and she seemed to be reading over the contents.
    I thought I encrypted that file…
    Turning his full attention to the monitor, he watched her finish perusing the documents and close it and sort it away into the filing system she was apparently developing. He started to dismiss the peculiarity and look away when he noticed her drag out another encrypted file. His eyes widened as he realized what she was doing after a moment of strange activity on her end.
    My God, she’s decrypting the files...and quickly.
    In a matter of minutes, Joe had watched his new secretary crack his own security codes in half and start reading over the contents.
    Who the hell did I just hire? He was starting to become truly concerned. What else had she seen? What was she doing with all that information? His face paled at the thought of what he’d have to do if she started poking her nose too far down his various rabbit holes.
    Had he been too sloppy in hiring Rose? Had his instincts betrayed him for once? Maybe he was just acting on his lust after all, hiring her for those gorgeous looks that made him want to pull up the security camera on the front office as well. He let out a quiet sigh as he reached for his pistol, laying a hand on it and holding it there for a long time as