The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Knox POV

I glance at my watch again, furrowing my brow. It's not like her to be late. I try not to look too obviously at the doorway as I impatiently wait for her to enter. What's taking Lorelai so long to arrive this morning? What's holding her up? I grow slightly annoyed as the time passes. She's late to work and I find my frustration growing along with my bad mood. If she was going to be late, then she should have called or something, I thought scowling. I'm just about to yell out for lan when I hear the sound of her footsteps gently approaching the doorway and then she's there, her head bowed down in apology. "Forgive me for being late" she breathes as I frown at her "It won't happen again" she promises.

I try not to look too relieved. I had been worried something had happened to her. Her hair is covering her face so I can't see her eyes too clearly and I sigh as I turn to the computer screen. "See that it doesn't," I say lightly.

She merely nods. She straightens back up and I drum my fingers on the desk. "We're going out to the company" I announce as she listens "You're coming with me."

I get up and sweep past her. As I go past, she flinches as though expecting me to strike her which halts me in my tracks. "What was that?" I demand suspiciously.

She looks nervous "What was what?" she stammers.

"That reaction just now. It's as though you expected me to hit you or something?" I growl.

Something flares in her eyes and then just as quickly is gone. "It's nothing, forgive me, I'm just a little on edge" she apologizes.

I'm not sure I believe her. I continue to walk, lost in my thoughts. She walks slowly behind me.

I nod to Gyles who opens the door and wait politely for Lorelai to get in first. She glances at me and then stiffly climbs in, wincing slightly as she puts pressure on her wrist. I climb in and then seize her arm, causing her to cry out. "Ouch," she says, holding it tightly to her as my eyes narrow.

"How did you get injured?" I ask as she stares out the window.

"I'm not" she tries to deny.

I grab her arm again and she hisses, blanching. I raise a brow and look at her smugly.

"Fine" she sighed "I fell down the steps to my apartment and I'm embarrassed" she growled "It's not broken just sore." I'm unconvinced. But she stares me right in the eyes, daring me to comment any further. The thought that a man might have done this, pisses me off no end. "Are you sure that's what happened?" my voice is accusing.

All she has to do is tell me and I'll find the bastard and flay him alive. But she nods and looks so truthful about it that I hesitate. Maybe I'm reading too much into the situation and seeing something that's not there. Maybe I'm trying to find a reason to get involved in her life.

"Why are we visiting the company" she changes the subject.

I lean back against the chair and sigh. "I need to look into some financial records" I lie "and help lan with some paperwork.

I figure I could use your help. Are you up for it considering your injury?" I deliberately stare at her wrist as she flushes and shifts awkwardly in her seat. "Yes," she says hastily "it doesn't affect my work."

I grit my teeth but nod. "Fine, you can file papers and do anything else that lan requires. I figure you could use a break from cleaning my room" I added tersely.

She looks relieved. Gyles winks at me from the driver's seat. I scowl at him but he merely chuckles. We reach the company and I step out, taking Lorelai's good arm and helping her out of the limo. She stares up at the large building in awe. "It's huge," she says in fascination as we begin to head towards the front doors, security recognizing me and instantly allowing us to enter "I didn't think your company would be so big."

I shrug "It's not that big. All the floors have a different purpose" I say nonchalantly "We're going to the top floor where lan is waiting."

We head to the lifts and I press the top floor. We take the lift up and then step out, heading down the long hallway. Ian is just finishing up with the investors and waves us through as they head out. "I wondered if you were going to make it," he said drily. "Forgive me it was my fault for being late this morning" Lorelai was instantly apologetic "I was unaware that Knox would be attending the company or I would have made sure to attend on time."

lan just shakes his head "It's fine Lorelai. Don't stress too much" he advises her with a chuckle "Besides to be honest it's best that Knox doesn't attend the meetings. He has a penchant to" he pauses as I glare at him "to say exactly what's on his mind which isn't always a good thing" he concludes while Lorelai giggles.

"Says you" I mutter as lan leads us into our shared office and makes Lorelai sit down behind one of the desks.

"What do you need me to do?" Lorelai asks, staring at the haphazard pile of files on the desk with interest.

They were all colour-coded, due to lan's penchant for keeping everything neat and organized. I noticed his PA was missing today and frowned.

"I need you to double-check there are no blatantly obvious grammar mistakes in the files and then file them in the appropriate filing cabinet," lan said calmly "Red is for Personnel, Purple for HR, Green for Financials, Yellow for Suppliers, and Orange for Invoices paid. Any invoices yet to be paid get put aside in a pile," he said indicating with his hands while Lorelai nodded, listening intently.

"If I find a mistake?" she asked.

"Retype the document or bring it to my attention," lan told her "I know you have basic computer skills and if I log you onto the computer, my PA has all the document templates saved for you."

Lorelai nods looking impressed. She immediately grabs a file to peruse while lan leans over her and logs onto the computer. I'm jealous. At the angle he's at, he can see directly down her cleavage. Not that he'd look, I console myself. lan is far too much of a gentleman to take advantage of something like that. I wouldn't hesitate though I thought with annoyance. I scowl and turn away while lan comes back over to me, thanking Lorelai over his shoulder. "What happened to your PA?" my voice is peeved despite my attempt to seem casual.

"Sick" lan's tone is a matter of fact "If you hadn't stopped by I would have called an agency, but I think between the three of us we can manage."

"Lorelai is my personal maid" I hiss sounding like a petulant child and not caring "Not yours. Get your own" I snap. He chuckles "Stop acting like a jealous boyfriend. Have you had a chance to look into the employee's backgrounds yet?" I lower my voice and then motion for him to follow me out to the hall. "Only some of them. It's not as easy as it looks you know. It's not just double-checking references, but also checking previous work locations add up and their financials from various banking institutions" I growl "Then I have to cross-reference everything to see if it matches up with what they told the agency when they started, and that there are no red flags. Each employee takes several hours and that's only if they've been forthcoming about their previous job assignments" I rub my forehead tiredly.

"Okay, okay," he says holding up his hands in surrender "I get it. It's hard work. It's not needed immediately," he says while I glower at him.

"It would be so much easier if you knew how to hack as well" I muttered.

He snorts "You know as well as I do that technology and I don't necessarily get along with each other."

I roll my eyes. "So what do you need from me?"

He brings me back into the office and hands me the investor's personal accounts, including their financial records and personal investments from the last two years. "Something is off about them. They seem a little too eager to invest with us, and we don't even need them to" he explained "Our company does well on its own. Sure we need shareholders, but they seem almost desperate to become ones."

I shrug "Maybe they know a good thing when they see it. Or maybe they are the competition secretly trying to take us over, one share at a time" I tease him.

He laughs "Either way, look into their records and their company. If they are being truthful then I have no objections to them investing money into our company and becoming shareholders, but I don't want to make our company vulnerable by making a mistake." I sit down behind a computer, my mind already beginning to switch over as puzzles and logistics begin to enter my mind, my fingers dancing across the keyboard. I switch off to everything around me, not even aware of lan leaving the room or of Lorelai frowning as she continued to pore diligently over the files and put them back in the correct cabinet for lan. In fact, I was lost to everything but the computer as I hacked and cross-referenced everything.

A hand touched me on the shoulder and I let out a loud yell, turning in my chair. Lorelai's face was ashen. I had frightened her, I realized distantly, yanking my headphones off and looking at her trembling body in dismay.

"Sorry" she whispered sounding upset, "I thought you might want to break for lunch. Ian organized some food" She points at the conference room where the table is littered with various foods as I stare at her shamefaced. She looks on the verge of tears.

"Lorelai," I say, my heartbeat returning to normal "I'm so sorry, you startled me," I said, unaccustomed to apologizing.

She was still trembling as she nodded and then vanished into the conference room. I closed my eyes and admonished myself.

Way to go Knox. You just scared the bejesus out of her. You have no manners when it comes to behaving in public, do you? Why do you find it so difficult to just act like a normal human being?

I let out a low growl of frustration and head to the conference room, wishing just this once, I could have learned to control myself, if not for my sake then Lorelai's.