Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 326: Found Him

Chapter 326: Found Him

What should I do with this naive woman! Does she think, by saving him he’d suddenly grow a conscience and live harmoniously with us?

Sigh! The way she thinks is too similar to Jerome. The apple sure didn’t fall far from the tree. But what if what she thinks happens? We might have one less enemy to deal with.

"Do what you want, Iris," he bent and kissed the cheek of Talia who was typing some codes in her laptop. He never understood the basics of programming even. It is amazing how good she is at it.

Yes, she can help that guy if she wants. As long as he stays away from her, they’d be safe. Otherwise... it won’t be she who deals with him.

"Sure," Talia said without turning back.

"Are you close to find him?" He got curious. He thought his secretary typed fast, but Iris seemed to type even faster that her.

"Yeah, I’m tracking one guy who followed Edward. I’m getting close to find his location."

"He was followed?"

"Ah, I meant the guy Edward kept as his ’pageboy’. I think he is laying low and he might know something."

Arthur silently watched as her fingers doing chaotic and yet rhythmic tunes on the keyboard.

"I didn’t know the security of the Palace is that lacking. I knew I would alert the defence department if I hacked the government records and so I hacked the King’s computer and I got in pretty easily. Or it could be that he put his firewalls down since I talked about a hacker... Still, the security is pretty lax for a Monarch in power. How about you? Never mind... I constantly check the security of Northern Star and try to hack yours and the company’s system... I’ve assigned that task to Raphael now and told him he can graduate once he hacks the Northern Star..."

Talia went on speaking and Arthur standing behind her couldn’t help but smile.

"You can’t hack into Northern Star?" He was proud to show off his management skills to his Iris. He has hired the best in the field of cyber security and they have the most advanced system with their own servers and all. "We are proud to be unhackable!"

"Oh, I can." Talia said with no change in her expression. "It’s just the security is better than most. Usually if a hack is detected the system will send a..." She went on and Arthur’s face reddened with embarrassment.

I have to cut their salaries... Those incompetent fools! He thought, but then his embarrassment turned to delight.

My wife is the best! She is amazing!

"If you can, find out anything you can about Ralph J. Runtley." He rubbed her back as he kissed her head. He didn’t want to get her involved in his search for that man, but since he is meeting with dead ends, he asked for her help. She is amazing and she can do it!

Talia stiffened up. "Who is he? A business rival?" she turned to look at him. "If he is, I’m not going to-"

"Never mind then," Arthur smiled widely and Talia could guess he was hiding something. She decided to check on that guy after she finished her search for Edward.

"You’re dressed up! Are you leaving somewhere?" Talia got up from her seat as she only then realised Arthur was dressed up. She rubbed her cheeks on that charcoal suit and sniffed in his scent.

He looks handsome always, but seeing him in suits always made her heart skip a beat.

Well, that and his athletic wear... That loose-fitted tank-top and the sweat flowing through his perfect and firm muscles... Ahhhhh!

And his sleepwear as he usually sleeps in his boxers... Those perfect chest hairs as they tickle her.... Ahhhhh!

Even when he is showering on his birthday suit, the warm water streaming through his defined back... Ahhhh!

Who am I kidding? I love it no matter what he wears!

"I’ll have to go to the office. I have to prepare for the voting. I might be-"

"What voting?" Talia asked and Arthur sighed. When he was talking to her about the announcement from the Palace, she actually wasn’t listening as he thought. He should have waited until she was not occupied in her computer.

Arthur gave the gist of the announcement. The funding to the members of the Council and their families were entirely cut and the funding for the Council building renovations were divested and reallocated to health care. It was an obvious stunt to pacify the people after the documentary backlash.

As for the nationalisation of Northern Star, there was a bill passed unanimously by the Council and the Parliament that as a private business, the decision should be made by the company itself if they wanted to get nationalised.

"Wow! So he really did what he said!" Talia said with a surprise. "So if our board members vote not to nationalise Northern Star, then we are safe, right?"

"Aren’t you going to appreciate me, now?" Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist. He could see the want in her eyes just moments ago. Seriously, he has hit the jackpot to have a woman who loves s*x as much as he does.

"For what?" Talia asked wrapping her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes. She knew what he meant. If he didn’t take extreme measures; to the point of getting engaged to some woman and changed the board of directors, Northern Star would still be in danger.

"You don’t know, really?" he raised his brows and lifted her up so she gets on eye-level with her.

"No," Talia bit his earlobe, "On the other hand, you are very handsome today," she whispered in his ears and she could feel the heat radiating from him.

As always, it doesn’t take a lot to for this guy to get ’turned on’!

"Your suit will wrinkle! Ahh!" she screeched as she was thrown on the bed. His big hands rubbed on her chest gently as his warm breath fell on her lips. His sharp eyes locked with hers and Talia felt the ramming beat of her heart.

Ah... No matter how many times I look at him, my heart still beats like crazy every time. She placed her hand on his cheek and lifted her head up and pressed her lips on his.

Their fiery make out session was disturbed by a beeping sound from her laptop. Arthur buttoned his shirt with a sigh as he was pushed away by his lover for a notification sound.

"The location of Prince Edward!"

Even Talia was surprised as she said that. Someone has sent the location to her in one of the deep web forums. Attached was a story they had to tell about the disappearance of Edward with timelines and all. The gist was that Edward went to the Belfauger estates on his own volition with Olivia, but after her suicide, he was so depressed he didn’t want to contact anyone. He still is not fine but he wishes to return. For them to go through this much effort to set a narrative... It can’t be because they fear retribution.

Geez! What did those guys did to him? Eh, whatever!

"You found him?" Arthur slipped into his suit jacket as he walked to her and peeked at her laptop. "What language is that?" he furrowed his brows. "Latin? Or Hebrew?"

"Klingon," Talia said and turned to look at him and giggled seeing his flabbergasted face.

"You... You speak some fantasy language? Why" Arthur really couldn’t believe why she went that far to learn some language that had no purpose in the real world.

"It’s a requirement for certain forums in the deep web. So I learned it," Talia sighed as she remembered her university days. "Back then... I hated people and spent most of the time in the dark web... I thought getting detached from reality and keeping myself occupied with something- anything, will make me feel at peace... But it didn’t. With all the medications I took, it only made everything worse." She paused as she felt the warm hand enveloping around her shoulders. "Rebecca and Cordelia kept me sane ... stopped me from losing my mind. That’s why I’m very grateful to them." She rested her cheek on his forearm.

"Iris, you don’t have to suffer anymore, alright. You have me now." Arthur kissed her cheek and buried his face in the nape of her neck. For him, she felt distant just now. Those days she spent in the mental health institute and her university days... he knew nothing about it. She rarely talks about it. "You can talk to me if you want to share anything, okay? I won’t mock you. You don’t have to do this at all if it brings back painful memories."

"I know!" Talia spoke in a cheery voice. "It was a long time ago and for me it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m going to look forward to the future," she said with a bright smile. "Now go on! Don’t you have work to do? Don’t slack off!" she patted his cheek.

"Yes."

Talia got up and fixed his tie and suit for him. Arthur ran his finger through her forehead and she looked at him. Those clear eyes made him feel better. "I might be late for dinner so you eat first and don’t stare at your system for a long time..."

Arthur left after leaving a bunch of instructions for her.