Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

“I’m not going to.” I wanted to wave Timmy over, so he could crack Clive’s head open before he could email anyone, but I didn’t know what Clive would do.

“I am holding the cards here. You need to see this clearly so you don’t make a mistake. Let me buy into Paragon, and I’ll make that other scenario go away. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to work with that buyer. A foreign buyer, one who won’t be hampered by such mundane things as our arduous FDA process. And that would be to your direct detriment, trust me.” Clive leaned forward and tucked my hair behind my ear. I winced at his touch, a fact that did not escape him. A sour look crept over his features. “You used to like me, Lauren. You used to be much friendlier.”

“That was before I knew what a prick you were.”

He looked mildly shocked by my language, then he smiled, raising gooseflesh on my arms. “I’ve never seen this part of you before—all riled up. I like it.”

I wanted to throw up, but I tried to calm down. I should turn him in immediately, but if he had a foreign buyer lined up…this could be disastrous. I needed to think it through. “Don’t come near me again, Clive. It won’t go well for you.” I thought briefly of Gabe, of what he would do if he were here right now.

“But do we have a deal?”

“I’ll get back to you,” I said tightly, feeling sick.

Before he could say another slimy word, I got out, slammed the door, and stomped to my car, all pretenses of “normal” long gone.

My guard Timmy looked at me worriedly. “Is everything okay, Ms. Taylor? I don’t like to pry, but I know that was Mr. Warren, and you look upset.”

“Everything is not okay, Timmy.” I practiced yoga breathing in the backseat of the car. “But it’s going to be.”

Chapter 7

“Lauren. Lauren.” Hannah shook me awake. “Gabe’s on the phone.”

I sat up straight on the couch, even though I wasn’t entirely conscious. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

She shoved my cell phone at me. “I called him. So you have to.”

“Lauren.” I could hear the worry in his voice. Christ, what the hell had Hannah told him? I looked up at her.

“Everything—I told him everything,” she said, as if she could read my mind. She bit her lip in guilt. “I’m sorry. I’m just…scared.”

I shooed her away and tried to collect my thoughts, turning my attention back to the phone. “Hey. I guess Hannah told you I had a visitor at work today.” As the memory of my meeting with Clive clicked into focus, my adrenaline started to thrum.

“He’s dangerous. It’s official.” I could hear the anger in his voice.

“For once, I openly admit to agreeing with you.”

“Can I come over? I don’t want you alone right now.”

I looked out the window into the darkness, feeling that yearning again. “Timmy’s outside. I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask if you were fine. I’ll see you soon.”

I started to object, but he’d already hung up. I looked down at my rumpled pajamas, then at the empty wineglass on the coffee table in front of me. I was a mess.

Not only was I a mess, but Clive Warren was trying to use my own technology against me in order to coerce me into selling my company to him. And Gabe, the gorgeous and questionably trustworthy CEO billionaire, was on his way over.

What to do, what to do.

I pulled the blanket up over me and curled into a ball. I wasn’t going to give up, but I didn’t have a clear strategy. Not exactly, not yet. I planned to fight Clive with everything I had and keep up with everything going on at the lab. I would continue the clinical trials, get my regulatory approvals, meet with my investors to secure funding, and then my technology was going to go live. Everything would go as I’d planned.

I refused to entertain alternatives. I wasn’t going to let Clive or some foreign black-market buyer ruin my life’s work. That was the upside of being brilliant—I’d think of something, eventually.

I made myself get up, then I showered and threw on a pair of sweats. Hannah had bought me all sorts of clothes I never wore. Maybe I could find something comfortable yet appropriate to wear in front of too-attractive male company.

Gabe came in while I got dressed. I could hear Hannah talking to him in worried tones.

I came out of my room, my hair still damp, and glared at her. “I can speak for myself, you know.”