Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

“Mr. Betts will see you now.” She motioned for a security guard to collect me, watching me with thinly veiled interest. Gabe probably didn’t often accept unscheduled visitors.

The guard led me to the corporate suites, through what seemed like an endless hallway filled with incandescent blue lighting and small potted plants. I felt as if I were in a luxury hotel rather than a technology company. Finally, we reached Gabe’s office.

“Mr. Betts is waiting for you,” his young, male assistant said. He smiled at me from behind a pair of electric blue glasses. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Taylor.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Lauren,” Gabe said, smiling up at me as I shakily walked in. “This is certainly a surprise.”

“Sorry,” I said.

His assistant closed the door behind me.

“You don’t need to apologize. I was going to call you as soon as I finished with this report. And I’m not unpleasantly surprised. Just surprised.” He looked different behind his desk. He was still wearing jeans, as was expected in Silicon Valley, but he seemed more serious. More commanding. He stood up and motioned me toward his couches. “Please, sit. Unlike you, I actually do use my sitting area sometimes.”

I warily sank down on the couch. Last night I’d been in his arms, but now I sat across from him awkwardly. Still thrumming with jealousy, I had a hundred questions about that picture but wasn’t brave enough to bring it up. “Did you hear about Clive’s announcement today?” I asked instead.

He nodded. “He’s forcing your hand.”

“That’s exactly what I said. To myself.”

“I’m surprised by how aggressive he’s being. He has balls of steel.”

“And I’m going to cut them off.” I jumped up and started pacing. I hadn’t let myself think the whole thing through, but being there with Gabe, finally talking about it, the wheels started turning. “If he thinks that he’s going to ruin my company, he’s got a surprise coming.”

“You should call the authorities,” Gabe said as he watched me pace. “Why not involve the FBI? You have the security video, you have the chip, you have the statements he made to you. What do you have to lose at this point by turning him in?”

“I can’t. He said if I call the authorities, he’ll sell the specs he stole from me to a third-party buyer—a foreign one.”

“He really is a piece of shit,” Gabe seethed.

I nodded, feeling jittery. “If I call the FBI, they can arrest him, but he’d still have time to sell. And he’ll do it—I know he will. So I either sell him a majority stake in Paragon or he sells my patch.”

“But you can’t sell to him,” Gabe said, shaking his head. “He’s an asshole. So I say, either let me have a go at him or call the police.”

“I can’t…and I can’t let you do that. If I have him arrested, I’d have to start disclosing trade secret information. What my patch is, what it does. The fact that I’m finally having successful clinical trials.” I whirled toward him. “Please don’t tell anyone that. This is such a vulnerable time for my company.”

“I won’t. You have my word.”

I resumed pacing. “If he sells the technology to someone else, someone who has the means to bring the patch to market—my company is dead.”

“But even a foreign company has some sort of regulatory process they need to go through and laws they have to obey,” Gabe said. “They can’t just steal your technology and skip merrily to market. Doesn’t work that way.”

Gabe was correct, but Clive had pretty much said otherwise. “Clive made it seem like his potential partner wouldn’t have barriers rushing the patch to market.”

“He could be bluffing.”

“I know. I just need to think it through. There are a lot of moving pieces.” I wrung my hands together. “If I say no to him and contact the authorities, he’ll sell. But even if that’s a bluff, or if the buyer can’t go to market, Paragon would still be in trouble. If my protected information starts to come out, in court filings or in media articles, I lose my trade secret status. So anyone can start to recreate the technology that I’ve developed for my invention. I don’t want that—I don’t want any competition. One of the major advantages of the patch is that it’s unique. It needs to be first to market to be successful.”

“Then…have you considered just giving him what he wants?” Gabe asked quietly.

“He wants a majority stake in Paragon. And for me to partner with him and his error-riddled technology that’s destined to fail, just so he can profit from my hard work! There’s no way. He’s not going to get either.”

“But think about it. What if you agreed to partner with him on his deliverable now? You could help him with the technology. That would give him at least some of what he wants without risking everything you’ve worked for. It might be enough of an incentive for him—enough of a gain—that he’ll leave you alone.”

I softened toward Gabe, even as I disagreed with him. “I appreciate that you’re trying to be reasonable. I know I’m not capable of that right now. But I can’t agree to work with Clive. I could never trust him, and giving in to his demands would just be giving him permission to continue his abuse of the relationship. Plus, I don’t think he’d accept that now. It’s probably not enough.”

“You might be surprised. He might say yes.”