Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

“He’s fine—they didn’t touch him. Not yet.”

“I’m pretty sure he knows who hired them,” I said. “Where did you find guys who would do that for you?”

“They’re from my brother’s firm. They’ve worked for me for a long time, and they’re loyal.”

I shivered. “And they do…things like this…regularly?”

Gabe cleared his throat. “Silicon Valley’s a lot rougher than it looks. With all the Whole Foods and Waldorf schools, I know it seems crunchy, but you have to watch your back. I learned that the hard way. Now I protect what’s mine.”

I listened, fascinated, waiting for him to go on.

“I timed it so he heard from me first—so he didn’t do anything stupid in response to your press conference.”

“Okay.” My heart was pounding again. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, babe. Now hurry up and launch the patch. I’ll be waiting for you, but now that I’ve had a little taste, I want more.”

“I want more, too.” The words were out of my mouth before I could censor myself.

Gabe chuckled. “You’re pretty fun when you’re not being extraordinarily frustrating…I can’t wait to see you again. And Lauren?”

“Yes?”

“Stay safe. You need to keep your security with you at all times, okay? Promise me. Just because he’s been warned doesn’t mean he won’t react.”

A chill went through me. “Okay. I promise.”

“Good. Well, I’m going to bed. It’s lonely in my bachelor lair without you. So go save the world and then get your hot body over here.”

“It’s a date.” I laughed as we hung up and then I clapped a hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe that I, Lauren Taylor, the so-called Reigning Queen of the Biotech Industry, seemed to now have a boyfriend. And he thought I was pretty fun and had a hot body. He’d also had his men physically threaten my mortal enemy today.

I also couldn’t believe that, even though I’d given the press conference of my life today, and we were finally making progress toward the launch, the only thing on my mind before I drifted to sleep on my office couch was…Gabe.

Chapter 10

The next few weeks flew by, with me busy in the lab preparing for the launch.

I’d just spent the morning with Eva, my head researcher. She looked at her laptop, brows furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She sighed and turned to me. “Just because I’m scrunching my face up doesn’t mean something’s wrong. It means I’m concentrating.” Her face relaxed into a weary smile. “Maybe you should take a look. See what’s got me so interested.”

She pushed the computer toward me, and I sucked in a breath, eager and nervous. We were conducting another round of clinical trials, and we were running out of time.

What I saw thrilled me. I turned to Eva. “All of these subsequent tests were positive?”

“That’s right. Since Test Subject 1,201, all of our testing has been positive.” Eva’s eyes shone with excitement. “We’re making significant progress toward our FDA approval.”

In a very un-Lauren Taylor-like move, I threw my arms around her. “I’m so excited!”

Eva laughed and patted my back. “I can tell.” Her words came out muffled against my hair.

I’d finally made enough headway that I could leave work and see Gabe, which thrilled me. Although I was concerned by how much he’d been occupying my thoughts for the past few weeks, I still paced as I waited for him, watching from my office as the evening sky darkened. A quick knock sounded before the door opened.

“Finally.” Gabe’s eyes shone with warmth as he came in.

I let out a shaky breath and went to him, hugging him and relishing his closeness. ‘Finally’ was right.