Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

“Are you sure?” Eva asked. “That’s really pushing it. If we’re launching, we need to have the channels ready for us.”

I nodded at her. “I’m sure.” It wasn’t ideal, but I had to keep our tight timeframe under wraps as long as I possibly could. “Trust me. It’s for the greater good.” I looked at Eva’s face, which was pale and tired. Dark shadows bloomed under her eyes. “Speaking of the greater good, why don’t you go grab a nap? You’ve got to be exhausted.”

Normally Eva would object, but we’d been working nonstop. She smiled wanly at me. “Okay, boss,” she said through a yawn.

She shuffled off, and Finn, another one of my lab workers, came by. “Stephanie’s looking for you,” he said. “Something about mail.”

I hustled to find my assistant. She was at her desk, staring at her screen. Like Eva, she had dark circles and a bleary look to her face. I needed to launch the patch and give everyone a vacation, stat, before they all quit and ran screaming from the building. “You were looking for me?”

“A letter came in for you. From Gabe.”

She handed it to me, and I clutched it gratefully as I headed to my office. I pulled it out eagerly, but all that was written was a phone number. And an I love you, babe.

I pulled out my replacement phone to call him when a text came through on my main cell.

Have you decided? it asked. It was from the same foreign cell number.

She wasn’t wasting any time. You haven’t given me any terms, I wrote back.

The terms are commensurate with what you’d have with any trading partner in a foreign country. In China, we typically do a 60/40 percent of profits.

That was all she wanted after everything?

Sounds reasonable, I wrote back.

I also need your help with some of my technology.

I gritted my teeth. Of course that wasn’t all she wanted after everything.

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; I’m sort of busy at the moment, I wrote.

I’ll be in touch again soon. You should make time for me. Otherwise, you’ll be certain to regret it.

I held my breath. I wanted to ask her what she meant, but I had a bad feeling that I already knew.

I sat there for a moment, holding a phone in each hand. On the one hand, I had Li Na, who I felt certain was not only the person on the other end of the line but also the person who was responsible for Clive’s death. On the other hand, I had Gabe. He was the first man I’d ever let into my life and the only person I’d ever trusted to be my equal.

I had the odd sensation the ground was shifting beneath my feet. I felt a little dizzy. It occurred to me that perhaps I’d been looking at the situation with Jiàn Innovations the wrong way.

I’d had a glimmer of an idea when Li Na had first texted me that morning. I’d thought that maybe I could play along with her; that perhaps I could draw out our negotiations so I could secure our position as first to market while I pretended to play nice with Jiàn Innovations on the side.

But she was texting me, asking me for an answer after only a few short hours. She wasn’t patient enough for drawn-out negotiations. Apparently, she was not inclined to let me get away with anything. But although she scared me to death, there had to be a way to defeat her.

It was my patch, dammit. I was the one who’d been locked in my lab for six years, perfecting the technology.

Li Na could bite me.

Maybe the way she was pressing me—being straightforward about what she wanted and the lengths she would go to get it—was a sign. A nudge. Maybe, it was actually the universe trying to protect me.

I’d been so busy playing defense that it hadn’t occurred to me I could actually play offense. Until now.

I took a deep breath as my idea became clearer. Then I picked up the burner phone and called Gabe. “I miss you,” was the first thing I said.

“I miss you too, babe. I’m going crazy.”

“Me too.” I sighed. “We need to meet. But before we do, I have to run something by you. And be prepared: you’re not going to like it.”