GABE (Silicon Valley Billionaires 2)

The phone rang—my heart sank when I saw the number. “It’s Li Na.”

“What the hell does she want now?” Gabe’s voice was ice. “Our first-born child?”

I motioned for him to be quiet and then answered the phone with shaking hands. “Hello? Is my sister okay?”

“That’s not why I’m calling,” Li Na said. “I spoke to my attorney this afternoon—she confirmed most of the documents are in order. We’re ready to proceed. She’s run the numbers, and she’ll send the final ones to you tomorrow. I’d like to schedule the closing for the end of the week, and I want to talk to you about your role in the final tr

ansaction, which I want to remind you is critical.”

I felt Gabe’s eyes boring into me, but I didn’t look at him. “Go on.”

“The closing will take place at my attorney’s firm in San Francisco. I’ll have your sister nearby. She will be returned as soon as the documents are completed and the wire transfer is made. However,” she took a deep breath, as if she were preparing to be annoyed with me, “you must come in her place. You will be flying to Shenzhen directly after the closing. Your laboratory equipment will be shipped as soon as we close—I want to get everything assembled, and I want your help making sure my people are trained efficiently enough so that we can get production moving as soon as possible. We have contracts to fulfill, after all.”

I grimaced. Those were my contracts. “I understand.”

“Is that a yes?”

She would never accept a no, but Gabe was about to freak out, and I had to try. “It’s a non-answer, Li Na. I understand that’s what you want, but we could accomplish this remotely. I’m sure you can understand that after everything, I’m not exactly eager to be in Shenzhen, vulnerable and alone.”

“This is nonnegotiable—I need you here to ensure a smooth transition. I need the patch up and running as soon as possible in order to recoup my considerable investment. If you want your sister, this is what I’m asking for. I called to tell you this, CEO to CEO. You’ll be released and returned safely just as soon as everything’s settled. I’m giving you this opportunity even though you’ve crossed me. Twice. I have continued to keep my word, even as you’ve broken yours.”

I shut my eyes tight so I couldn’t see the menacing look on Gabe’s face. “Then my answer is yes—I’ll do it.”

I kept my eyes closed after I hung up. Even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel the rage-spiral from where I stood.

GABE

“Babe, we’ve had this conversation before. Do you want to get locked in the house?”

She looked at me pleadingly. “What am I going to say to her? ‘No, thanks, I don’t want to go to China? And since I didn’t manage to rescue Hannah before, and you still have her—please feel free to have her raped, beaten, and then killed?’”

She got up and stared out the windows at the stars. “Li Na’s not going to kill me. Too many people know about what she’s done already. I’m more famous than Clive Warren, and I have you all looking out for me. She’ll let me live, and she’ll let me come back. If it comes down to it, I have to go.”

“Over my dead body.”

“With everything that’s happened, can you please not say that?”

I clenched my hand into a fist, on the verge of losing it. I couldn’t stay here and fight with her about this again. She seemed determined, but so was I. I could think of only one way to get out of this, and that was to get Hannah before the closing, so Li Na’s hold over Lauren would be broken.

“I’m going to go see my brothers—to see what the status is.”

Lauren looked at me hopefully. “Can I come with you? Please?”

“I’ll have to check and see if that’s all right with them.” Of course, then they’d know I was coming, and they wouldn’t be thrilled.

Lauren’s phone buzzed again, and she read the text, her brow furrowed. “It’s Bethany. She just got off the phone with the lawyer. We need to get everything finalized now. I guess I can’t tag along.”

My jaw tightened—I didn’t want to fight with her, but I didn’t I want to leave her alone either. “Timmy’s in the guesthouse. I’ll have him come over. Okay?”

“Okay.”

I kissed the top of her head. There was so much I wanted to say, but I could feel it getting backed up, lost in my anger—anger born from fear. I had to do something. I couldn’t let Li Na get her hands on Lauren. The best course of action was to take some action, so I grabbed my jacket, shrugged into it, and slammed the door to the house before I slammed my fist into something.

I roared out of the driveway and flew toward Oakland. Levi and Ash were running two different crews, combing through the residential neighborhoods near the airport. I texted Ash as I pulled into the city; he sent me an address. My GPS led me to an abandoned parking lot in a rough-looking neighborhood.

I locked my car and hopped into his. “Any luck?”

Ash nodded. “We’re narrowing it down.”