Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

“Because you went to dinner with him first. And I’ll never forgive him for that.”

Chapter 6

Hannah pounced on me as soon as Gabe left. “He’s quite the admirer. What the hell did you do to him, anyway?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Have you even kissed him?”

I shook my head again, too exhausted to object to her prying.

“He’s a believer.” She nodded while she brought the dishes into the kitchen. “A convert.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s a Lauren Taylor acolyte. You do this to people—your employees, your board of directors, your investors. People believe in you with this fervency. I can already tell. You haven’t even kissed this guy yet, and he’d do almost anything for you.”

“He’d do almost anything for Paragon to partner with his company,” I corrected her. “He wants to profit from my technology. It’s business.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at me as she finished cleaning up. “Whatever.”

I stood and stretched. I felt physically and emotionally beat up. “It’s not whatever. It’s that I can’t trust him.”

She came back around the corner, her hands on her hips. “Why n

ot?”

“Because he showed up right when all this started. And he wants something from me. I can’t rely on him for any sort of protection…or anything else, for that matter. I have to do it myself.”

“You always do it yourself, and you don’t trust anyone. Not ever.”

I shook my head, irritated. “That’s not true.”

She stepped toward me. “Yes, it is. You started this company six years ago and wrapped yourself up in it. It’s been your whole life since Mom and Dad died. Gabe is the first guy you’ve been out on a date with, Lauren. Ever. You’re twenty-five, for Christ’s sake. Do you understand that’s not normal?”

“I’m not normal.” She was striking a nerve in me, but it was a nerve worth protecting. “I wasn’t put on this earth to go on dates and go to wine tastings. I was put here for a reason. A purpose. Don’t you understand that I believe in that? That belief is the only thing that’s gotten me through.”

The truth of my statement suddenly weighed on me. The exhaustion was winning, as were my fears about whatever Clive was up to. Tears streamed down my face.

Hannah looked at me, her eyes wide. I never cried. Not even after our parents died. She wrapped me in a tight hug, rocking me back and forth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I hugged her back. “It’s not you.” She was the one constant in my life, and I loved her more than anyone. “It’s the fact that Paragon’s been made vulnerable. I can’t stand it. I won’t tolerate it.” I pulled back and wiped my face. Rage still coursed through me, all mixed up with the crying and the exhaustion.

Hannah brushed the hair back from my face. “You need to go to bed. But think about it—Gabe’s offer. If you’re stronger with him next to you, this might be the right time to take a chance.”

“I don’t take chances.” I smiled at her ruefully, making fun of myself.

She smiled back. “Then take a calculated risk. Seriously, just think about it.”

I did think about it, the entire next day. I made a mental list of the pros and cons of partnering with Dynamica and also of accepting Gabe’s offer of increased technology help and personal security. I thought about it as I prepared for the board of directors meeting I’d called. They needed to know about the successful trial we’d run on the prototype, which seemed as if it had taken place a million years ago.

I also needed to present them with Gabe’s distribution offer. I wouldn’t tell them everything, however—I’d decided to keep the security breach to myself, at least for the time being. This directly violated my duty to disclose, and I knew it. But I needed to handle the situation before it got any more out of control. The small circle of people who knew about the breach included me, Hannah, Gabe, my tech team, and my security personnel.

And Clive. Clive knew. There was nothing I could do about that. Not yet.

I didn’t want anyone else to know what had happened. Clive had been on our board, and he could still have friends there. On top of that, I had meetings scheduled with our investors next week. Bad news and paranoia could compromise my plans to bring the patch to market, which could compromise my company, which would ruin everything.

I wasn’t about to let that happen—my fiduciary duty to disclose the breach be damned.