GABE (Silicon Valley Billionaires 2)

I leaned forward. “That’s not how I see it.”

“It doesn’t matter how you see it. We have a contract, one that I’m prepared to honor. Today.”

“It’s not going to happen—not today and not ever.”

She sighed, suddenly and dramatically. “I was hoping we could avoid any more…tactics.”

“Do you know what I was hoping?”

Li Na blinked. “I’m sure you know I don’t care.”

“I was hoping that I’d have the opportunity to do this!” I grabbed the Purchase and Sales Agreement I’d signed and gleefully ripped it in half. I kept ripping until tiny pieces of paper fluttered all over the conference table.

Li Na arched an eyebrow as if she found my antics ridiculous.

Good. Let her. “Even more than that? I was really, really hoping I could tell you to fuck off today. That’s what I’ve been hoping for. And now that my sister’s safe, I can!”

I hopped up, smiling at the screen. “So, fuck off, Li Na! Paragon’s still mine, and I’m taking it with me. If you try to come after me or my family again, I’ll make you pay.” I leaned toward her image on the screen. “No one messes with my family and my company and gets away with it. You want the patch? Figure out how biotechnological science works and make one of your own—oh, that’s right, you can’t, because you’ll never be as smart as me, you murdering, kidnapping, conniving bitch!”

I slammed the laptop closed and proceeded to fan myself to calm down. I looked from Bethany to the others. Bethany was clapping, Petra had her fingers pressed against her temples, the paralegal looked like she might burst into tears, Levi was taking a video, and Ash and the other men looked thoroughly entertained.

“Let’s go,” I said. “I need to see my sister.”

Chapter 24

Gabe

It killed me not to go to the closing, but I’d promised to get Hannah home safe.

I paced while Hannah was being examined, waiting to hear from Lauren. If she’d done something to Li Na, I wanted to know what it was. More important, I wanted to know she was safe.

The minutes crawled by like hours. Finally, Levi texted me. Lauren just told Li Na to fuck off and it was AWESOME. Got a video for you. We probably need to quadruple security. See you soon.

He sent me the video, and I watched, speechless and incredibly turned on, as Lauren ripped up her contract and told Li Na to fuck off. Finally.

I immediately fired off a text to Charlotte, my UK distributor. She was waiting to hear from me. Paragon isn’t being sold to the Chinese. Please let the others know.

Bloody brilliant, she wrote back at once.

Lauren is bloody brilliant, indeed, I texted back. As a backup plan, in case we’d been forced to close, I’d had Kami update all of Dynamica’s agreements with our international distributors. Instead of a one-year waiting period, they’d had the instantaneous right to withdraw from their contracts upon the sale of Paragon Laboratories. And Charlotte had been about to get them all riled up for a mass exodus, just like I’d asked her to.

The revised documents had been approved by Li Na’s attorney, but the revisions were buried in the thirty-fourth amendment of each agreement, located roughly on page nineteen. I’d done this so if Li Na bought Paragon, she’d get the company without its international distribution channels, a hobbled version of its former powerhouse self.

But it didn’t matter anymore. Lauren had rescued the company, and Hannah was safe.

I smiled as I paced the hallway, waiting for my badass girlfriend to come home to me.

We’d set up one of the guest suites for Hannah. An hour after Levi had texted me, Lauren rushed inside, making a beeline for her sister. I followed close behind. Dr. Fisher was sitting on the far side of the room, talking quietly on her phone. Hannah was propped up on the bed, glowering at the IV tube connected to her forearm. It looked as though she’d showered; she was wearing an old T-shirt and leggings.

Lauren climbed onto the bed, gently wrapping her arms around her sister’s bony shoulders. “You’re too skinny, oh my God! I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

Hannah patted her back. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

They held each other and cried for a minute. I looked away.

Dr. Fisher ended her call and came closer. “Lauren, I’m sorry, but I need to get back to the hospital.”

“Of course.” Lauren pulled back and wiped her eyes. “And thank you so much for coming here—it means a lot.”