“Oh, God,” I say. “I’m sorry.” I’m speaking from behind my hand, which I’ve pressed to my mouth. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“What the fucking hell?” he asks. His body is rigid and his eyes are burning. The amber one seems to hold some compassion, but the dark black one looks like it could suck me down, down, down. Dangerous, I think. Ollie’s right. That temper is dangerous.
“Carl fired me. Don’t even pretend like you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t,” he says. The tension leaves his body. “Fuck, Nikki, I swear that I didn’t, though I probably should have expected it.” He reaches for my hand, and I’m numb enough that I let him take it. He presses his lips to my fingertips, and the contact is so gentle and sweet it makes me want to cry. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why did you say no? The proposal was amazing. The product is amazing. You were impressed—I know you were. And now Carl thinks that I snubbed you or fucked you or otherwise got under your skin enough that you want to get back at me through him.”
“He told you that?”
“He hasn’t told me shit. He didn’t even have the balls to fire me himself. But I’m not an idiot. I know what it looks like and what he must think.”
“You have gotten under my skin,” he says. “But that’s not why I said no.”
“Then why did you? I mean, come on, Damien. It’s a damn good product.”
“It is.” He pulls a small device out of his pocket. It takes me a second to realize it’s a remote control. He pushes a button and the room grows dark as the lights dim and the windows shift from clear to opaque.
“What are you—” But I don’t bother to finish the question. A menu appears on a drop-down screen. Damien scrolls down to select one entitled Israeli Imaging 3IYK1108-DX.
A moment later, a grainy image appears. It’s difficult to see everything, but it’s clear that what Damien’s showing me is a product similar to the one Carl pitched.
“An Israeli company called Primo-Tech has already received a patent on a similar product. They have a marketing plan in place, and they’re deep into beta testing. They expect to roll out the full product next month.”
I shake my head. “Carl doesn’t know anything about this.”
“No? Well, maybe he doesn’t. Or maybe he was hoping that I would invest so that there would be enough capital behind his product to beat Primo-Tech in the marketplace.”
I look at him. Carl can be a shit, but surely he wouldn’t do that. Would he?
“I don’t play those kinds of games, Nikki. When I invest, it’s because I have a clear path in the market. I said no to C-Squared because of the Primo-Tech product. It has nothing to do with you.”
I nod. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Would you like me to explain that to Carl?”
“Hell no. I don’t want to work for a man who jumps to those kinds of conclusions.”
“Good.” He looks me up and down, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“What?”
“Nice suit.”
It’s an innocent compliment, but it doesn’t sound innocent at all. I notice that the lights in the room are still dim and bite my lip in nervous anticipation.
“Not that I like to see you unemployed, but this works out well. Your day job was interfering with my plans for you.”
“Oh.” My mouth is dry. I swallow. “Yes, well, I’m hardly joining the ranks of the idle masses. I’ll need to find a new one.”
“Why?”
“I have this thing about eating and paying my rent. I’m just wacky that way.”
“In case you forgot, you’ll have a cool million in a week. For that matter, if you need money now, I’m happy to advance you a portion.”
“No, thanks. That money’s going into the bank. I’m not spending a dime until I’m ready.”
“Ready?”
I shrug. I know Damien could help me launch a start-up, but I’m not ready to share that dream with him. Not yet.