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A mischievous smirk lifted one corner of Kalugal's mouth. "Making a killing on the stock market."
Margo gasped. "Are you serious? What do you do? Lurk at cafés near Wall Street and hypnotize people to give you insider trading information?"
Negal expected Kalugal to deny that, but the guy surprised him by nodding.
"That's how I made my seed money. Later, I became an investor, specializing in innovative technologies, and I no longer use my ability that way."
"Ah, now I get it." Margo gave him a smile. "You invested in Perfect Match Virtual Studios. That's why you were invited onto their company cruise."
Kalugal sighed dramatically. "Regrettably, I didn't get the opportunity to invest in this tech. My cousin beat me to it and bought the company from the founders. I'm on this cruise just as a family member of the owners, not an investor."
"I see." Margo shifted on the bench, her thigh momentarily brushing Negal's and sending sparks of arousal through him. "Can you tell me a little about your cousin? The only thing Mia told me about him and his wife was that they were very rich and very reclusive."
"They are," Kalugal confirmed. "My cousin is a good guy, and his wife is a sweetheart. In fact, she was the one who convinced him to purchase a controlling interest in the company. Later, my uncle bought the remaining stock." He smiled. "It's all in the family now, but I wasn't invited to join." He pouted. "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't seriously peeved. The technology behind Perfect Match is revolutionary, and it has tremendous growth potential."
"It can also be dangerous," Negal said. "If humans are not careful with it, they might get addicted to the enhanced experiences in the virtual reality world and stop functioning in the real one."
Jasmine arched a brow. "Humans?"
Cursing inwardly, Negal waved a dismissive hand. "I meant people. There was talk about testing how animals respond to virtual reality and whether it would work on them."
It was such a lame save that he doubted it would fly. Obviously, he didn't have Kalugal's talent for spinning tales without actually lying.
Across from him Kalugal was trying hard not to laugh, but thankfully, Jasmine and Margo's attention was on Negal.
"That's absurd." Jasmine crossed her arms over her chest. "Do they even know what dogs think or dream about?"
"They don't." Kalugal came to his rescue. "That's why that idea was dead on arrival. Perhaps in the future, they will find a way to engage animals in the simulations, but for now, all the animals inside the virtual world are animated by the program's artificial intelligence."
"Do they have dragons?" Jasmine asked.
Kalugal shrugged. "I'm not familiar with all the available scenarios, but I'm sure you could request a dragon adventure if that is what tickles your fancy. There is plenty of room for customization."
2
MARGO
Dragon shifters were among Margo's favorite romance heroes, but there was no way she was going to say that in front of Negal. The guy seemed to think that virtual reality was dangerous, so he might sneer at her choice of fantasy book boyfriends.
Negal was nice, chivalrous, even sweet, but he was also a strange dude who didn't talk much and was difficult to read. Maybe he was just the strong, silent type, which was a polite way to describe boring men.
Margo used to think that she was good at reading people, but after her experience with Alberto, she wasn't so sure anymore. Evidently, she was a sucker for charm and as easy to manipulate as Jasmine had been.
She wished she could blame whatever the thug had put in the wine for addling her brain, but long before he'd slipped her and Jasmine the roofie he'd put in that second bottle, he'd somehow managed to convince her that he genuinely cared for Jasmine, and for some inexplicable reason, Margo had ignored all the warning signs and alarm bells going off in her head.
Come to think of it, plenty of warnings had gone through her mind about Jasmine as well, and she had ignored them because, for an equally inexplicable reason, she liked her and wanted to be friends with her.
It was peculiar how at ease Jasmine seemed with their rescuers. She didn't seem traumatized by what she had gone through, and she no longer looked drugged either. The only indication that she had been through anything was a rumpled dress and slight smudges of makeup under her big brown eyes.
Jaz also didn't seem nervous or intimidated by the rescue team's unnaturally good looks, chatting with them like they were old friends. But then Jasmine was a beautiful lady herself, so there was that. Margo couldn't complain about the gifts nature had bestowed on her, but next to Jasmine, she felt like one of Cinderella's ugly sisters.
"What do you think, Margo?" Jasmine asked.
She hadn't been listening.
"About what?"
"A dragon Perfect Match adventure. It's a good idea, right?"
