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His eyes scanned my face, looking for any acknowledgment that I knew what he’d done. Satisfied that he’d found it, he smiled again. “I was hoping that you’d want to reconsider the offer I presented you with the other night. In light of…circumstances.”
“Which circumstances?” I could feel my blood start to run hot.
He pushed his glasses up on his nose, and I had to clench my hands into fists so I didn’t tear them off his fussy little face and stomp them into pieces on the ground.
“You should probably get in the car so we can discuss this privately. I’m sure you don’t want to involve the hired help.” Clive motioned toward my security agent, who was standing at the ready nearby.
“I don’t have time for t
his—” I started.
“Hey, Bob!” Clive cut me off out of the blue, smiling and waving across the parking lot to one of our board members, making sure he was seen with me.
“You have one minute,” I said through gritted teeth, waving at Bob also, trying to appear normal. I stalked around to the passenger side of Clive’s car before he could cause more of a scene. Once inside, I immediately texted Timmy and my driver. One minute. Am okay.
I turned to Clive as he settled behind the wheel. “So, you were waiting in my parking lot for me to come out? That’s not very professional. Not that I’m surprised in the least by that.”
“I was going to call you from here and insist that you have dinner with me since we didn’t get to finish the other night. I didn’t expect you to be leaving this early, actually.” He looked relaxed and happy, which for some reason made me feel as though I wanted to throw up.
“I don’t want to grab dinner. I have plans.” To wear my pajamas, print out pictures of you from the Internet, and burn them while I curse you. My ambitions for the evening were evolving. “You have exactly one minute before my security guard comes over. Tell me what you want.”
“I want to buy a majority stake of Paragon,” Clive said, completely deadpan.
That was so ridiculous, I actually laughed.
“I’m serious. I have your technology now. I have everything.” He licked his lips, and it made my stomach lurch. “I designed my new deliverable system with Paragon in mind. I’d been planning on working with you since I left the board. It was all I could think about in China while I was building my system.”
“Your system has flaws.”
“I know. That’s why I need your technology. I can test it with your prototype and figure out what I need to do to make it finally work. I have all sorts of plans, Lauren.”
I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from either screaming at him or beating him in the face. Both would feel really good, but neither would help me at the moment. “I won’t sell you my company. And I’m not going to partner with you either. It’s not my job to help you fix your technology’s flaws in order for you to profit from my years of hard work.”
Clive smiled at me, chilling me. “But you will sell. If you don’t agree to, I’m going to move forward with the rapid testing and development of your technology. And then I’m going to bring it to market. Before you do.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “You can’t do that. You can’t just bring my technology to market—it’d take years.”
“I disagree.”
“Then you’re an idiot. You don’t have the means to rapid test and produce my technology. Only I have that. You also don’t have any sort of government approvals. The FDA’s not just going to let you slap a ‘for sale’ sticker on a medical device and sell it as you please.”
That same easy smile crossed Clive’s face again, making me feel ill. “You’re wrong. I absolutely have the means. I got to the Valley before you, you know. I’ve been here a while, setting up shop. And as for the government approvals…let’s just say that I have a workaround.”
What the hell is he talking about? “Even if that’s true—and I don’t think it is—you’ve broken state and federal laws by hacking into my system and stealing my technology. I have all the proof I need. I’ll have you prosecuted.”
“That’s going to take a while—especially because you don’t have a patent. Trade secrets can seem like a good idea, but you can run into trouble if someone else independently develops similar technology. Especially someone who’s on foreign soil.”
“You didn’t independently develop it. You stole it, and I have the chip you left behind.” I tried to keep my voice even. “You can absolutely be prosecuted for that.”
Clive smiled at me again. “You’re missing part of the picture, Lauren. And it’s an important part.”
“I don’t have time for this. I’m going to the authorities.” I put my hand on the door, ready to sprint out of there, away from him and directly to the FBI.
“Don’t. Think it through,” Clive said. He didn’t sound afraid at all, which scared the hell out of me. “If you turn me into the FBI, I will sell what I stole from you. I will hit Send on a draft email I have waiting—one that contains all your documents—to someone who’s very eager to profit from your loss. And that buyer will go to market, and your technology will be loose in the wild, while you and I sic our intellectual property lawyers on each other in federal court for the next five years. But there won’t be anything left to fight over, except sloppy seconds of a product that’s already on the market. That’s a lose-lose proposition.”
My stomach sank with fear, but I shook my head. “I’d vastly prefer that scenario to being blackmailed by you, thank you very much.”
“I know Paragon’s your baby, Lauren. I know you don’t want to lose everything.”
