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“Gabe offered to handle the issue, to get to the bottom of it. With everything else going on, I accepted.”
Bethany set her laptop down and started pulling documents from her bag. “Wow. This is big for you. You don’t delegate easily—I should know.”
I nodded. “It actually feels good. Instead of feeling weakened or threatened, I feel…stronger. Because I know he has my back.”
Bethany grinned. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Stop.” Blushing, I opened my own laptop and clicked on one of Paragon’s financial statements, which I needed to review. “Back to business—about the staff. I haven’t made a company-wide announcement yet, but Gabe’s offered all my employees positions with Dynamica.”
Bethany’s eyes sparkled. “He’s good, huh? He’s even starting to grow on me.”
“He’s very good. But please don’t start up about the prenup again,” I said. “We aren’t there yet.”
“You will be. And when you are, I’ll be ready with my laptop.”
I groaned and set my attention to the numbers in front of me. Whatever else was going on, I could always count on Bethany to be a pain in my ass.
I was grateful for the piles of work—it took my mind off yesterday. I hadn’t slept, worrying what might’ve happened to Hannah. The guard who’d been watching her had been rough, and she’d clearly aggravated him. I didn’t want to think about what he could’ve done to her when they got back to wherever they were going…
I checked my watch. The house had been quiet all morning. “I’m going to go check in with Gabe, okay?”
He wasn’t in the kitchen. I found a note from him on the counter:
Babe.
Meeting with your board and catching up at work. Levi and Ash are doing surveillance. If they find anything, they’ll call us right away. I’ll be home tonight. Love you.
I decided not to call him. I’d accepted his offer to help with the board. I didn’t need to micromanage him. And with all the drama, he must be falling behind at Dynamica. I should let him work.
I let hope well up i
n my chest that maybe, by the time everyone got back tonight, there would be some good news.
But as I headed back to review accounts payable and receivable aging reports, an image of Hannah flashed in my mind: my beautiful sister in a filthy shirt, kneeling before Li Na’s henchman, saying she didn’t want to be a liability anymore.
And the hope died a quick, although not painless, death.
GABE
Ryan had taken the step of contacting each of Lauren’s board members directly, calling an emergency meeting regarding Dynamica. They didn’t know the specifics, and they didn’t know Lauren wouldn’t be present at the meeting.
No Lauren meant no nice cop. They were going to have to adjust accordingly.
It felt awkward going through the doors of Paragon, signing the visitor log, and hustling past the curious employees to the boardroom. I’d been at Paragon without Lauren before, of course. When she’d gone to Menlo Park to work remotely for Li Na, I’d been smuggled into the building to help secretly launch the patch. This time felt different because the items on my agenda included tracking down an internal traitor and opening a can of whoop-ass on them.
“Gabe,” Allen Trade said, looking surprised. “It’s just you? No Lauren?”
I nodded at the board members as they assembled. “She asked me to handle this matter for her.”
They looked at each other, concerned, but no one said a word. Things had been so crazy at Paragon for the past year, they probably didn’t know what to expect next.
“Do you have an update on Hannah?” asked Mimi White, another longtime board member.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have good news. We tried to get her back yesterday, but things didn’t go the way we’d hoped. We’re working on it.” I wanted to reassure them. Between what had happened to the security guards and Hannah, everyone was already on edge.
“Is Li Na still expecting Lauren to hand over the company? Even though she’s criminally liable for kidnapping?” Mimi sounded outraged.
“Li Na has not backed down at all. That’s part of the reason why I’m here. It’s crucial that we follow her instructions from here on out. Our failed attempt to get Hannah back has put us in a worse position—we’ve lost what little trust we had.”
