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“On the contrary.” Though Bruce still had a smile plastered on his face, his voice took on a hard edge that Hunter recognized all too well. The one that warned his boss was about to attack.
Hunter put himself partway between Aria and Bruce. “What are you talking about?”
“After I received your email rejecting our offer, we did some research on you, Miss Prescott.” Bruce stepped around Hunter to take his seat again. “We found out about your father…our condolences, by the way...and the rest of your family. Your sister Aurora…Rory, isn’t it?...has quite a history with tech companies in the Bay Area. Given her projects and knowledge, we’ve little doubt that she knows all about cybersecurity.”
Aria flinched. It was quick, a blink of the eye, but Hunter saw it. He gripped the back of a chair, using everything he had not to move.
“Were you aware that breaches of a company’s cybersecurity is a crime?” Bruce continued. “An act like hacking into an email account can be a felony, or at the very least, leave one open to a civil lawsuit.”
“To say nothing of more serious incidents,” Len added. “Ransomware. Spear-phishing. Information and identify theft.”
“My sister is not a cyber-criminal.”
“We’re not accusing her of anything.” Bruce held up a hand. “But we have a team working on recent cyber intrusions at Imperial, and I assure you we won’t hesitate to prosecute those we find responsible. Since you are in possession of confidential information, which you are threatening to make public, you’re putting yourself in a very suspicious position. You don’t appear to be the type who knows the first thing about cybersecurity—” the lawyers chuckled “—but your sister does. If it turns out that she’s responsible...”
He let his voice trail off ominously and lifted his hands in a shrug.
“Your move, Miss Prescott.” The lawyer looked at Aria over the tops of his glasses. “Think very hard about what you intend to do next.”
“And whether or not you really want to fuck with us.” Bruce smiled.
“Enough.”Barely managing to keep his tone even, Hunter forced his hands to unclench and strode around the table to Aria. His blood burned. “This negotiation is—”
“No.” Aria held up a hand to stop him from getting closer. She leveled Bruce with a hard look, her mouth thinning. “You can threaten and bully me all you want, Mr. Sinclair, but you can’t scare me. You’re a fool if you think you’ll ever find evidence that my sister instigated a cybercrime. And the fact is that you still don’t control Mariposa Street. All you have are a few verbal commitments, and words are cheap. People are fickle. I don’t need to tell anyone anything about your horrible hotel to get them to reject Imperial’s offer.”
Spinning on her heel, she stalked to the door.
“I won’t lose, Miss Prescott,” Bruce called after her.
“No, you won’t, Bruce.” She speared him with a glare. “You can’t lose something you never had.”
She strode out of the room, the door closing partway behind her. Hunter started after her, every cell aching with the urge to grab her up into his arms, haul her against him, promise her everything would work out. That he would fix this fucking mess.
Just before he reached for the door, the weight of stares hit him. His shoulders felt as if they were about to break. His heart was jackhammering so hard it echoed through his head.
Pulling a heavy breath into his tight lungs, he slammed the door shut and turned back to the meeting.
“Mariposa Street is ours.” He walked back to his seat, shooting Juliette a cold glance. “I’m closing the deal. I know that town. The Venture Resort is mine.”
She gave him a smile as sharp as a sickle. “Then let the games begin.”
