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In the back of his mind, he heard C.P. promising she’d take care of him.
“Assuming that is true”—and Gus had no idea; he wasn’t a lawyer and all he’d cared about was the work, not the benefits—“why wouldn’t whoever buys Vita want me.”
“Because they’ll already have what you made. They won’t need you. They’ll have purchased the data, the research, and the formulation. Me? I want you. I’ll give you whatever runway you need to keep innovating, not just on this project, but anything else you want to do.”
Gus rubbed his face. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“In good time, my friend. That will come in good time. Think it over. You’re in business with someone who’s already cheated you. She knew her financial exposure when she hired you, and you signed a contract that cuts you out of any sale. Your deal with her is null and void if she takes the third-party route and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it—hell, you can’t even list this research on your résumé because then you’re going to have to explain under what circumstances you conducted your experiments. And even if you tell me you’re a Good Samaritan and are just in it for the science,then I’m going to remind you you’re doing the business of your convictions with a double-crossing swindler who has no principles. Not even when it comes to her key man.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” How many times had he said that? “You have no fucking clue.”
“Well, what a relief for you then, right?” That chuckle came back over the connection. “I’ll be calling you back in a matter of hours, Augustus. You’ve got a lot to think about.”
Before Gus could say another thing, the connection was cut.
As he took the phone from his ear, he went into his call log. “Blocked Caller” was all that appeared on the first line of the list.
“Shit,” he breathed as he stared at his monitor. “Fuck…shit.”
Oddly enough, given the conversation, he didn’t think about his employment contract.
He thought about going into that bathroom in C.P. Phalen’s study and seeing a man who only had twenty-four hours left to live zip up his pants. Which was stupid. Of all the things that could have been on his mind, that woman’s love life should not have been any kind of preoccupation.
Then again, she had always fucked him up.
What the hell did he do now?
TWENTY-SIX
LYDIA WOKE UPwith a start and the first thing she did was throw her arm out and pat around the bed next to her. When it became clear that Daniel wasn’t with her, she sat up and pushed her hair away from her face. Just as she was about to jump to her feet and bolt off to find him, she heard the shower running.
“Thank God,” she muttered as she shifted her legs over and stood up.
Putting her hands on the small of her back, she stretched and heard her spine crack. Then she padded into the bathroom.
Daniel was faceup to the spray, his head tilted back as he rinsed the shampoo out of the fuzz that was on his scalp, the suds running down his shoulders, his spine, the backs of his legs.
As if he sensed her, he twisted his torso around. “Oh, hi. I didn’t want to walk you—wake you, I mean.”
“Hi.” She glanced back at the bed. “I don’t know what time it is—”
“We’re creeping up on dinner.”
“What?” She shook her head. “You mean, I slept all day long?”
“Good thing it’s Saturday and you didn’t have to go to work, huh.”
“Ah, yeah. Wow.”
The fact that he didn’t turn all the way toward her made her wonder if he was hiding his body from her. She could understand why. The overhead light in the stall was on, and its harsh illumination was unforgiving.
But as she stared at him, she didn’t care what he looked like.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked softly.
“Oh, God, yes—” He shook himself. “I mean,no. I mean, come in. Please. Fuck.”
Her clothes came off so fast, it was as if they were as sick of her as she was of them—or maybe it was just that her hands, when properly motivated like this, could be really damned efficient with the buttons and the zippers and the over-the-head, down-the-legs stuff. The second she was naked, Daniel opened the glass door, and her eyes clung to his as she stepped into the warmth and humidity.
