Page 3 of Takeover
"You are fascinating, Just Gwen."
"I'm glad you approve.Enjoy the benefit."Then I turned.I had a speech to give.The last one I was ever going to give in my mother's memory.
And instead of rehearsing a proper goodbye, I’d ended up bickering with some idiot on the balcony.
Not just any idiot.Atticus Price.
I knew Pendragon Tech and their reputation for corporate raiding.I didn't know anything about Atticus, but his company’s reputation was well earned.Which made him, despite his beautiful face and sexy godlike smile, firmly in the look-but-don't-touch category.I had enough on my plate without salivating over a man, even if that man was somewhere between an avenging angel and demon all in one.Besides, I knew what shattering heartache men like that could cause, and I made a vow to stay away from the likes of him.Besides, I couldn't go back if I wanted to.I had a speech to give in my mother's honor.
And given all the buzzing from my clutch, everyone was looking for me.
I had messages from my sister, Morgan, my best friend, Lance, my father, and my stepmother.It was time to perform.I had to report for duty.It didn't matter how I felt.
I slipped my feet into the shoes I had ditched before going out to the balcony, and my toes were almost grateful because at least now they were covered.I still had the bottle of champagne in my hand as I hurried down the hall and made a hard turn and ran straight into my sister.The force of our contact almost knocked me on my ass.
"Easy does it, Gwen,” Morgan said.“Come on.You have to go give this speech.I still can't believe we won’t be doing this benefit anymore."
"Yeah well, I think we’ve got bigger problems."
I didn't know how much Morgan knew about the trouble Becks Incorporated was in.Our dad had made a series of investments, attempting to grow too fast, and now we were struggling.I spent most of my days trying to find investors.Someone had to give us an influx of cash.
Morgan was still in school, and I didn't want to worry her.She’d struggled so much when mom died.She hadn’t spoken for a solid year.My father had been a useless wreck, so I’d had to take care of her.I’d been the one sitting with the nanny in her speech pathology appointments.
But we’d worked hard and with therapy, she was more and more like the Morgan I’d grown up with.She would survive a slight emotional jostle.At least I hoped she would.I might crumble under the weight of saving my company and having to go back to that terrified worried place emotionally.
Besides, our grandfather had left us trust funds.I'd used mine to start a small software company a few years ago, and much like my father, I had struggled.But once Morgan graduated, she’d have access to hers and she would never have to depend on my father for anything.
The tech bros had not exactly been supportive of a woman-founded software team.And finding other investors had been difficult, though the software was superb.Our pride and glory was our predictive AI algorithm.
So much so that my father had decided to invest in us, pulling my company in as a subsidiary of his own.But he had over extended himself, and now he was trying to sell us off.So there was that.
“You ready?”Morgan asked, pulling me out of my haze of self-pity.
I found the strength to smile at my sister."Yeah, of course."
"That's my Gwen, always prepared."
I could hear the door of the balcony opening behind us, and I purposely dragged my sister along as she turned to try and look at who was coming off the balcony.
"Was there someone out there with you?"
"Nope."I lied tightly.
Morgan laughed."Okay, then why are you running from there?Slow down."
"I'm just in a hurry to get on stage, okay?"
"Right.You don't want to tell me who was out there?"
"Nobody important."
"Oh my God, Gwen, did you meet someone out there?"
"Morgan, I have more on my plate than thinking about whether there's a swipe left on someone or not."
She rolled her eyes."It's swipe right.And obviously, the fact that you don't know that by now says a lot about your dating life."
"Which we're not discussing."
