Page 155 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

“That look that was on your face. What did it mean?”

She ties to smile convincingly and fails. “It’s nothing.”

“Bullshit. Tell me. What did Max do?”

Jillian is the editor in chief and cofounder of Tick Tech Today. Before VTI fired me, I was waiting for the perfect moment to contact Jillian and ask if she would consider writing an article about VTI’s Shop-a-Lot. That moment would’ve come soon after I told Hercules the truth and if he decided I could keep my job. I wouldn’t have left. Boy would that have ruffled feathers in our families.

Jillian’s sigh is laced with anxiety and heaviness.

“What did he do?” I insist.

She glances at me. “You’re not the first person your brother sent into a competitor’s company to steal from them.”

That’s not news to me. However, the fact that someone outside our family and close circle of confidantes knows this is more than news to me—it’s alarming.

Jillian steals another glance at me. Her eyebrows are severely wrinkled. “You’re not surprised?”

I shake my head. “No. What are you going to do with that knowledge?”

“What the hell, Paisley? How cool you are about what he’s done surprises me.”

“My reaction shouldn’t surprise you.”

She grunts. “You’re right. You know where all the bodies are buried, including your own.”

“Not all of them,” I admit.

“Well, I wrote the article. It was published yesterday morning. By noon, I was…”

“Roadkill?” I ask.

“Roadkill.”

Now, I’m fully awake. One of my best friends has poked a ferocious beast. Knowing my brother, he won’t stop until he destroys her. And Max should know that people I love are off limits.

“Okay, Jill, start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”

She tells me how she published the article about GIT’s CEO’s practice of annihilating their competitors. She had three sources on the record. But now those sources are saying they never went on record with Jillian and what she wrote is a lie. She owns the publication and therefore refuses to print a retraction.

“I had my sources on record via email and one recording, but now those proofs are missing from my computer and the network.”

“Okay.” I put my hand on Jillian’s shoulder.

“What?” she asks, alarmed by my sudden burst of excitement.

“Do you have Killer Firewall.”

“Of course.”

I sigh as I rest comfortably in my seat again. “Okay then. I’ll get you your social proofs back.”

Her jaw drops as her attention splits between me and the road. “What? You can do that?”

“Yes, I can.” I raise a finger. “And I’m going to talk to him too.”

“No,” she gasps. “Do not say anything to him. That’s not why I told you.”

I turn to face her. “Jillian, if you’re on Max’s shit list, then there’s nothing you can do. He’s going to keep coming for you, until I stop him. Especially after you have your proofs in hand.”