Page 64 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

I blink hard. I didn’t see her at first, and now I feel a strange sensation, like I’m shrinking, dissolving into the floor. Theyaretogether.I want to groan because my ego is bruised.

I force a smile, determined to appear unbothered by the sight of them next to each other. “Good night, Lilith.”

My head feels floaty and my feet heavy as I walk across the high-gloss floor. Before I enter the drum of the revolving door, I take one final glance at Hercules.Damn it.He’s watching me and only turns away when he notices me looking at him.

I wonder what that means.

As soon as I’m outside, I raise my face to the gray sky. Snow flurries dot my cheeks, and the chill in the air matches my mood. I hate the snow just about as much as I loathe the unsettling feelings of jealousy, longing, and dread that have seized me. The snow is coming down harder. The ice stings my face. I focus on making it to my cozy apartment as fast as I can, although I’m considering putting an end this ruse I’ve allowed Max to convince me to participate in.

“Yes,” I whisper. Tomorrow will be my last day at VTI. And this time, I won’t change my mind.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Our New Reality

Paisley Grove

Ichanged my mind.

Yesterday evening could’ve been tough. Being alone at home, I could’ve obsessed over every interaction I had with Hercules that day. As it was, I couldn’t stop wondering how new his relationship with Lilith was. I thought about calling him several times just to ask him some random questions. I even considered calling him as Paisley instead of Lark just to take his temperature. I wanted to know if he’d hang up on me or behave as if he barely remembered me. But instead of doing something totally crazy like that, I got to work, even though I planned to quit the following day. I liked Mason and my team too much to let VTI hemorrhage more money and eventually be forced to end operations.

Oddly, Max never called. However, my mom left a message, inviting me to dinner on Saturday night with her bestie, Caroline, who’s visiting from California. Since I thought I’d be free to live as Paisley Grove by then, I replied,Sure, I’ll be there.

She responded,7:30 p.m. Miss you. Can’t wait to dine with you, my love.

I texted,Me too! Love you.

I was thankful that I didn’t have to figure out the logistics of getting to Greenwich, Connecticut, as Lark Davenport rather than as Paisley Grove. I wouldn’t even be able to get past the gate guards without giving them my real name.I wondered if my mom knew what I was doing for GIT and for Grandfather. The fact that she was asking me to risk being recognized as the rarely seen Grove daughter for something as inconsequential as having dinner with her and her best friend made me think that she didn’t.

Max would’ve told her, wouldn’t he?Max and my mom talk all the time, but maybe he didn’t tell her because she would have objected to me committing a crime.

And being at my mom’s house would be risky indeed. Every now and then, some guy with a camera can be found lurking in front of the neighborhood gates. Some of them are even crafty enough to finagle their way inside the gates. One photo of the Grove daughter is all it would take to end the ruse. Plus, the Valentines own an estate in my parents’ community. I’m pretty sure they watch my parents’ property just as closely as whomever Max has employed watches the Valentines’ piece of paradise.

To put an end to all of my vexing thoughts about family and Hercules, I took off my bra, put on a warm pair of pajamas, and got to work reading the code for every single one of VTI’s products. It was after midnight when I grabbed a panini from the refrigerator and discovered the unique quality of VTI’s byte compression technology. I was certain they didn’t understand the magnitude of what they had on their hands. After digging, I learned that they hadn’t even copyrighted the technology. All I would have had to do was send the string to my secure GIT, which can only be accessed by Max and Leo, with a note telling them to copyright the compression technology. And just like that, I would have stolen the thing that could lift Hercules’s company out of the red and into the black.

The thought of how easy it would be to steal from them gave me a stomachache, and it still does. So instead of double-crossing the Valentines, I spent more hours using their compression code to enhance TRANSPORT. By the wee hours of the morning, my results were so out-of-this-world amazing that I did a victory dance.I was able to take our test real-light-human-image, or RLHI, to a whole new level. Usually, there is a 0.933-second pause between the RLHI’s movements. However, once I compressed the code that activated the NZNN light functions, the RLHI’s movements were crisp and fluid.

This morning, I leave for work early after getting five hours of sleep. When I walk into our pod and see Mason already seated behind the desk in his office, I wave at him excitedly, ready to let him know that the first order of business for the day should be to get the compression technology copyrighted.

My enthusiasm fizzles when he stands up, grimacing, and waves me into his office. “Have a seat,” he somberly says as soon as I open the door.

I rub my tight chest, panicking, certain I’ve been discovered. He’s about to tell me that he’s disappointed with me and that I’m scum for lying to him. But I’m not ready to quit. I’m ready to plead for my job and offer up what I learned last night in exchange for a pass.

“What is it?” I ask, my words coming out choked.

Mason slumps in his chair. “Lilith suggested I fire Lake to lighten our load and take some pressure off our budget.”

I shake my head adamantly, deciding that I don’t like Lilith at all, and make my decision to stay. I cross my arms as I sit in the chair facing him. “No way. I need my entire team. Take whatever extra you need out of my salary instead.”

Mason’s eyebrows flit upward as if he’s intrigued by the option I just gave him. After a few seconds of thought, he shakes his head. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can,” I say, thinking about the thirty million sitting in my bank account.Heck, I could pay Lake’s salary for them.

“Are you flush with cash or something, Lark?” His tiny smirk tells me he’s being cynical. I don’t think he believes the answer to his question is yes.

“I have a trust fund.” That’s the truth. My grandfather’s trust pays me pretty well each month. “I don’t do this job for the money. So please, use my salary to keep my team intact. I insist.”

Mason falls back in his chair and taps his chin with his fingers, which are steepled under his chin. Then he abruptly drops his elbows onto the desk. “I can’t do that. I’m tempted, but I know HR won’t let us get away with it.” He sits back in his chair and observes me with narrowed eyes.