Page 20 of The Deception: Hercules Valentine and I

“Gorgeous, you’re going to have to explain that to me, because all I see is your team playing with a goddamn video game. And we’re not a video-game company.”

“Watch yourself, Orion,” Hercules barks.

Everyone appears stunned by his outburst. Smirking, Orion winks at him.

“It’s not the game itself,” I say loudly enough that both brothers can put their focus back on me. “It’s the technology. The depth of interaction is novel. And the reason we were able to create this sort of user experience is because of VTI’s existing compression technology.”

“I put a rush on the copyright,” Mason adds. “It should be approved before the weekend.”

I flip my thumb up. “That’s great.

Orion’s mouth opens and then closes. His eyes narrow like he’s pondering everything I just said.

I set my focus on Lilith. “And to answer your question, I see no reason why we can’t make a big push to—”

“Compression technology, huh?” Orion says, his voice strongly filling the room.

“Yes. VTI’s existing compression technology is a cut above the rest.” I explain how I was able to modify it here and there to make it more flexible.

Orion folds his arms. “Meaning?”

“Enough!” Hercules roars. He’s on his feet and has his hands up, motioning me to halt. “You were not invited to this meeting, Orion.”

Orion shakes a finger at me. “Adjust your attitude, Herc. You and I are on the same page for once. I like what she’s saying.”

“Then when we’re ready, we’ll set up a meeting with you.”

Grinning, Orion snorts facetiously. “I bet you will.”

Hercules glares at him as if he wants to rip his head off. There’s a lot of subtext going on between them—and I’m not the only one trying to figure it out.

“Miss…” Orion booms, and he narrows an eye at me. “Davenport. What do you think about flying cars?”

That’s odd—the way he says my name. Similar to Hercules, Orion’s eyes command a person’s complete attention, and he certainly has mine.

“What about them?” I say, almost sounding robotic.

“What do you think about producing those instead of video games?”

Mason bounds to his feet. “That’s enough. This meeting’s over. We all know what to do to get it out the door.”

I shoot my hand up. “Wait!” I have the attention of everyone present. “Flying cars are not an impossibility.”

Mason and Hercules pass each other a look.

“I’m listening,” Orion says.

“VTI had this compression technology sitting in the vault, waiting to be utilized to its fullest potential, long before I arrived. So let’s take a flying car, for example.”

Orion folds his arms over his puffed-up chest. “Yes, let’s take the flying car, for example.”

My eyes pass over Hercules. At least he’s not frowning. But I wish I knew what he was thinking.

“Orion—may I call you that?”

He sharpens his steely stare. I’m certain it’s the look that makes it hard for my cousin to forget him. “Yes, you may,” he replies.

“Why flying cars?”