Page 40 of Tributary

“Why would I accept that offer from you?”

“Why the hell would you refuse it? Give me one reason—”

“I want to do this myself,” I shriek at him, totally losing my cool. “I have to do this myself or he wins, don’t you see that?”

“Diana, you have done everything on your own. You’ve cultivated the right partnerships with computer engineers. You’ve developed some sort of magic plant you can clone. Are you seriously going to deny yourself the offer of seed money?”

“And just what do I do in return for that money, Asa? Fuck you a few more times? Sign a lease agreement maybe, with some extra pages stuck in? Suck your cock the third Tuesday of every month?”

“That’s not fair.”

He’s right, of course. It’s not fair for me to accuse him of any of that, but it’s not fair of him to deceive me, to come in my space and try to buy me like that. “Look, Asa, I’m not going to take your money. I’m just not going to do that.”

This time he stands up and grabs his tux jacket from the back of the couch. “Then maybe you really are a fool,” he says. He walks toward the elevator without looking back.

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