Page 17 of Sinner

“When were you planning on springing that bullshit onto us?” Christopher asked.

I chuckled seeing the mischievous grin on Wilder’s face. “Right now,” he answered. “It’s a perk for the employees and we need to keep the company in the public eye as much as possible. So, you’ll all be in attendance.”

“Where?” I asked, although I couldn’t care less. Yes, it was a necessary evil, but irritating, nonetheless.

“The Waldorf Astoria. You know how much I value that hotel.” Wilder meant he’d enjoyed a particular dark and kinky night there a few months before.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Elizabeth said. “We deserve to celebrate given all the trials and tribulations we’ve been through in getting this creation on track.”

She was right about that. We’d caught two hackers, three individuals who’d attempted to break into the production facility and several reporters had been hounding us. A true pain in the ass.

“Now that we have that settled. Are there any issues with the headset devices?” Christopher Canton was not only the corporate attorney, but he also served on the board. Some competitors said it was a conflict of interest. Pretty much none of the Blackwell Group executives gave a shit what anyone else thought.

Had we succumbed to gossip and concern about ratings and marketability, we would never have acquired so much success.

“All the small glitches have been handled,” Elizabeth Reynolds said. She’d been in charge of production as well as keeping word of development off the streets. We’d gone to great lengths to ensure we had a full lockdown on the software and the idea. Notonly was it violent as so many of our games were, but the various levels also catered to every man and woman’s darkest fantasies.

When various keys were unlocked, points won, doors were opened to the vast world of 3D imaging and more. It was holographs on steroids while allowing you to feel every electric sensation, every pang of terror. The game had been in the works for almost two years. Since Elizabeth preferred to spend almost all her time in the production facility located miles from headquarters, she had no true understanding of the pitch-black creations we had in mind.

“Excellent,” Wilder said as he smiled at her.

With new technology, the sky was the limit.

Whatever you asked for, you’d get.

As long as you paid the price, often not in terms of money spent on a game or headset. I smirked at the thought, realizing I was now the one twisting the obsidian stone ring on my finger. Everyone in the private society was given one after their admittance, and we were expected to always wear it. So it would seem I was itching to engage in the yearly contest.

“How has our upper tier of gamers enjoyed the new toy?’ I challenged everyone, but Elizabeth was quick to answer.

“We’ve received some of the highest black stars of any game produced. They are loving it.” She even had a gleam in her eyes, a rarity.

Black stars, a way of making their approval known. We offered perks to customers who’d been with us the longest including an advance copy of every new game. As long as they provided a review to a list of qualified sources.

“Are there any concerns about the release?” Zachariah asked.

“There’s one issue that’s been brought forth.” Christopher glanced around the table. I could tell he was more troubled than he’d let on. “I just discovered and confirmed that Merrick Corporation has a similar game being released about the same time as ours.”

What the fuck?

I slammed my hand on the table while sitting up straight. “Why was this just brought to our attention?”

“Because my kid showed me a preview game that had been sent to him by mistake.” Christopher huffed. “He’s nine and the game is clearly X-rated.”

“Well, fuck. How did Joel Merrick get ahold of our plans?” Wilder asked the question while staring straight at Elizabeth. “We were on a lockdown after the crap we’ve already been through.”

She didn’t flinch in the least. The woman was tough as nails. “I assure you not from one of our employees. They know what consequences they’d face and their emails and cellphones are swept every week. There have been no breaches in security shown on the cameras.”

An excellent security measure, but not necessarily foolproof. It wasn’t unheard of that details and designs were pilfered from the competition, but we’d put a hell of a lot of money into the project.

“Then release the game earlier than anticipated. We get the jump on them.” My suggestion was met with raised eyebrows.

“That could create several problems with advertising,” Zach said. I could tell his wheels were turning. “Plus, the great gala.”

“Maybe so, but Xander is right. Unless something drastic changes with what happens around Merrick’s release, we need to get our product on the shelves and up on our website. We pay the fucking advertising firm enough money they will bend to our needs. Period.” Wilder gave everyone a harsh look, but he ended by shifting his darker gaze from Zach to me.

The two of us knew what he was communicating. There were no words needed between the three of us. Our blood was tainted, entirely different than most. We thought alike in almost every aspect.

“I’ll take care of talking with the advertising company,” Christopher offered. “Just so we’re fully aware of our options.”

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