Page 6 of The Deception: Hercules Valentine and I
An Hour Later
Arms crossed, I’m grinning from ear to ear, proud of myself after showing Mason how the RLHI moves if VTI’s compression technology is applied to it.
He’s studying me dubiously.
“What is it?” I ask. I thought he’d be jumping up and down, celebrating.
“How the hell were you able to manipulate GIT’s code?”
I shrug. “Because I’m good at what I do.”
I know I’ve gone too far, but I don’t care. Also, breaking into my family’s software is nothing short of a good play on my part. My actions confirm Lark’s loyalty to VTI.
“And you're saying we’ve had this technology all along?”
“Yes, Mason, that's exactly what I'm saying. And we need to copyright it today—like, five minutes ago.”
“Shit.” He falls back into his seat as if he’s out of breath.
When Lake walks into the pod, her face drops, but I wave at her. Wearing a frail smile, she waves back. It’s too soon for her to know for certain that I would never make a play for my friend’s crush. But all she has to do is read the look on Mason’s face to know I would have no chance with him even if I wanted one.
His cellphone rings, and he’s jolted out of his haze of watching Lake. “This is Mason.” He blinks at me until he thrusts himself forward in his seat. “What?” He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You know where to meet me.” After Mason hangs up, he stands and snatches his keys and cellphone off his desk. “Package the compression and then send it to Julie for copyright. We’ll talk more later,” he says before rushing out the door.
After Lake watches him leave, she looks at me and raises her eyebrows. I shrug, letting her know I have no idea what made him have to rush out of her life for the moment. I’m pretty sure she’s beyond disappointed, though. I would be if I were in her shoes and if Mason were Hercules.
Last night, he left with Lilith.I groan before walking out of Mason’s office. The memory actually makes my whole body hurt. But as soon as I sit down at my desk, I get an idea of how to exponentially boost product sales right away.
“What was that about?” Lake asks.
I’m a bit distracted because the plan is still building in my mind, so I raise a finger, asking her to give me a few seconds to finish visualizing lines of symbols, codes, and commands. Suddenly, I stand back up. “I’ve got it.”
“Got what?”
I flex my eyebrows twice. “The answer.”
* * *
