Page 17 of Boss Level

I dropped her off on the way to the office, and promised to give her a call in a few hours, to see what she needed my help with during RinCon.

When I reached the Raphael Group offices, the buzz of excitement in the air was tangible. AcesPlayed wasn’t our only big property—we were tech investors, and we had half a dozen companies launching titles at RinCon this week.

The partners were taking last minute calls, taking friendly bets on who would get the most buzz, and taking large gulps of caffeine, to get them through the day.

While Aces wasn’t the only company having a big week, theirs was the only one that mattered to me, regardless of which of the others I had invested in. They had been one of our first buy-ins as a firm, and one of the longest to reach this point, and I was proud of every single second and cent spent.

With the memories of last night lingering in my head, and a week of incredible releases stretching out in front of us, it really did feel like I could own the world.

The instant I had the thought, I knew it was a mistake.

But it was a good thing I wasn’t superstitious and didn’t believe in jinxing things by challenging the universe.

7

judith

I’d helped make RinCon. Planned the very first year along with my then-colleagues. Watched our little few-hundred-person event grow into a global phenomenon. And I hadn’t been this anxious, this excited, about walking through the convention center doors, since that first year.

They wouldn’t be letting attendees in for a few more hours, but people had been buzzing here and there for a few days. Vendors setting up their booths. Rinslet employees setting up everything else.

Being here again was soothing. Familiar. It almost made me forget what an important week this was. So far the game launch had gone smoothly, so that was great. This was our next hurdle, though. We were the headliners of the show, since Scott McAllister, one of the owners of Rinslet, was also one of our primary investors.

It was good to know people at the top.

It was great to be one of the people at the top.

A splash of vibrant color caught my attention. A woman in red and black, bright amid the muddy mix of the carpet, approached Link—one of our developers. They were too far away for me to hear anything, and her back was to me, but her body language was guarded. Shy.

Link was defensive, which was the most disconcerting thing about the exchange. He wasn’t defensive with anyone.

The two talked for a moment, and then he led her into a side room.

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t care who my people fucked, but I’d rather they didn’t do it where we did business. And despite their insistence to the contrary, it was an open secret that Link and Elliot were at least a little together.

But they also hooked up with other people, and new company rules said they weren’t supposed to be fucking each other since Elliot was Link’s boss, so if this was Link’s way of obeying then non-fraternization rule, then good for him.

Or, he and the woman were just friends, and I should save my limited imagination for more important things.

I moved on to my next stop—the main hall where the biggest panels would be held.

Dustin had this entire setup thing under control, but I had to see it all for myself. I needed to know.

I found Reese—the lead singer from Plaid Peanut Butter—in the back of the room, pacing and inspecting. She was with Alys, another of our developers and her drummer. The band was performing at the opening ceremonies tonight, and while they couldn’t finish setting up in here until the day’s panels had run, there were some things they could put in place now.

They didn’t look up when I walked in. Reese finished what she was doing, beckoned Alys closer, and they talked in low voices with their heads bent together.

“And she thinks we haven’t seen her,” Reese said with a smirk, and looked up at me.

I shook my head. “I did think that, yes. How’s pre-setup going?” There was no need for small talk, not with everything going on, and Reese would understand that.

She shrugged. “Not bad.” She turned toward the stage. “It would be going better if Dustin could get the sound check right.” She raised her voice and it carried beautifully through the room, without the help of a mic.

“Sound is great.” Dustin’s voice crackled to life over the PA system, and he was cut off by a feedback whine that made all three of us wince. “Never mind. I’m on it.”

I should leave them to work.

“Is that a ring?” The awe in Alys’s voice stopped me.

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