Page 20 of Dan

“I agree,” said Hiro.

“Same,” said Eric. Sophia Ann smiled at the men.

“We thank you for your time, but the answer is no.” They started to close the elevator door, then Sophia Ann stuck her arm out. “One more thing. Even if all of those things were not an issue, if everything had gone perfectly, the idea of doing business with someone that has such a callous and cold attitude toward their own child, doesn’t set well with me. Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

The team said nothing in the elevator, knowing that the cameras were now back on, recording every sound, every movement. When the doors opened, they were relieved to be back on the main floor and headed out.

Two of the security agents stood in front of them. Eric tried to step around them, but they shuffled with his direction.

“You have two minutes to get out of my way,” he growled.

“Mr. and Mrs. Xavier asked that we keep you here. They have something else to speak to you about.”

“Tell them to write an e-mail. Now get the fuck out of my way.” One agent looked at the other, then moved. But the other didn’t budge. Tanner gripped his shoulder, squeezing as he bent, kneeling on the cold marble floor.

“Don’t ever try to block our path again,” he whispered. “Next time, I won’t be so kind.”

They left the man on the floor, aided by his coworkers, as they walked to their vehicle. As their car sped away, the Xaviers raced toward the doors to stop them. Frustrated, Zach hit the glass, screaming.

“Why didn’t you stop them?!”

“They were able to maneuver around us, sir,” said the agent.

“What do we do now?” asked Yancy. “Someone is going to have to tell him that we didn’t get the contract. He’s not going to be happy with us.”

“Don’t you think I know that? We’ll figure it out.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Pulling up to the compound, Sophia Ann looked at the three men, frowning at their expressions. She could see the others anxiously awaiting them and whatever news they’d brought back with them.

“I don’t think we tell Finley what her parents said,” frowned Sophia Ann.

“Honey, I think she’s going to know,” said Eric. “I don’t like lying to her.”

“It has to hurt,” said Sophia Ann. “That woman is brilliant, beautiful, and so amazingly special, and her parents obviously don’t see it.”

“Maybe they do,” said Hiro. The others stared at him. “Maybe they do see her brilliance, but she wasn’t using it for their profit. I mean, think about it. She could have been working for them, but she wasn’t. What do you think that means?”

“He’s right,” said Tanner. “I’m going to bet our little Finley wouldn’t play by her parents’ rules. And I’m going to bet that if I did some digging, I’m going to find out that Finley’s visits to the psych ward correlated with her refusal to help her parents with something in their business.”

“Shit,” muttered Eric. He looked at Tanner and Hiro, giving a nod. “Do it. Find out if that’s the truth. It’ll kill her, but she needs to know.”

Tanner and Hiro walked toward the offices, while Sophia Ann and Eric met the others in the cafeteria. They were anxiously awaiting to find out what had happened at YZX. Leaving none of the critical details out of the story, Eric went over everything that happened.

Finley’s face fell, the sadness palpable, which only served to make Eric angrier.

“Fin? Baby, it’s okay,” said Dan.

“No, it’s really not,” she said. “They told me they were going on another cruise when this whole time they were in their offices. They never bothered to try and find me, to call me, nothing. It doesn’t surprise me. It… I’m not sure what it does.”

“It hurts you,” said Paige, rubbing the young woman’s back. “It hurts to know that your parents treated you this way.”

Eric looked up to see Tanner and Hiro already walking back toward them. From the looks on their faces, he already knew the answer.

“Finley, did your parents ever try to get you to work for them?” asked Eric. Dan stared at the big man, then back at Finley. Shit.

“Yes. A few times,” she nodded. “When I was working for GAM Labs, they asked me to come and work for them. I signed a non-compete with GAM, so I couldn’t work for my parents’ company. Well, not until recently, anyway.”

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