A COUPLE OF hours later, Kayla was lost in the code of a program they’d scrapped the year before as unfeasible when a hand landed on her shoulder. She knew immediately whom that hand belonged to. “I’m busy, Andreas.”
“You’re not on a development team right now.”
“I’m the director of research and development. That means I get to choose what projects I work on.”
“So, what are you working on?”
“A program that will make Sebastian Hawk another hundred million if I can get it working.”
“We haven’t sold our company yet.”
“But we are selling it.”
“I don’t know, are we?”
She spun around to face Andreas. “Don’t play games with me, Andreas.”
He sighed, running his fingers through his jet-black hair, his green eyes troubled. “Yes, we’re selling.”
“When were you going to tell me?” She wanted to scream, to rail at him and demand answers to how he could rip everything out from under her on one go, but she wouldn’t.
For one thing, he wouldn’t understand. The fact they were standing here having this conversation at all told her that. For another, if she let out some of the pain, it would all come out and she wasn’t about to let that happen.
“After our meeting with Miss Patterson.”
“Why did you pull me into that?”
“She wanted to ask you some questions.”
“Why?” Kayla did her best to stop that one word coming out sounding like the pain-filled cry it was, but she could hear the ragged edges to her voice if he couldn’t.
Andreas winced. “You’re my closest friend.”
“And she interviews your friends?” How invasive was that?
“Yes.”
“What happened to separating personal from business?”
“We’ve managed to stay friends.”
They had until today.
Did he have any idea how arrogant he sounded, or how hurtful his words were? No, of course he didn’t. Andreas was so far removed from human feelings, it was scary sometimes.
“We’re such good friends, you didn’t bother to tell me you wanted to get married. That you’d hired some high-priced matchmaker to make it happen. You didn’t talk over the plan with me, much less the plan to sell our company. Yeah, we’re great friends.” The sarcasm was so thick in her voice there was no way even Mr. Clueless himself could miss it.
“I did tell you about Genevieve.” He frowned, completely ignoring the issue of KJ Software. “Today.”
Kayla felt a headache coming on behind her left eye. “Friends talk about that kind of thing before they do it.”
“How would you know?”
“I just do.” She might not have a lot of friends, but she had more than he did. “I know how to be a friend.”
His green gaze narrowed. “Are you saying I don’t?”
“Unless it comes to throwing money at a problem, I’m going to go with no on this one.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that because I am aware you are upset over the sale of the company.”
How magnanimous of him.
She rubbed her temple. It didn’t help the growing headache. Only one thing would. Ending this conversation. “Bradley would have told me.”
“I pay him well, but not enough to hire Genevieve Patterson’s services. It would not have come up.”
“He doesn’t need them.” When Bradley decided to settle down, he would do things the old-fashioned way. He’d look for someone he loved.
“Is that relevant?”
Her hand tightened around the stylus she’d been using to take notes. “To you? Probably not.”
“Bradley is not my friend. He is my employee.” Andreas grimaced.
“He’ll figure that out right away when he finds out you’re selling the company and making his position redundant.”
“I plan to take Bradley with me.”
She wasn’t surprised, but looked into Andreas’s green gaze for confirmation of his words. Her trust factor was at an all-time low with this man right now. “Into your venture capital firm?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” She wanted Bradley to be okay. And he worked well for Andreas.
Andreas smiled, that winner’s grin. The one he used when he was sure things were going his way. “You’ll have enough from the sale of the company to participate materially in the new company.”
“No.” She’d made plans for the money going public would give her. Changing the source of that windfall to an outright sale wouldn’t change her plans.
“We make a good team.”
“No.”
For the first time, Andreas looked disconcerted. “You haven’t even heard me out.”
“There’s nothing to hear. I’m not interested in changing careers. I love what I do and I plan to keep doing it.”
“You’d start a new business in competition with Hawk? Do I need to remind you that business is not your strong suit?”
Oh, if she were a violent woman! He’d have a hand-sized print on his cheek right now. Just to take that smug look off his face. “No. If I wanted to start my own software development company, I’d find a partner. But I don’t see any reason to leave this one. Sebastian Hawk respects my abilities and I’m sure he realizes that without me, the software development department would be crippled.”
Especially if she took the team with her.
“You have a high opinion of your abilities.”
“You used to too.”
“I still do.”
She didn’t reply to that. In fact, she was done talking. Kayla turned back to her computer and changed a line of code before inserting the new series she’d written over the last hour.
“Kayla.”
“Go away, Andreas.”
“Genevieve wants to meet with you.”
“I don’t know why. Anything she needs to know, she can send me an email.”
“I thought we could meet together.”
Because that went so well the first time around. “Go away, Andreas.”
If she kept saying it, he would eventually obey. Everyone did. Even Andreas.
He said her name again. She ignored him, putting in her earbuds and turning on her favorite work playlist. She began typing.
He stood behind her a lot longer than she expected, but after the second song, he was finally gone.
Kayla’s