36. Shane
“Shane, Linc, I’d like you to meet Dr. Jasper Still.” Lex waves us over to a tall, thin man with glasses half the size of his face. “He leads research and development for the Earthware Institute.”
“Oh, wow,” Linc eagerly takes the man’s hand for a vigorous shake. “I’ve been following your work in renewable energy storage for a while now. Real pleasure to meet you.”
Lex’s eyes sparkle as she watches Linc gush over Dr. Still, her gaze flashing to mine. She leans closer, her voice low.
“I’m not sure you’ll get a word in edgewise,” she teases.
I chuckle. We’re at the Summit’s closing happy hour, the marbled foyer full of people. Several bars and hors d’oeuvres tables are set up around the edges. Lex had been weaving us through the crowd all night, introducing us to business leaders and technology visionaries along the way.
“Do you know everyone here?” I whisper, smirking.
“These communities are small, when it comes down to it.”
“There are two thousand people here.”
She shrugs. “Sure. Half are investors like me, about a quarter are established companies looking to acquire or recruit, and the rest are hopefuls. Those lines get blurry when you’ve been in the game as long as I have; lots of the same faces show up.”
I scan the crowd. “Where’d you leave Dec?”
“I introduced him to Morris, the Greenstar Labs CEO.”
My eyebrows rise. “That’s…an interesting move.”
“They see the potential in your tech, even if they invested in the wrong person. Seems like a valuable connection for you all to have.” She glances over my shoulder, as though scoping out her next target. “Uh oh, look sharp. Livingstons incoming.”
“Livingstons? You mean–”
She sighs deeply, the corner of her mouth quirking into a rueful smile. “Well, hello again, Nate. Reginald.”
Anger settles in my belly as I turn to regard Lex’s family. Her brother made an impression the day prior, and not a good one. I can’t imagine her father will be much better, especially after the crumbs Lex had dropped about her childhood.
Nate and Reginald Livingston are moving as though they intend to walk right past us. It’s Nate who acknowledges Lex first. He slows, clapping a firm hand to his father’s shoulder to stop him as the older man attempts to ignore her completely. Fucking prick.
“Lex. How has the Summit been for you?” Nate asks.
I can’t imagine a more uncomfortable family dynamic than the one taking shape before me, and I grew up with an absent father and a desperately ill-equipped mother. Anxious energy emanates from Nate, while Reginald quietly seethes. Lex’s talent for remaining calm suddenly makes sense. Caught between these two, it’d be more survival technique than strategy.
“Enlightening,” she quips, her eyes glinting with equal parts mischief and challenge. “And for you?”
He nods slowly. “I’d say the same.”
Their father huffs. “I don’t have all day, Nathaniel. I’m sure you aren’t stupid enough to bring me here in an ill-fated attempt to facilitate some sort of…” he waves his hands aimlessly, “reconciliation.”
Lex laughs brightly, drawing the eyes of most folks around us. They answer her mirth with smiles before turning back to their own conversations.
“I wouldn’t dream of a reconciliation with you, Reginald. That ship sailed long ago, didn’t it?”
The words could’ve sounded pleading coming from someone else, someone less…composed. From Lex, they’re teasing and confident. Whether the men in her family can see it or not, Lex holds the power.
“And where’s Anne-Marie?” Lex asks, her expression suggesting she knows something I don’t.
Nate tips a brow at her in warning. “She caught an early flight home.”
Lex tsks, eyes sparkling. “Such a shame. I wanted to go a second round after Declan’s presentation. Would’ve been fun.”
I can see Nate fighting a smile. Maybe he’s not a lost cause.
“Forgive me,” Lex says, putting her hand to her heart briefly. “Shane, please meet Nate and Reginald Livingston. Gentlemen, this is Shane Kelly, lead engineer at Solum Technologies.”
Acting as though Lex didn’t speak, Reginald harrumphs. “Nathaniel, I must insist we go.”
“Shane, it’s good to meet you. You’re the one who led the RD for Terra?” Nate turns to me, ignoring his father completely.
Reginald’s cheeks redden as he sputters.
“I am.”
“Yesterday, you mentioned heat and wind in your presentation–”
“Not this again,” the elder Livingston barks. “There’s no use in talking to them about any of this, Nathaniel. The deal is done and the tests are sound.”
My gaze narrows. “What deal?”
“None of your concern, boy.”
What an absolute asshat. I glance at Lex, a few pieces of her story falling into place.
“Reginald.” Lex’s tone is firm and full of warning. It isn’t lost on me that she doesn’t protest his crass regard toward her or Nate, but the second he lashed out at me, she was quick to admonish him.
“With the State–” Nate starts, Reginald spluttering and attempting to interrupt.
I hold up a hand to silence him, keeping my focus on Nate. “You won the deal for the schools?”
“We did,” he confirms. “In the presentation yesterday, your CEO mentioned concerns with test results involving high heat and wind.”
“That’s right. We only recently found the right combination of form factor and organic composition to solve for them.” My eyes flick from Lex to her brother. “Has Greenstar changed the formula they bought from Anne-Marie?”
Nate’s lips purse. “Nothing significant. But the test results we have don’t show any issues.”
“Nathaniel, it is highly inappropriate to be sharing any of this with a competitor.” Reginald tries to physically insert himself into the conversation, moving to step between me and Nate.
“We’re not a competitor,” I snap, holding an arm out to keep him at bay. “Greenstar is peddling our stolen tech, and a flawed version at that. If you plan to build schools with it, you’re as criminal as you are foolish.”
“Excuse me?!” Reginald booms.
He’s loud enough to pull the attention of the people around us, confused expressions flitting before landing on our small group to watch.
“Maybe we should–” Nate starts, looking around as though seeking a more private place for us to continue the conversation.
“Shane’s right,” Lex insists, her gaze hard on her father. “This issue is bigger than intellectual property theft. Fulfilling that contract without serious changes to the product is dangerous.”
“Watch your tongue, Alexandra. You will not talk down to me.”
While he oscillated from blustering to dismissive before, Reginald’s demeanor turns icy and threatening when he confronts Lex. His eyes narrow, mouth turned down at the corners. As I watch him face off with the woman who was arguably more successful than he’d ever be, I realize something. Reginald Livingston sees his daughter as a massive fucking threat. Maybe he’s not a complete idiot.
To her credit, Lex just stares back at him impassively. “That look might’ve worked when I was a child, Reginald, but it has no effect now. I don’t know how you operate things at Price, but at Athena we put the safety and good of the community before all else.”
Reginald’s eye twitch as she references his company by his partner’s name. I attempt to fight a grin. Fucking savage.
“I’m not sure what you’re implying–”
“I’ll spell it out for you, then, shall I?” Her head tilts predatorily, making my blood sing. She’s a goddamn queen amongst peasants.
“If, knowing what you know, you don’t counsel Greenstar to reconsider their deal with the State, you’ll not only be grossly negligent, you’ll be criminally liable. Now, you never let me know much about what was happening at Price, but I assume the legal team and board are both still fiercely conservative when it comes to risk? You know, since the argument about dying children doesn’t do it for you.”
“You little bitch, how dare–”
I stiffen, my lip curling up in a sneer as I take a half step forward, putting my body between Lex and her father. I don’t fucking think so–
“That’s enough,” Nate barks, hauling Reginald back by the collar as he aggressively steps toward Lex. “I told you I would handle this.”
Nate physically turns his father away as Lex watches, her expression stoic and body relaxed. She hadn’t flinched as Reginald attacked her.
“Your input is not required, Father,” Nate presses. “I’ll catch you up when we’re both back in the States.”
“You will not dismiss me, Nathaniel, I–”
“Respectfully,” Nate bites out, eyes hard, “if you can’t deescalate the situation, then I will. I told you last night I’d handle this. I fucking meant it.”
The two men stare at one another for a drawn out moment, Reginald’s flush gradually darkening.
“We will have words–”
“I’m sure we will. Good night.”
“In case you were looking for an exit, Reginald, that was it.” Lex regards the older man coolly, one hand in her pocket and the other relaxed by her side.
I think Reginald is going to demand to get the last word, but Lex doesn’t give him the opportunity. Turning to Nate and giving her father her shoulder, she places a hand on her brother’s arm and urges him toward the bar.
“We should get a drink. I’m sure you have questions for Shane.”
Reginald’s lips part, his eyes darting between his children with an unreadable expression on his face. Nate goes willingly, and Reginald licks his lips as his brow creases and he turns to me. I smirk. Here we go.
“Shane,” Lex calls, “it’s not worth it.”
Tilting my head in deference, I step back and turn to follow her and Nate. Before I go far, Dec’s voice sounds behind me. Where’d he come from? Slowing to a halt, I tip my ear toward them to listen.
“Reginald Livingston, right?”
“That’s right. And you are?”
“Someone who can see what you’re too willfully ignorant to acknowledge.”
“I beg your pardon?” Reginald blusters.
“That woman is smarter and more driven than any man here, you included. You could’ve handed her your business and watched it flourish.” Dec’s voice is low, rough. “But you didn’t, did you?”
“Listen here–”
“No. For once in your life, Reggie, you need to listen,” Dec seethes. “I hope your regret over letting someone as cunning and brilliant as Lex slip through your fingers eats at you every moment of every day. I hope you look in the mirror and are ashamed of the fool you were when you tried to hold her back.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I see Reginald blow out an aggravated breath, his eyes wide and flush creeping down his neck. Dec stands close, jaw set and fist clenched at his side.
“You know what?” Dec leans back, regarding the older man with disdain. “Lex is right. You’re not worth it. Just another pompous asshole grasping for scraps of power. You? You’re nothing.”
He chuckles, low and menacing. “But her? She’s everything. I hope you enjoy watching her build a legacy in spite of you, old man. And I hope it fucking kills you when you realize the world has already forgotten your name.”
Looking down, I smile. Atta boy, Dec. My friend slaps his hand against my shoulder as he reaches me, steering us both after Lex and Nate without a backwards glance. Chuckling, I shove my hands in my pockets. Now if you can be as good a man to her as you are for her, brother, we’ll get somewhere.