“The AI program that detects unusual patterns in the skin? Our breakthrough? That’s all her. She’s the mastermind behind it. She’s the reason we need the Wolfson deal.”
I sigh and gaze out over the cityscape before glancing behind me to see Sloane still in the kitchen, moving about. “She invented the system?”
“Yes. She’s a genius, Logan. She’s the future of the company. We can’t afford to lose her. Logan, you can’t scare her. We haven’t even finished writing the patent yet.”
“I think it’s too late for that,” I murmur, remembering the frightened look on her face.
“What did you do? It’s only been a few hours since you arrived last night, and that was in the middle of the night.”
“Nothing, I swear. But she must have heard the rumors about me.”
Liam exhales loudly. “Give her the apartment and move to a hotel.”
“No way. I’ll be meeting with Wolfson soon. I’m not wasting time moving around.”
“Logan.”
“Liam.”
“I promised her a dream apartment at the company’s expense.”
“Then she’ll get a dream hotel. Not a big deal.”
“Do you really think telling her to pack up and move isn’t a big deal? We can’t lose her, Logan. If she quits because of you, so do I.”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m not exaggerating. What will happen to the product if she doesn’t finish writing the patent?”
“Someone else will write it,” I say, mentally shrugging.
“Someone who has no idea what’s in there. And she has other great ideas. She submitted an idea for a system that recognizes metrics from a phone’s fingerprint sensor. Can you imagine how big it could be? This girl is a genius. Do you honestly want her to take all her ideas to the competition?”
I glance back into the kitchen and find Sloane staring back at me, her gaze unwavering. A shiver runs down my spine. “Okay, fine.”
“Really?”
“I said okay, didn’t I?”
“Don’t mess this up, Logan.” Liam hangs up, leaving me to ponder the mess he’s gotten me into. The mess I just agreed to.
I return to the kitchen, moistening my dry lips as I gather my thoughts. “You can stay. I’ll move to a hotel.”
“What? No,” she exclaims, her reaction catching me off guard.
I furrow my brow. Doesn’t she want to stay? After all this conversation, she wants to move? Dealing with interpersonal matters isn’t my forte—that’s Liam’s job. I handle deals, not people. Perhaps I should call him again and let him handle this.
“I meant, that it doesn’t make sense for you not to sleep in your apartment. You’re the CEO, and you have an excellent apartment here. You’re not supposed to sleep in a hotel. I’ll move to the hotel. That’s fine.”
Liam will kill me. He’ll impale my body on a stick and put me on display in the square for all to see. He’ll never believe me if I tell him she insisted on moving.
“No. You were promised something, and as the CEO ofthe company, I have to ensure that promises made to you are kept.”
A silent pause follows before she blurts, “We could both stay here. There are two bedrooms, and I would stay out of your way. I mean, if that’s not a problem for you.”
I shake my head. “That’s not a good idea,” I say, already envisioning the potential lawsuit against me. I’ll lose my temper over something trivial or say something inappropriate, and she’ll flee, screaming.
What did Liam say? An employee resigned because I created a hostile atmosphere? And I was only on the floor for five minutes. I can just imagine what could happen after a week.