The Merger

I make it three blocks from Morrison Tech before the fury hits me like a tidal wave.

Not the clean, professional anger I maintained in Jake's office. This is something primal and raw, the kind of rage that comes from being hunted by someone who's already devoured you once.

I duck into the first coffee shop I see-some artisanal place with exposed brick and the kind of aggressively trendy atmosphere that normally makes me roll my eyes. Right now, I need caffeine and privacy to process what just happened.

What Jake Morrison just tried to do to me.

"Rough meeting?" asks the barista, a girl with purple streaks in her hair and enough piercings to set off airport security.

"You could say that," I mutter, finding a corner table where I can sit with my back to the wall and plan my next move.

Because that's what this is-strategy. War. Jake Morrison thinks he can waltz back into my life with his expensive suits and his fake remorse and somehow convince me to hand over everything I've built.

He thinks he can manipulate me again.

I pull out my phone and call Elena before the rage can consume my ability to think clearly.

"How did it go?" she answers on the first ring. "Please tell me you destroyed him."

"Elena." I take a sip of my latte and immediately burn my tongue. "It's worse than we thought."

"Worse how? Did he lowball you? Because I found three other companies that would-"

"He's obsessed with me."

The line goes quiet for so long I think the call dropped.

"Elena?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you said he's obsessed with you."

"That's exactly what I said." I lean back in my chair, trying to organize my thoughts. "This isn't just about acquiring a competitor, Elena. This is personal. He's been tracking my career, my success, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

"Okay, walk me through it. Everything. And don't leave out any details about whether he's still criminally attractive, because that's relevant to his manipulation tactics."

Despite everything, I almost smile. "You have a one-track mind."

"I have survival instincts. If he's gorgeous and rich and potentially obsessed with you, that's a dangerous combination. Talk."

So I tell her everything. The corner office designed to intimidate, the way his mask slipped when he saw me, the predatory focus in his eyes when he said my name. The business terms that are too generous to be real, and the way he positioned himself in my space like he had the right to be there.

"And then he had the audacity to call what he did to me a 'mistake,'" I finish, my voice getting sharp with remembered fury. "Like stealing my work and destroying my confidence was just some minor error in judgment."

"What did you say to that?"

"I reminded him that it was a choice. That he chose to betray me, chose to let me look like a fool, chose to build his empire on the foundation of my stolen ideas." I can feel the anger building again, hot and clean and clarifying. "He didn't like that very much."

"Good. What else?"

I hesitate, not sure how to explain the way Jake looked at me when he talked about working together. The heat in his voice when he said my name. The way my body responded despite my brain screaming warnings.