Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: A Shot of Confidence

Allison's POV

He looked like he’d just seen a ghost.. my ghost. A slow cold smile touched my lips. This was too good.

“Be careful, Derek Boyega,” I said, my voice cutting through the corporate murmur. “You look like you just shit your pants.”

A wave of low rumbling chuckles traveled around the huge table. Executives and investors, all men who thought they were sharks were now laughing at my joke. At his expense.

Derek’s head snapped toward the sound, his famous temper flashing in his eyes as he gave them all a furious glare. It was like music to me. He finally slumped into a seat with his whole body tense with confusion.

Mission accomplished.

I let myself enjoy it for exactly three more seconds enjoying the satisfaction of seeing him so thrown.. so completely off his game. Then I pushed him out of my mind. He was a relic.. today was about the future.

“Now,” I said, clicking the button for my presentation. “Let’s talk about unbreakable code.”

***

An hour later, it was over. I’d killed it. The screen behind me flashed ‘LunaTech: Revolutionizing Encryption’ to a round of genuine enthusiastic applause.

People stood up, gathering in little groups and a few immediately made a beeline for me.

“Brilliant presentation, Ms. Hayes.” “Our firm would be very interested in a meeting.” “Absolutely revolutionary.”

I shook hands, accepted business cards and smiled my polished CEO smile. And then I felt him.. his presence was like a cold draft in a warm room and I turned slowly.

Derek had approached our little circle and perhaps for the first time he looked nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Allison,” he started, nodding stiffly at the men around me. “Can we… can we talk? Privately?”

The men dispersed and I made a show of checking my diamond-encrusted watch. A gift to myself when LunaTech turned its first million in profit.

“You have ten minutes, Derek,” I said, my voice all business. “LunaTech isn’t going to run itself.”

I led him a few steps away just enough for privacy. He just stared at me for a moment like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

“Is it true?” he finally blurted out. “Are you really the CEO of LunaTech?”

The simple question was a key, twisting in a lock I thought I’d sealed shut and it threw me back not to a memory but to a montage of pain.

I experienced yet again the sting of his rejection and his cold words.. the feel of the road under my feet as I ran from those rogues with my heart shattered into a million pieces.. the smell of those rogues and the crushing weight of them on top of me with the taste of dirt and blood in my mouth.

I recalled the deafening gunshot that saved me from rape and then waking up in a small cozy cabin with every bone in my body aching and an old man handing me a bowl of soup.

“You’re safe now, girl,” he’d said. “You rest.”

I had rebuilt my life in Truckee, California. Population.. not enough to bother a runaway werewolf.

I worked.. I waited tables, I fixed computers for locals, I saved every penny and I built a server in the old man's garage. I coded until my eyes burned but the pain was fuel and the betrayal was a blueprint. I would build something he could never break and I called it LunaTech.

I blinked, pulling myself back to the present, to the confused man in the expensive suit who had indirectly given me everything by taking it all away.

“Surprised?” I asked, my voice even.

“A year, Allison. It’s only been a year. You’re… different.”

“I grew up. Someone had to.”

I saw him take a breath with that familiar look of rehearsed apology on his face. He was going to say he was sorry. Sorry? Sorry doesn’t cover it..!

I held my hand up sharply, cutting him off before he could even start.

“Save it for the dogs! I don’t want your apologies! I want to know about my son. How is Theo?”

“He’s… he’s okay,” Derek said, looking uncomfortable.

“Is he? Or is he still under whatever spell that witch Victoria put on him? She did something to him, Derek. She bewitched my own child to hate me!”

He actually had the nerve to look offended.

“Allison, that’s not possible. Victoria would never...”

“Oh, don’t be so naive!” I hissed, my composure cracking for just a second. “Or are you just that stupid? She wanted your title, your money and you! I was in the way. So was Theo but she fixed the problem.”

His jaw tightened.

“That’s a serious accusation.”

“It’s the truth. And I’m going to see him for myself. I’m staying in town tonight. I will see my son and if he still looks at me like I’m a stranger… if that… that voodoo is still in place…” My voice broke despite my best efforts. I took a steadying breath. “Then I’ll get back on my plane and you will never have to see me again. You have my word.”

I didn’t wait for a reply. I turned on my heel and walked away. For the first time, I had the power. I had insulted him, I had set the terms and I had walked out on him and the feeling was better than any standing ovation.

***

The privacy screen in my car was up, separating us from old Gregory in the driver’s seat. My assistant, Ashley was beside me, tapping away on her tablet.

“That was incredible, Allison! The emails are already flooding in. We’ve got meeting requests from three of the biggest VC firms in the country!”

“Mmm,” I mumbled, staring out the window at the city I’d fled.

“Okay, what’s with the long face?” Ashley asked, finally picking up on my mood. “You just dominated in there. You should be celebrating!”

“I’m thinking about my son,” I said quietly. “He’d be six now. I just… I feel so ashamed, Ash. I left him. I ran away. What kind of mother does that? I should have stayed. I should have fought that bitch Victoria tooth and nail for him. I shouldn’t have let her magic or whatever it is win.”

Ashley’s face softened.

“Allison, you were heartbroken and alone. You were attacked! You did what you needed to do to survive. To become this!” She gestured at me, at the car and at everything. “That strength is what’s going to help you get him back now.”

I knew she was right but the guilt wouldn't let me relax. I wasn’t in the mood for a pep talk.. I needed silence.. or something stronger.

“I know, I know,” I said, cutting her off. I leaned forward and tapped the partition and it slid down. “Gregory, pull over at that bar up ahead. The rustic-looking one.”

“You got it, boss,” his deep voice answered.

Ashley looked concerned.

“You want me to come?”

“No. I just need one drink. One drink to process… all this.” I offered her a weak smile. “Then I’ll be back to my usual, brilliant self. I promise.”

The car pulled to a smooth stop and I got out with the door shutting with a solid thud behind me.

The bar was almost quiet.. exactly what I needed. I slid onto a worn stool at the counter and ordered a whiskey.

I was just raising the glass to my lips with the past year playing on a loop behind my eyes when I sensed someone slid into the space next to me.

A low smooth voice dripping with playfulness, whispered in my ear.

“Well, hello there. I’d say I like a woman who drinks whiskey but honestly, I just like a woman who looks like she could ruin my life and make me say thank you.”

I turned with a hiss, ready to shove my glass in the face of whatever arrogant asshole who thought that was a good line.

And then I gasped and the glass nearly slipped from my fingers…