Page 71 of Terms and Traditions

Hiram continued. “In the end, it’s too important to let a few setbacks interrupt.”

Oh, I was a setback, was I? Not far off from the mistake he had hinted I was earlier.

“Nova is getting ready to launch our biggest venture yet,” Hiram boasted.

I wanted to roll my eyes but refrained. He sounded like a sleazy businessman giving his schtick with all the “never been done before in history” stuff spewing from his mouth. Hiram was smart. No one could accuse him of being otherwise, and he could work a room to his advantage. And looking around this crowd, I’d say he had half of them enthralled already. Of course, half the family actually worked for him, so… not exactly an unbiased opinion when he was signing their paychecks.

“… a new marketing software focusing on more accessibility for small businesses.”

I froze when Hiram’s words yanked me out of my zoning out. A new feature? Instantly, I glanced at Nash before I could even figure out why, and our gazes locked. Nova’s new software program sounded an awful lot like Genesis’s… and why was Hiram announcing it with us here if it was? Was this a power move?

I’d seen couples give each other the look and communicate with their eyes. I’d seen Gabe and Ivy do it. Nana and Papa over the breakfast table doing crosswords before Papa died. The silent exchange Nash and I shared was filled with unspoken words, questions, and reassurances. When he squeezed my hand, my heart squeezed, too, as the clawing panic ravaged my insides. I wasn't alone in this, and it was nice being someone to somebody else—part of a team.

But what in the world was going on?

Chapter thirty-two

Nash

I was furious. More than furious. My blood simmered as I paced my room, phone to my ear and hating that I had to interrupt my legal team the day after Christmas. But I needed answers. How had Hiram gotten something so similar to our program? And how were they so close to launching—and potentially beating us to market?

You couldn’t copyright ideas, but corporate theft was a thing. Did Genesis have a mole? A well-connected mole?

The possibility of Stephanie being the one behind it crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. Call me a fool, but I knew deep in my bones it wasn’t her.

I raked a hand through my hair and shoved my glasses back into place. I would get answers. I wouldn’t fail my employees by letting a snake like Hiram win. But I was going to need a miracle to fix this. We were still three and a half months from launch. If Nova was closer…

Tension infused the rest of the evening. I finally got a hold of one of my lawyers, and he promised to start an investigation into the legal ramifications. The hard part would be getting proof and trying to find the potential mole. Another call to IT, and they had launched a full system work-up on our communication servers.

I doubted they’d find incriminating evidence in bold print announcing, “It’s me. I’m the perpetrator.” But I needed something. Anything.

I couldn’t let my people down. Couldn’t let Stephanie down.

Dawn broke bleak and dismal. I’d received very little information from my team since last night, but I made another call while packing up my suitcase. We were leaving a day early, which was hard to explain when we weren’t showing panic but needed to get back to Washington. Hiram knew. He had to.

“You better have a good reason for this, Nashville,” Emmett said, groggily.

I glanced at the clock and winced. It was just after six in the morning, but I’d forgotten we were an hour ahead of Spokane which meant… Five o’clock was a brutal wake up call. If I thought Stephanie wasn’t a morning person, Emmett was worse. And if he was pulling out the Nashville nickname, he was royally ticked.

“Sorry. I got word of potential corporate espionage on our new software.” I gritted my teeth just saying the words.

“Nova?” Emmett immediately sounded more awake.

“Yeah.” I blew out a breath. Just talking about this out loud with a friend had my chest easing a fraction. Emmett worked as my chief financial officer at Genesis. He might not be able to solve the problem, but he would be invested in the issue and would be a good sounding board, since Stephanie wasn’t up yet. Best let her sleep and avoid this nightmare a while longer.

After I explained Hiram’s new proposal, Emmett growled in frustration. “Is there any proof someone in the office leaked it?”

“I’ve got IT on it, but Hiram is slick. A few drinks and conversation between whoever it might be and his liaison, and this is all hearsay.”

“What’s his angle, do you figure?”

“Honestly? Probably the fact that I showed up to the family Christmas with his estranged daughter.”

Emmett hummed. “Estranged?”

“It’s a long story and not mine to tell, man.” I blew out a breath. “But it isn’t pretty.”

“Is she a liability for the company?” The question was a blow to my gut.