“This is supposed to be an unpaid gig,” Olivia pointed out. “How else will I pay you back for my education?”
“You’re not.”
Olivia sat on the leather couch between us. I needed some space from her. Being around her all the time was messing with my head. This morning was so out of character for me, but with all the stress, my resolve was fading.
“Why not?” Olivia crossed her legs, drawing my attention to how good she looked in that skirt.
Stop it, Battle.
“The contract is a win for Battle Industries. Dinner is on the company. Make a reservation for three at Giovanni’s tonight.”
“Gio’s sounds good to me.” Tate rubbed his stomach. “Brainiac over here is going to change the world. Drake’s AI will save lives.”
Or end them.
If Tate, Luca, and The Devil’s Knights had it their way, they would use Lovelace as a weapon. In their minds, I had already entered dark territory. But I drew the line at slaughtering entire groups of people, regardless of how much they deserved it.
“Lovelace is kind of a bitch sometimes,” Olivia said, laughing. “But she’s like family.”
“Yeah, she is.” Tate pressed his index finger to his mouth and glanced at the ceiling. “Don’t let her hear you. She’s always listening.”
“On days like this, I wonder what my dad would say if he were alive.” I leaned forward, resting my arms on my thighs. “I took his old school weapons and turned them into something unrecognizable.”
My father had developed military-grade weapons but lacked the vision to see his business into the modern age of technology. Sure, he made billions of dollars. The Battle name meant something. But he hadn’t envisioned the world the way I did. Battle Industries was the largest supplier of guns, machinery, aircraft, support equipment, and now autonomous weapons systems that used Lovelace’s artificial intelligence.
Tate reached over and patted my back. “Oh, I almost forgot. Tech Wars invited you to present Lovelace at the conference next week. Do you think we’ll be ready for a full-scale demo?”
“I have solid prototypes we can demo. I need to tweak a few things to adapt Lovelace for the altitude change.”
“Need me to come by the lab and run through the scenarios with you?”
“After dinner. I do my best thinking at night.” I shifted my gaze to Olivia. “We need to finish our building tour.”
She checked her watch and sighed. “Okay, but we have to make it fast. Your next meeting is in twenty minutes.”
We said our goodbyes to Tate and hopped into the elevator. Tate’s office was two floors below my secret lab. No one was allowed upstairs without a special keycard and top-secret security clearance. Tate and Olivia were among the few people in the building, except for my security detail, and a handful of scientists were allowed in my lab.
My tech was worth stealing.
Plenty of companies tried to mimic the quality of Battle Industries, only to produce a sub-par piece of shit that didn’t even compare to my brand. Lately, The Lucaya Group had wanted to get its hands on Lovelace. They would have done anything to use her to create weapons of mass destruction.
Inside the elevator, I inserted my key into the slot on the wall and hit the button for the fiftieth floor. Olivia clung to my side, our bodies so close I considered sliding my hand onto her hip. Arms crossed over her breasts, she watched me as if waiting for me to make a move.
This woman drove me mad.
She could have taken a shower with me this morning. Instead, she chalked up my offer to being drunk or hungover. It was supposed to be a peace offering. A way to make up for being an idiot last night.
Olivia peeked up at me. “I thought you were taking me downstairs to meet my new co-workers?”
I leaned against the mirrored wall and shook my head. “They can wait until later. First, I want to show you something.”
Olivia invaded my space with her delicious scent. “What is it?”
I winked. “It’s a surprise.”
CHAPTER 19
DRAKE
