wrong she was. The two of them had met at Carnegie Mellon University their freshman year. She’d been one of the few women in her engineering class, and he’d been one of the rare attractive, sociable guys. And that year they’d had nearly every class together. They’d gravitated toward each other and bonded over their love of gaming. He’d always called her his sexy, cute gaming girl. Well, that had only lasted for so long.
After school, they’d moved to New York, where the start-up community was huge and funding was everywhere. They’d had a good run, but things had eventually fallen apart and it seemed Brandon had found another attractive, tech-savvy girl, because he’d left her for one of their interns. She’d come home from South by Southwest Festival to find him gone. He’d left a note. He’d wanted more excitement out of his life. What he’d really meant was he wanted an upgrade in girlfriends.
And to add salt to the wound, instead of just letting her buy him out, there’d been a fight over their clients. Since he was in charge of sales and marketing, he’d managed to convince some of their biggest clients that he was the brains behind the shop.
His leaving hadn’t been her fault. She was self-possessed enough to know that. But putting her company in a vulnerable position, that was her fault. She hadn’t made him sign a freaking noncompete, the legal document that would have protected her stake. And she’d paid dearly for it. Not only had he taken their clients, but he’d also taken a good chunk of their employees with him. While she’d been building the business, he’d been polluting the well. When she’d fallen in love with him, she hadn’t seen him for the master manipulator he was. And it had cost her too much.
Jamie had taken the high road, and refused to address the negative comments swirling on social media and around the building. Since she wouldn’t respond, so many of them thought she wasn’t in it to win it. They also worked with him directly, so why wouldn’t they believe what he’d said? They’d eventually left with him.
With the team she had left, they’d managed to survive for the last year on the residuals from old games and revenue from some new games, but they were struggling and everybody knew it.
Especially Teched. The tech giant was breathing down her neck, eager for a takeover. They’d offered her a buyout, but she knew they would dismantle her company and fire half her employees. That was the general strategy of takeovers. She’d made her team a promise to keep the company going and she intended to keep it.
She wasn’t ready to give up yet. Their last game had been hotly anticipated and the critics had loved it. It was doing well, and had stemmed the bleeding, but she needed a major infusion of cash pronto or there was no way she could keep the doors open.
She’d vowed that she would streamline her lifestyle before she would cut her team, but that promise was looking like a mistake. She’d eventually moved into the room at the back of the office to save on rent. How had she let this happen?
Stop it. You can do this. You can do anything. Besides, it’s Christmas and you believe in miracles. So all you need is a miracle at Cyberpunked.
And her wish she would get. In two days, she would leave for her hometown in upstate New York. Since her family was away in France for her cousin’s wedding, she’d hole up at Mountain Villas Lodge and work. She’d always wanted to stay there when she was a kid. She’d concentrate on the game and enjoy herself as much as she could. Her prayer would be answered, she knew it. It had to be. Because she wasn’t going to give up on her company or herself.
Cole Nichols pulled his Range Rover into the paved driveway of Mountain Villas Lodge.
The outer log facade gave the lodge a country effect, but he knew better. Inside, every room was state-of-the-art with the most modern of amenities. The main building housed two restaurants, a bar, a giant heart and seating areas.
They were nestled at the base of the mountain and when the snow fell thick, guests were immediately transported to a winter wonderland beautiful enough to rival any Disney could create.
A good portion of upstate New York had already seen its first snow. His family had bought into the lodge when he was a kid, so they always stayed in the owners’ suite. He’d grown up just thirty miles from here, but this tiny town seemed like a lifetime away from the suburban hub he’d known. Or the urban setting he’d moved to. Out here, in Mills Spring, it was miles to the nearest neighbor. And deer, foxes and rabbits often made an appearance on the premises.
This year though, he’d be without his family or his would-be ex-fiancée. And right about now, he preferred it that way. Alone time with his laptop and the finest Scotch on earth was all he needed at this point.
The biting winter air snaked its way into his peacoat and he shivered. He’d left his damn scarf on the train from the city. But he’d survive. It wasn’t like he was going to be leaving the property much.
He was taking a break from people. He needed solitude from everything. His Thanksgiving proposal hadn’t quite gone according to plan so he was still smarting from that.
He wasn’t a big lover of the holiday seasons and he wasn’t going to miss not being with his family. His mother and stepfather had gone to Europe to ski this Christmas and he wasn’t really in the mood for social-climbing ski bunnies at the moment.
He tried to shove the thought of his would-have-been fiancée out of his head. But he couldn’t let go of the burn of rejection. She’d turned him down. Him. Cole Nichols. No one turned him down. But it wasn’t so much that she’d turned him down, it was the reason she’d given him. That with all his money and connections, and his business, that she didn’t think he could give her the lifestyle she wanted.
She wanted carte blanche to the accounts. And that wasn’t going to fly on any day with him. She’d run through the monthly allowance he’d set up for her in a matter of days.
She liked to shop, and party and she wanted to look the part of a billionaire’s girlfriend. He was generous, but it didn’t matter how much he gave her, it was never enough.
Everyone had warned him about her. But like a fool, he thought he could change her. Control the situation.
She’d already replaced him with someone richer...older too. Someone who wouldn’t bat an eyelash at her gold digger tendencies.
Fine by him. He wished her a lifetime of saggy butt wrinkles. Good riddance. He had work to do. And one day, she’d regret walking away from him. Truth was, he was more excited by the thought of his business goals right now anyway.
Teched was in the process of acquiring a small gaming firm that was bucking the system. Normally, he let his VP of acquisitions handle the takeovers and buyouts, but this damn CEO had been rejecting their offers for over a year. So Cole had gotten involved.
At first he thought it was funny that they declined. He knew the company was struggling, but somehow the owner had managed to keep Cyperpunked moving along. Cole would have preferred to avoid a messy situation, but all attempts to acquire them had been refused.
Fine by him—he liked a little fight anyway. Sooner or later they would buckle. He was going to spend the next two weeks gaining some leverage and applying some pressure.
He wasn’t a fan of the word no. When it came to business, his father had taught him that someone who said no hadn’t yet learned the benefits of saying yes. His father
