As if that was her main priority. But it appeared to be his.
“And who is interested in my work?”
She tried not to emphasize the my, but she doubted she succeeded.
James didn’t appear to notice.
“I’ve got a few contacts in the government who want to know more. They could use the tech for all kinds of things.”
He smiled at her, as if she was supposed to be impressed with the fact that he had potential sales contacts for her work. Which she most certainly did not want to sell to the highest bidder.
“And I have a few private investors who want in on the bidding.”
Wanting to smack the glee off his face might make her immature, but she had to grip her hands into fists to make sure she didn’t strike him.
“I want details.”
He waved that away. “This is the part I do well, Tansy. You keep working on the camouflage and I’ll worry about the money stuff.”
In other words, don’t worry her vapid little head about it. Tansy stood up and turned away from James.
“Tansy? Where are you going? Tansy?”
His voice tightened, and she felt him approach. Knowing he was about to grab her arm, she turned and held out her hand again. “I told you once not to touch me. Make sure you remember that.”
“Come on, Tansy. You’re being silly. We were good together. We can be great together again.”
Deep breaths. “We were never good together. You targeted and used me.”
“What? No. That’s not true. Tansy, please stop. Let me explain.”
Knowing she hadn’t got the answers she needed, Tansy stopped and faced him. When he moved in closer, she simply raised an eyebrow and watched him grip his temper and step back.
“I’m not interested in your explanations. I’m interested in the details about who is interested in my work.”
“Does it matter? As long as they pay, what does it matter who they are?”
Tansy’s gut clenched, and she had to bite down on her emotions to keep anything but disgust showing on her face. “It always matters, James. If you don’t understand that, it’s clear you never knew me at all.”
Sam and Joe shared a look. They both wanted to ditch the car, chase Stephens down, and demolish him.
Take him apart bone by bone and then smash those beyond recognition.
Tansy hadn’t shared that Stephens had slept around on her, but that’s what Sam was getting from the conversation.
Stephens had the morals of a worm. None.
And his intelligence wasn’t a lot higher if he thought he could outsmart Tansy.
Joe had flown in without letting Tansy know and had jumped in Sam’s car before his sister had been halfway to her meeting point.
Neither of them was sure how she’d react to his presence, but it hadn’t been an option for Joe. His sister was in danger. He’d applied for an immediate leave and had made it in time to provide extra backup if she needed it.
The phone picked up the weasel’s voice again.
“Tansy, there’s a confidentiality issue in place. I can’t divulge names.”
Tansy’s gasp was clearly audible. “Now is when you decide confidentiality issues are important? How about when you stole credit for a technology you had no part of? How about when you not only took credit, but decided you had the rights to offer the tech up for auction without even consulting me? Do you even remember that you’ve broken the confidentiality agreements you signed back in California? I haven’t pressed charges yet, but if I don’t get some straight answers out of you, I will.”