Chapter 9

We exchange a smile, and he leaves the room.

I sit back for a moment, my smile fading. Somehow, he managed to sidestep the dating arena by knocking a girl up on a one-night stand and then having her turn up on his doorstep four months later, pregnant with his twins. I’m genuinely thrilled he’s found himself a girl he seems crazy about, but it’s impossible not to feel a touch of envy.

It’s been a few months since I had a woman in my bed, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss sex. I don’t miss the emotional turbulence that always seems to accompany dating, though. I wish I could jump to the four-month stage and have done with the getting-to-know-you part.

Sighing, I return my attention to the financial report, and I’m a good three-quarters through before I’m interrupted again by the phone on my

I check the display and see it’s an internal call—my younger brother, Damon.

I pick up the receiver and say, “Yo,” my standard, somewhat unprofessional greeting to my siblings.

“My office,” Damon states. “Now.”

I tuck the receiver under my chin as I turn the page over, frowning at his curt demand. “I’m in the middle of checking the financial report.”

“Dude,” he says. “You’re going to want to see this.” He hangs up.

Still frowning, I get up, poke my head in the office next door and tell my PA, Andrew, where I’m going, then walk along the corridor and into his office.

Our rooms reflect our personalities and interests. Saxon’s is untidy, with his desk covered in sheets of paper and folders like the mad scientist he is. He’s a big fan of Dr. Who, and he has a framed poster on the wall of his favorite: the tenth doctor, and a TARDIS mug on the desk. He’s also into music, and he’s always playing one of his vinyl albums on his record player.

My office is much neater. I like space, and furniture with clean lines. Lack of clutter helps me think, and I always make sure to leave a clean sheet of white paper on the large drawing desk by the window so if I get a new idea, I can start it straight away. I also have framed posters on my wall, but mine are of old sci-fi movies.

People who don’t know Damon very well might expect him to have photos of fast cars or the All Blacks. He’s young and flash, and it’s true that he loves both of those things. But his offices bear beautiful oil paintings of Greek goddesses and angels in flowing white gowns with golden hair. Nobody ever guesses that he’s the artist.

When I walk in, I discover him pacing up and down. One glance at his face tells me he’s furious.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Shut the door,” he says.

I close it and come into the room. He gestures at his laptop and continues to pace. Puzzled, I go behind his desk, sit in his leather swivel chair, and look at what’s on the screen.

It’s an online article from a popular New Zealand news site, dated to just fifteen minutes ago. The headline is ‘Wellington companies to close multi-million deal for revolutionary software.’

I read the article with growing disbelief.

“A senior member of staff at the computer software company, Kingpinz Robotics, revealed today that the company is on the verge of selling a revolutionary text-to-speech software called MOTHER to computer hardware company Sunrise Ltd. for the production an augmentative and alternative communication or AAC device, in a deal rumored to be over ten million dollars. Directors at Sunrise have been battling rumors of pay cuts and problematic working conditions for the past few months, and the acquisition of this software is a huge coup for them.”

Slowly I lift my gaze to Damon. “What the fuck?”

He lifts his hands in bemusement, then puts them on his hips.

MOTHER is my baby, and I’ve been working on it for years, using our cousin Titus’s AI program to completely revolutionize text-to-speech software for use in for an augmentative and alternative communication or AAC device for people who can’t speak—either because they have a condition such as ALS, motor neurone disease, or cerebral palsy, or because they’ve had a stroke or a traumatic brain injury. I chose the name MOTHER because it refers to the phrase ‘mother tongue,’ and also because we’re all fans of the movieAlien, in which the computer is called Mother.

Our senior leadership team or SLT at Kingpinz consists of five members, including me, Saxon, and Damon. I met the fourth member, Craig Worthington, at university. He’s a talented computer engineer, and a good friend. When Saxon, Damon, and I decided we were going to set up our own company, we were quick to ask Craig to join us, and he’s been with us ever since. The fifth member, , joined the company four years ago, and we promoted her to the team in June. She’s married to a member of the Maori All Blacks and they have two kids. She’s also an excellent software engineer, and she’s slotted into the team nicely.

At our monthly meeting in November, for the first time we discussed which company we were going to sell MOTHER to for production of the AAC device. Saxon and I favored a company called Genica Inc., mainly because we’ve worked with its CEO, Jack Evans, before, and we get on well. Craig then put forward Sunrise Ltd. as a possibility, speaking at great length about the CEO’s commitment to producing advanced medical equipment. His enthusiasm rubbed off on Marama, who was leaning toward them as an option. Damon was on the fence.

I gave Sunrise some serious thought, but I was uncomfortable about the rumors of pay cuts and working conditions, and I also didn’t mention to Craig that I don’t like Sunrise’s CEO, Renée Garnier. I met her recently at the hospital at a health professionals meeting. She was brash, forceful, and overconfident, and when one of the doctors mentioned the CEO of another one of Renée’s competitors, she mimicked his speech impediment, which made me dislike her even more.

Last week, I spoke to Damon again, voicing my reservations about Sunrise, and in the end he voted for Genica Inc. That made us three to two, and just a couple of days ago I had a preliminary meeting with Jack Evans to talk about his vision for the AAC device. He’s going to read this article, which is going to make me look like an unprofessional idiot. I’m so angry, I can barely speak.

“Looks as if someone wanted to force your hand,” Damon says. “I wonder who that could be?”

I already know it wasn’t Marama. She’s a sweetheart, and she’d never do something like this. Craig is my best friend, but he can be ruthless and cutthroat in business. Shocked that he’d extend that work ethic to me, though, I walk out and along the corridor to the next office, and stand in the doorway.

Craig is the same age as me, a little shorter and stockier, with dark-blond hair. He’s smart, witty, and hardworking. We used to go out socially with him a lot; less so since he got married and had a baby, but we’re still good friends. Or I thought we were, anyway.

He looks up, sees me, and leans back in his chair. He doesn’t smile.

“Why?” I say.

He turns his swivel chair from side to side. “I’m guessing you’ve seen the article?”

I walk into his office, with Damon following behind me. “Yeah. I’ve seen the article. Why did you

Marama also enters, drawn by our raised voices. I hear Damon murmuring to her, and her intake of breath as he tells her what’s happened.

“I was talking to a friend of mine who’s a reporter,” Lucas says. “I thought it was off the record.”

“Bullshit,” I snap. “You know I favored Genica. You wanted to force my hand.”

“No,” he says, but I know I’m right.

“Why Sunrise?” Damon asks, as he and Eva come to stand on either side of me. “Even the article mentioned the issues they’ve been having with their workforce.”

“I’d never sell to Sunrise,” I snap. “I don’t like their CEO.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Lucas asks.

“She’s a bitch, and I’m not letting MOTHER within a mile of her.”

He gets slowly to his feet. “She said she’ll offer twice what Genica or any of the other development companies would pay.”

“Even if that is the case,” Marama states, “Kip’s the project director, so the choice is up to him.”

“This is nothing to do with you,” Craig snaps. “Keep your fucking nose out.”

“Whoa,” Damon says.

“Craig,” I say sharply as Marama reddens. “That’s out of order. We’re a team. We all get a say. And I don’t care what that article says. I’m not going to let you force my hand. Nobody’s going to think twice about me going back on a deal with Sunrise after all the hassles they’ve had recently. Money isn’t everything. I’ve made the decision. I’ve already spoken to Jack Evans. I’m selling MOTHER to Genica.”

He glares at me. “You arsehole,” he says bitterly. “I should have known you’d shaft me. You said we’d discuss it before you made a decision.”

“Marama’s right—money’s not always the most important thing,” Damon says.

Craig glares at him. “Oh, fuck off. I might have known you’d take your brother’s side. Do you even have a brain of your own?”

Damon’s eyebrows rise into his hairline. “I think you should take that back,” he says carefully.

“You can’t do this,” Craig snaps at me. Jesus, I actually think he’s close to tears. “I’m a member of the team, and I get to have a say in what we do with our work. Why would you sell to a company that’s offering half what Sunrise would give for it?”

“This is for everyone,” I say, confused as to why he’s so upset.

“Don’t quote Tim Berners-Lee at me,” Craig yells, getting to his feet. “I bet the people he thought were friends didn’t screw him over like this.”

I try to suppress my temper, recognizing there must be an undercurrent beneath all of this. He’s never spoken to any of us like this before, and it’s not like him. Is it the money he’s worried about? Whilst, if we sold MOTHER for higher price, we’d funnel most of the money back into the company, it would inevitably lead to some of the cash filtering through to the staff.

“Craig,” I say, “if you’re having money problems, maybe you’d like to go down to my office and we can discuss this in private?”

He slams his laptop shut. “Go fuck yourself.” He picks up his laptop.

Damon twitches as if he’s going to move and block his path, but I put a hand on his arm, and he stays put. Craig strides past, out of the room.

We fall quiet and stare at each other.

“Holy shit,” Damon says eventually. “That came out of nowhere.”

I’m upset, but I don’t want to explode in front of Marama. “I’m sorry that Craig was so rude to you,” I say to her. “I’m not going to let that slide.”

She nods. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

We head out, Damon and I go back into his office, and we close the door.

“Jesus Christ,” he says.

“I’m not going mad, am I?” I ask him. “I’m the project director. It was my decision to make, in the end?”

“Of course it was,” Damon replies. “Plus we’re directors, and he’s just a member of SLT. We don’t need his and Eva’s consent on who we sell to. You discussed it as a courtesy. He’s being an idiot.” He studies me for a moment. “Do you want to backtrack? Sell it to Sunrise instead?”

Anger sears through me. “I’m not letting Craig bully me into doing that.”

“Fair enough,” he says. “Fuck him.”

I give a short laugh, and his lips curve up.

“Are you going to talk to Saxon about this?” he asks. “He’d want to know.”

I hesitate. He’s had a huge amount on his plate lately, with Catie and the babies, plus he’s in Auckland every other week running Titus’s AI company while our cousin is in the UK. He doesn’t need more to worry about. “No. Let’s keep it to ourselves for now.”

“He’ll probably see the article.”

“You know what he’s like, he doesn’t read the trade news. He relies on me to tell him what’s going on.”

“He won’t be happy,” he says, but he holds up a hand when I glare at him. “All right. What are we going to do about Craig, though? He had no right to discuss anything with a reporter.”

“I know. I could fire him for it. I want to. I’m so angry with him. But there’s something odd about all of this. We’ve been friends for a long time. Why would he do something like that?”

Damon perches on the edge of his desk. “He’s always been your friend rather than mine. If I’m honest, I don’t think he’s quite the nice guy you think he is. He has a nasty streak. It stays well hidden, but sometimes it pokes through when he’s well oiled.”

I know he’s right. “I’ll talk to him,” I say reluctantly. “Hopefully he was just frustrated, and he spoke without thinking. I’ll try to talk him around.”

“If you can’t, we’re going to have to think about how we handle this.” He stops as the phone on his desk rings and picks it up. “Hey, Andrew,” he says. He listens for a moment, then closes his eyes briefly. “All right, hold on, I’ll tell him.” He glances at me. “Apparently Lesley is on the phone for you. She says she’s in town and wonders if you’d like to catch up.”

It’s my ex. Damon gives me a look that says, ‘For fuck’s sake.’

“Want me to tell her you’re busy?” he asks.

I sigh. “No, tell Andrew I’ll take it in my office.”

“Bro,” he says, “Seriously? She’s not good for you. You can do better.”

“I’m just going to talk to her,” I tell him. “Catch you later.”

I leave his office, walk through to mine, sit in my leather chair, and turn it so I’m looking out over the view of Alexandra Park. It’s the summer solstice tomorrow, so the sun won’t set until close to nine p.m. The sun is low on the horizon, its evening rays painting the park in shades of orange and gold.

I turn back to my phone and pick up the receiver. Line four is flashing, so I press it and lean back. “Hey, Les, sorry to keep you.”

“No worries,” she replies. “Hello, you. How are you doing?”

“I’m good, thanks.” I prop my feet on the windowsill, stretching out my legs. “How are you?”

“Yeah, all good.”

“You’re back in New Zealand?”

“Just for a few weeks.” So a visit then. She’s still not moving back.