"Mr. Meyer, are you threatening me?"


    Matthew raised an eyebrow, his voice growing even colder. "You don''t actually think signing a contract means Vista Tech automatically owns the rights to de''s civilian applications, do you?"


    Bailey''s heart skipped a beat at Matthew''s tone. The contract was signed, sure, but they hadn''t finished the integration yet. He didn''t want things to get ugly, so he swallowed his irritation and managed a stiff smile.


    "That''s not what I meant. I just want to remind you that we''ve already signed the agreement, so we should stick to what it says."


    "Stick to what it says?"


    Matthew let out a low chuckle, picked up the contract from the table, and flipped to a certain page. He pointed it out to Bailey. "Mr. Meyer, maybe you should read this part a little more carefully.


    "It''s spelled out right here. If Vista Tech''s tform doesn''t meet de''s operational requirements, we have the right to end the partnership on our own. And if that happens, Vista Tech is the one responsible for the breach, which means you''ll owe the penalty."


    Bailey''s face darkened for a moment. He quickly grabbed the contract and looked at the page Matthew indicated, eyes scanning the lines.


    It was right there: "Vista Tech mustplete the operational integration of de within one month of starting the partnership. If not, it''s considered a breach of contract and a penalty must be paid."


    He''d been counting on Reese to help keep things smooth. Since ckOak was willing to work with them because of her, he''d figured there wouldn''t be any traps in the contract, so he hadn''t bothered to read the fine print.


    Now, reading that use, his nerves started acting up again. Still, he reminded himself the tform was built by Sofia and her team, which gave him some


    reassurance.


    "Matthew, you know we''ve got the technical chops. My daughter Sofia is handling de''s integration herself. She''s a top grad from a world-ss university. It''ll be fine,” Bailey said, his voice full of pride.


    "Oh really?"


    Matthew studied him, the corners of his lips curling in a subtle, almost mocking smile Since you''re so confident, let''s go ahead and run de on Vista Tech''s tform for a test."


    "But when ites to technical stuff, I can''t make all the decisions alone. We''ll need the other lear developer toe with me to Vista Tech and help with the testing."


    "The other lead developer?" Bailey perked up, hope flickering in his eyes.


    He''d heard plenty of rumors about this person, a genius who''d fixed the city''s traffic system within days of joining ck Oak andter led the de project Without her, de never would''ve been finished so quickly.


    Bailey had been trying to find out who this mastermind was, hoping to connect, but their identity was tightly guarded because of the military. He didn''t even know their name.


    He hadn''t seen her at any of their previous meetings and had pretty much given up on the idea of meeting her at all. Now, hearing this, he almost couldn''t believe his luck.


    Matthew caught the excitement in Bailey''s eyes and smirked. "She''s on her way up now. In fact, she''s already downstairs."


    Right on cue, the conference room door swung open and someone stepped inside.


    Reese walked in, her long hair pulled back neatly, a hint of a smile on her face. Her eyes were sharp and focused as she strode into the room.


    Bailey and Hank locked eyes, both of thempletely thrown.


    Hadn''t Reese said she''d already quit ckOak?


    So why was she here now?