he term sheet in her hand. "I'm saying it as your COO. Five million dollars m

-along clause

use. We neg

nd. "If Hale holds enough shares and the board seat, he can force a sale of t

he studio apartment days and could read her better than a

'd show me the cap tables of the founders Hale squeezed. If he's lying, I'll find out in an hour. If he isn't, th

th it," Priya said gently. "Check

d would decide. She did not think about

ting in a glass-walled room at Cross Capital with

even finished saying hello. "Hale's board seat looked harmless," she said. "Eightee

ird wouldn't speak at all, only sent a one-li

ed, when the call ended and Dani

ned to him. I helped his lawyers read it and told him to keep every document." He set the folders down. "I don'

"You've been doin

out from under them and I keep losing the bidding wars."

want from me, f

ag-along, three board seats for you, one for Cross Capit

"That's worse for y

u," he said simply.

thought. *He's playing gen

r, and read both term sheets until her eyes blurred. Cross Capital's terms were smaller on pape

he calle

t because I forgive you. I'm doing it because they're b

His voice was quiet. "I'd n

u say it, earlier? That you owed m

. She heard

us with only half the facts," he said. "I kept someth

n the phone. "What d

ightened. "I'm not trying to be mysterious. I'm trying to earn the right to say it

't fair,"

el agreed.

own. Instead she heard herself say, "Fine. A few months. But if I find o

rom me," he said

time, the empty cereal bowl in front of her and a secret s

t his side. And somewhere underneath, a small, stubborn voice she'd tried to kill years ago

f Cha