Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(6)

“It’s not fair,” Patrick said, his hands forming fists.

Mitch shrugged. “A patent applies to a process for bringing about a result. It doesn’t apply to the result itself. Otherwise, we’d have monopolies all over the place on manufacturing. If someone took your brother’s ideas and made them simpler, easier to get to market, then they win the prize. It’s Edison vs. Tesla.”

This was why she’d hung around. Mitch was brilliant and all that law knowledge seemed to have taken up the majority of space in his brain. He didn’t have a whole lot of tact. He obviously couldn’t see that Dixon was on the edge of an emotional outburst.

Laurel leaned forward and patted the man’s arm. “I’m so sorry to hear that. It must have been very frustrating for him.”

Dixon immediately calmed, his eyes sad now but resolute. “It is, Miss Daley. It’s hard to watch someone you care about struggle. I have to admit that my brother isn’t the most stable of people. He’s brilliant but not stable.”

She couldn’t say that about her boss. Yes, he was gruff and he obviously didn’t put any stock in chemistry and wouldn’t know the prefect sub if she bit him in the ass—actually she hadn’t tried that—but Mitchell Bradford was stable. Since the day she’d met him, he’d been the man who walked her to her car every day, even if it was afternoon, even when he wasn’t leaving himself. He was the one who wanted a text to make sure she’d made it home all right. Mitch was the one who flipped out when he realized her car had a warning light that had been blinking away for six weeks. He was also the one who took her car down himself because he didn’t trust mechanics to not take advantage of her.

“None of this explains why I’m his target. Or why he has a target at all,” Mitch said gruffly.

Dixon leaned forward. “You have to understand that Harvey has always had big dreams. He would make a little money and then spend it all on the next invention because he didn’t want to simply be comfortable. He wanted to be rich, famous. He’s had many offers over the years for stable employment but he turned them all down because his wealth was always right around the corner.”

Laurel understood the type. “He was always swinging for the fences because getting on base wasn’t enough, right?”

Dixon nodded. “Exactly. That seemed to work during his twenties, but he got involved with drugs at some point and it went downhill. He became paranoid. He worked less, but was angrier about the failures. Then two years ago he started working on a way to store solar power.”

“The Bentley Industries project.” Laurel immediately pulled up the file. As solar energy became an actual option for individual homes, the issue of storage had become a problem. Engineers had been trying to find a way to store up energy for longer periods of time so the houses with the capability could be more self-reliant rather than having to switch back to the electricity grid. So sunny summer days could be saved to power winter days. Bentley Industries had recently filed for a patent on a system that would allow for solar storage of up to a month and had confidence they could refine the process to go much longer.

Mitchell Bradford was their attorney and stood to gain a percentage of the profits. He’d also been the spokesman for the company when they’d done the talk show rounds.

“Yes,” Patrick agreed. “I don’t even think Harvey was close to anything, but he’s decided this was his last shot. He’s back on drugs and he believes that Mitch somehow stole his idea. I tried to go to the police, but they said there was no proof and when they talked to Harvey, he was in one of his lucid stages. He can be very convincing when he’s like that. I’ve been his partner for twenty years and I’ve never seen him so angry.”

“What makes you think this isn’t just talk, Mr. Dixon?” Mitch asked. If it bugged him that someone wanted him dead, he didn’t show it. His gorgeous face was as passive as it was when he talked about the weather.

But once it had been animated and fierce. She couldn’t forget the possessive look that had lit those dark eyes as he’d lowered his lips to hers and devoured her like a starving man.

She shook her head because every time she thought about their one and only kiss, the room seemed to heat up. It had been months, but she could still feel the way his hands had tightened on her body as though he would never let her go.

He had, of course, and now he was quite good at evading her web of seduction. Or maybe she wasn’t any good at the seduction part.

“It’s a feeling,” Patrick was saying. “I know that something is off with him. I truly believe he’s going to make an attempt on your life. You have to be careful. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop him.”

The poor man was shaking. Laurel leaned over and put a hand on his. “It’s all right. We’ll look into it. Thank you so much for telling us about the threat. I can’t imagine what it cost you to come in this afternoon.”

“He’s my brother.” Patrick sniffled slightly and that sent Laurel running for a tissue. Naturally Mitch didn’t have any. He tried to pawn off anyone who looked like they would get even vaguely emotional on her, so she excused herself. She kept a box in her office.

That was when she saw the man in the lobby. A hoodie was pulled down over his face. He stood in the hallway outside their doors. The building housed several businesses. This particular floor was shared by their office, a dentist, and an accounting agency.