Falling for the Billionaire

14

Taking advantage of Lil's momentary absence, Jake shouldered up to Dominic. "So where is this couple you think has the answer to all of our problems?"

Dominic hesitated, a sure sign that he was up to something he didn't think Jake would approve of. "Victor is entertaining them in the study. They aren't too keen on being seen in public."

"But they were willing to come to an event like this?"

Dominic shrugged. "You were enough of a lure."

"Who the hell..." As soon as the idea came to him, he tensed with growing anger. "Tell me you didn't bring my parents here."

"Are your parents named James and Judith Walton?"

"Dominic!" Jake rubbed a hand over his eyes. "You just wasted another week of our time on a dead end. They haven't worked in the computer field for almost ten years."

"They seemed to understand what our issue is."

"That's because they are geniuses, but a decade of farming in Maine is not good preparation for something like this."

"It's amazing to think that they went from two of the most renowned physicists who to practically invented quantum encryption–to absolute obscurity. Didn't they accuse the government of stealing their software designs for the military?"

"Yes, they did. They claimed that some of their experiments with laser beams were stolen and used to advance the guided missile program. They are also convinced that Ivan Getting stole their initial Global Positioning notes and sold them to the military."

"You don't believe them?"

Jake shot a glare at Dominic. "I stopped caring what the truth was a long time ago. My parents have paid a high price for the gift of intelligence. They built a shared reality based on paranoia and an over-inflated sense of self-importance. I'm surprised you got them to leave their compound at all."

Dominic shrugged. "They said they missed you. How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Are you honestly going to lecture me about family relationships?" He shook his head at the irony overload. "I don't have a vendetta against my parents; I simply don't have a close relationship with them. In fact, I find that the less time I spend with them, the happier we all are."

"They didn't seem that bad to me."

"You didn't grow up with them," Jake growled.

Dominic smiled. "Are you getting angry about this?"

"No," Jake gritted his teeth as even he heard the emotion in his denial. He took a calming breath. "Don't be surprised if they refuse to help. If it doesn't have to do with something they are working on–or apparently planting lately–they don't usually spare any time for it."

"They cared enough to come here, Jake. Give them that much credit."

A bit too late for them to pretend to be doting parents. When Jim and Judy were together, they didn't need anyone else – they never had. Why they'd bothered to have Jake at all still baffled him. He had been a responsibility that came after science, after each other, and after their growing distrust of the government. More times than he cared to remember they'd forgotten to pick him up from school, to make meals for him, to check that he had clean clothes. He'd learned early that the only one he could rely on was himself. At the age of eleven, he'd chosen a boarding school and enrolled himself. A small part of him had hoped that they would wake up and beg him not to go, but instead they had lauded his choice of schools and deposited him there with a disgusting amount of relief.