Losing Nuka (Litmus Book 1) by Kayla Howarth Page B

this one,” Drake says. “It’s closest to the house.”
    “Arena?”
    Drake and Sasha share a glance. “Yeah. You’ll see what I mean,” Drake says.
    “I’m getting really sick of this secretive thing,” I mutter.
    “Just a little bit farther and we’ll be there.”
    As we go along, the narrow tunnel begins to widen, the lights become brighter, and then we’re suddenly walking on slick tiling instead of hard concrete. Double doors are up ahead, but before we reach them, we get to a hallway leading left and right, doors lining the corridor until the ends where there are more double doors like the ones in front of us.
    “This way,” Drake says, directing us to the left corridor.
    We wander down to the double doors at the end where Drake puts a passcode into a keypad in a wall and holds the door open for us.
    We come to a set of stairs leading up to the floor above us. We take to the stairs and reach another corridor. I count three doors as we pass them on our left, ending at the last one. Drake opens the door, stepping aside to let Sasha and me in.
    “Ah. Welcome.” Jonas’ voice carries across the room as we enter.
    There are people standing around, dressed to the nines, sipping colourful drinks in champagne flutes and seemingly enjoying themselves. Everyone has either a blue drink or a red drink that seems to be glowing in the dim light.
    Floor-to-ceiling glass windows line the far wall overlooking the area downstairs, but I can’t see what’s down there from where we stand. There are waitresses and waiters floating around with trays of fine finger foods and more drinks, plus a barman at the end of the room behind a fully stocked bar.
    Jonas walks over to us, gently taking my arm. “Welcome to the corporate box,” he says.
    “Uh, thanks … I guess.” What the frick is a corporate box?
    “Come, we’ll talk business and then I’ll introduce you around.”
    “Okay.”
    He guides me by my elbow, taking me away from Drake and Sasha and through the small gathering of people. I notice Brett’s in the group, dressed in black jeans and a tight dark grey T-shirt. He’s much more casual looking than the rest of the party goers. He’s shaking the hands of men in suits, with a bright smile on his face. He nods to me as we continue past him but doesn’t leave his spot.
    I’m taken to an adjacent room, much smaller than the corporate box. The small office has the same floor-to-ceiling windows on my right, a plain wooden desk in front of me with a plush pleather business chair behind it, and two less-comfortable-looking seats in front of it.
    “Take a seat. Your mother should be here any minute.”
    “I’m right here,” Cade says, entering the room and closing the door behind her. She sits in one of the chairs, and I take my cue, sitting in the chair next to her.
    “Okay. First things first. Contracts,” Jonas says, sitting behind the desk and reaching into his drawer to pull out a manila folder.
    I begin reading as soon as he hands them to me.
    “You don’t really need to read it in depth. It’s a standard employment contract. Even Sasha’s signed it. The one you do need to pay great detail to is the confidentiality agreement.”
    As I begin reading the confidentiality agreement, I get lost in a sea of legal jargon.
    “ It is understood and agreed to that the below identified discloser of confidential information may provide certain information that is and must be kept confidential. To ensure the protection of such information, and to preserve any confidentiality necessary under patent and/or trade secret laws, it is agreed that …”
    Blah, blah, blah. Okay, I get it. No talking about Litmus to anyone who doesn’t know about it. Safer yet, just don’t talk about it at all.
    I sign the agreement, pushing the form over to Jonas’ side of the table.
    “And the contracts?” he says, gesturing to the pile of paperwork still in front of me.
    Hesitantly, I sign the two identical documents. One