One Weekend with the Billionaire novel Chapter 76

The next morning, I can still smell Julia on my fingers, even though I’ve showered and washed my hands a few times. I hold the phone close to my nose as I speak to my lawyer, inhaling deeply because I can’t be upset at the news they’re telling me if I am dreaming of being with her.

"It doesn’t look good," the lawyer says. "They’re demanding a lot, and the fact that they have a signed contract that requests that Thompson allow you to sleep with his wife, well, that doesn’t look good either, Mr. Merriweather. I really do recommend we try to settle this out of court if we can. It simply won’t make a good headline for you, amongst other things."

I know how it sounds. "I got her permission as well, Shawna," I say to my lawyer.

"No, I know that, but the press isn’t going to run with that. They’re going to try to turn this into some sort of soap opera, some sort of scheme for a rich man to get control of a poor worker’s wife."

I realize immediately that what she’s saying is true. I don’t want to see that spread all over the news either. I don’t want to tarnish my reputation, and I certainly don’t want anyone to think badly of Julia. I take a deep breath, my eyes focused out the window on Thompson. He is sitting behind his computer, typing away, as if he is actually doing his job for the first time in a long. "What do you propose we offer him?" I ask.

"Well, he’s requesting everything you have at the moment, so… anything less than that is a win for us."