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."

"See that you do," I say. I haven’t expected this to go quite so quickly, so if she actually manages to get Jeff to settle out of court so fast, it might all be worth it. I have no idea how much cash money I have right now, but I know it’s more than five billion. I’m not worried. It does mean I will need to keep working for the time being. Any thoughts I might’ve had about quitting and staying home with Julia go away.

I hang up the phone and sit down at my desk, trying to get back to work, but my eyes are on Jeff Thompson’s face. A few minutes later, his phone rings. He answers it, and a wide smile spreads across his face. I want to fly out of my office, across the expanse, and punch that son of the bitch in the face. But I don’t. Instead, I shift my eyes to my computer. I’ve got work to do….