One Weekend with the Billionaire novel Chapter 83

A few days later, a sea of attorneys gather in my conference room. All of my lawyers are there, as well as Stringer and a few other people I’ve invited for their moral support, even though they have little to do with the event itself.

We are waiting for Jeff and his lawyers to arrive, and my pulse is pounding out of my chest. I try taking deep breaths, but it’s not doing any good. I need this all to be over with.

"It’ll be fine," Shawna, my lead attorney, says with a reassuring smile. "It’s all but done now, Braxton. We have the wire transfer ready, all the documents are prepared. All we need is Jeff Thompson’s signature, and this will all be over with."

I nod, knowing she’s right, but deep down inside, I can’t help but think something is about to go wrong. I will admit that parting with such a large sum of money all at once makes me anxious. Every time I do a large transaction in business, I get a little ill at the idea of spending so much money, so it’s nothing new, and I’ve made my peace with it days ago. I know that this is the most important transaction I’ll ever make because it means that Julia can go on, unharassed. Still, the idea that something might go wrong has my stomach churning inside of me.

Jeff and his lawyers are supposed to arrive at 1:00. I expect them to arrive on time or slightly early, but as the time ticks by, and 1:00 comes and goes, I feel even more nervous. Shawna’s phone rings at 1:10. "It’s Kyle Warren," she says before she answers it. Her side of the conversation is short and clipped, and I can’t gather anything from what she says. When she hangs up, she says, "They’ve just arrived outside. They’re coming up."

"All right," I say. I have no idea if Jeff Thompson has been at work today or not since I can’t see his office any longer from my new office, and I haven’t bothered to ask. It would make sense that he wouldn’t be. I expect him to quit after today anyway. I can’t imagine him continuing to work here after today.

It seems to take forever for them to make their way from outside of the building to the conference room. When I finally hear their footsteps outside of the door, I’m not sure if I should be relieved or give into the anxiety bubbling up inside of me. I know Shawna will handle everything. All I have to do is sign the paperwork when it’s my turn and keep my mouth shut. It won’t be easy, though. I want to chew Jeff out at least, punch him in the face at best.

"Mr. Warren," Shawna says as the high-powered attorney comes through the door. They shake hands, and she sarcastically says, "It’s nice of you to join us."

"We apologize for the delay, but we needed to go over the offer one more time." He releases her hand, nods at me, and then walks around the table where it’s obvious we have his team set up. He has jet black hair that is perfectly coiffed, and his suit costs almost as much as mine.

My eyes fall on Jeff Thompson, hidden amongst the other, lesser, attorneys. He looks nervous. He’s wearing a very expensive suit, too, much higher quality than what he typically wears to work. I am reminded that I am turning him into a very wealthy man.

"Aaahhhh! Nooo!" he shouts, swooping the multiple pages of agreement off of the table and scattering them all over the floor as he jumps up, flinging the pen across the room where it almost hits one of my attorneys. "No, goddamn it! No!" He has his hands pressed to the table as he glares directly into my eyes. "She’s my wife! Mine!" he shouts. "You can’t buy her from me! You can’t just take her because you want to, you asshole!"

Kyle Warren has his hands on his client’s shoulder, trying to calm him down, but it’s obvious now that Thompson doesn’t want to sign. I glare right back at him. Standing, I point at the door, "Get the hell out of here, all of you."

"We’ll see you in court!" Warren says as he and his client head toward the door, the rest of his suits following him, none of them looking very comfortable with this outcome.

Once he’s gone, I sink back into my chair, thankful for Stringer’s hand on my arm, but I feel my insides tangling and melting into a boiling hot bowl of acid all at the same time.

Jeff Thompson didn’t sign the agreement. This isn’t over yet.