AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’s risking losing a multibillion-dollar deal of a lifetime and I’m risking my entire future.
Just when I think there’s a happily ever after in our sights, he pulls the rug out from under me and we’re both left with a target on our backs from his enemies.
I should have listened when he told me he isn’t the kind of trouble you walk away from unscathed.
Instead, I dove in head first with a heart of glass, falling for a man who doesn’t have a heart at all.
Chapter 1
Cyrus
“They’re backing out of the deal.”
I drop the paper in my hand and look up at my CFO, Nelson, a panicked expression across his weathered face as he barges into my office.
“What the fuck do you mean they’re backing out?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.” He shuts my door and steps further into my office. “I told you, Cyrus. I told you your reputation would get the best of you someday and it has, goddammit!” His cheeks grow red with frustration as he narrows his gaze at me over his glasses, sweat beading at his temples.
“That can’t happen, so either tell them it’s back on or get my lawyer Terry on the phone to find a legal loophole.”
“There is no loophole this time, Cyrus. They made sure of it in their morality clause in the contract.” He wags his finger at me.
I stare at him, his chest heaving. I reach for the intercom button on my phone.
“Abigail, get Terry Wetzler on the phone for me, please, and let him know I want to see him standing in my office within the next twenty minutes or he can find a new big whale for his firm.”
Nelson rolls his eyes at me, something that irks me in the moment, but I ignore it.
“I don’t pay him two grand an hour to allow deals like this to slip through the cracks. We’ve been in talks with Meridian Telecom for over two years to secure this deal and I’ll be damned if they suddenly grew a set of balls and think I’m too immoral.”
“It’s the shareholders and the board, Cyrus; you know that. Meridian doesn’t just own the largest newspaper and two of the largest television networks in the world; they own several family-friendly networks along with a massive children’s movie company. They don’t want it to get out that the man who just bought them has a reputation for blackmailing and strong-arming his way into deals, let alone the fact that the last woman you went on several very public dates with was married to your business rival, Peter Frisk!”
I snap my eyes up and watch as Nelson flinches. He swallows whatever else he’s about to say when he sees the look on my face. I let out a huff of a laugh and lean forward, folding my hands on my desk as I narrow my gaze at him.
“Are these the issues you have with me or did they tell you all this?”
“Sir.” My intercom comes alive with Abigail’s voice. “I have Terry here to see you.”
I stand up and reach for my suit coat. “Last time I checked, Nelson, I was signing your paychecks so I suggest you lower your fucking voice when you speak to me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to resolve this mess that you can’t seem to handle.”
Nelson doesn’t respond. He spins on his heel and waddles his portly body through my office door, leaving it wide open as he grumbles his way toward the elevator. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to put Nelson in his place, and it won’t be the last.
He’s not wrong. I have a reputation, not only in Chicago but throughout my industry. Do I give a shit? No. I don’t blackmail or strong-arm good, ethical people into deals; those kinds of people don’t have dirt I can use against them. But the dirty lowlifes that think they can manipulate me and then want to back out when they realize they can’t get what they want? Well, those are the kinds of rats I enjoy playing target practice with.
I tell them all the same thing. “You want to be a big man and try to fuck me over, be my guest. Because my dick is twice as big and I will show you zero mercy when I strip you of every ounce of self-respect you have for yourself.”
“Terry, thanks for coming over so quickly.” I smile and hold out my hand to my lawyer.
“Didn’t really have a choice now, did I, Cyrus?” He laughs but the sarcasm is practically dripping from his lips. “You know you can call me without summoning or threatening me, right? I’m well aware you’re our biggest client, as are the other partners.”
“Good to hear it.” We take a seat and I launch right into the issue, not wanting to waste anyone’s time. “Look, I’ve got a little issue surrounding my deal with Meridian. Nelson let me know they’re threatening to back out based on a morality clause in the contract.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of the morality clause, as are you. I’m also aware of their threats. We discussed it, or rather, I tried to discuss it with you a few times, but you brushed it off. You told me it was some”—he holds up his hands in air quotes—“‘pious power play’ by them.”
“Because it is,” I double down.
“Doesn’t mean it’s not legit. All of us at Wetzler, Bergen and Pierce have gone over the contract in detail and there are no loopholes. There is no getting around this clause. Another thing I made abundantly clear to you before you even put pen to paper on this deal, but you didn’t seem to be concerned about it.”
