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“I’m sure they would, but I promised him I’d send him back to Ireland and help him disappear.”
“Is he the one who went after Talia?”
He nods. “Pretty sure, yes.”
“Shit,” I mutter, rubbing my temples. This is the easy way out, but I can’t take the risk. “I can’t,” I say again. “I have to figure this out. I have a meeting with Delmore and their lawyers in three days. I just need to go back over the evidence and material and work through another negotiation with them.”
Alex shakes his head. “Unbelievable,” he mutters. “I’m giving you a way out right here. Let me do it. Let me make the call to them. You just want to make it harder than it needs to be because you are so fucking hardheaded, you refuse to accept help.”
I narrow my gaze. At this point, any effort to soften the blow is out the window. “No, Alex, it’s that I don’twantyour help, nor do I need it. You were hired to keep Chloe and me safe, not help me with my case, so do us both a favor and stick to your job and stay the hell out of mine.”
I spin on my heels, marching across the kitchen floor and stomping up the stairs. I slam my bedroom door, the anger and frustration from this case, my conflicting feelings for Alex, my sadness over getting Chloe involved in this all hitting me at once. I collapse on my bed, letting the tears I’ve been holding in fall in rapid succession.
* * *
“Are we ready to settle?”Terry Dune’s sweaty face is redder than usual, his eyes squinting half-closed from his chubby cheeks as he smiles at me. His grimy smile makes my skin crawl.
“Depends. Are we talking about you accepting our original offer?”
He laughs, looking over at his counterparts. “Come on now, sweetheart, we both know that’s never going to happen.”
I give Brett a look. “Okay, then, Terry, what’s your offer?”
“Hundred mil, take it or leave it.” He slides the offer across the table and I have to stifle a chuckle at the fact that it’s exactly the amount I told Brett it would be. “The way we see it, your only option is to go to trial, which we know is going to be a long, drawn-out process.” He adjusts himself in his seat, leaning forward in an attempt to appear more menacing. “And if you think we won’t use every resource we have to bury you in paper, you’re dreaming, young lady.” He jams his fat finger down against the top of the table as he speaks. “I can just about guarantee that your firm doesn’t want to lose you to three years of litigation on this mess.”
I smile. “I fully expected that this was going to be your move. You threaten us with paperwork and then come in as a knight in shining armor with your hundred-million-dollar offer that’s less than a third of what we’re asking for.” I pick up the paper and toss it back toward him. “No deal.”
His face goes from red to purple just as there’s a tap on the glass conference room door and it opens slightly. Nina pokes her head into the room. “Sorry to interrupt, Miss Pierce, but there’s a man here to see you. He says it’s urgent—that it pertains to the case.”
“Okay, tell him I’ll be right there.” I look across the table, Terry’s face growing white as he looks over at the other men on his team. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” I say as I’m exiting the room and walking down the hall toward my office. A man is seated in front of my desk. “Can I help you?”
The man stands, his red hair disheveled. “Sorry to show up like this, but, uh,” he hangs his head, “I’m Mick. Peter McDonald. I heard my testimony could help you out.”
* * *
By the timeI make it home, I’m still in complete shock. Alex agreed to pick Chloe up from school today since he knew I had the meeting.
“I’m home!” I say, placing my things down and walking into the kitchen. The house is quiet. I walk through the living room and head upstairs, making my way down the hall toward Chloe’s room.
“Now that it’s set up, we just have to wait until it’s a little darker to really see some cool stuff.” I hear Alex talking as I approach Chloe’s door.
“What are you guys doing?” I ask as I lean against her door frame, a large black telescope standing by her window.
“Mom, look! Alex gave me this!”
“Well, that was incredibly nice of him.” I look over Alex, who’s standing by the telescope.
“I figured it would get a lot more use with Chloe than collecting dust at my place.”
“Did you tell him thank you?” I ask Chloe, who spins around and wraps her arms around him.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she chants, making him laugh.
“I’m going to go talk to your mom for a bit, okay?”
“Okay,” she shrugs, turning back to the telescope.
We barely get out into the hallway before I, too, am wrapping my arms around Alex.
