Page 61 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

She nodded. I knew she knew. She could get the details about Jessica out of me later.

“You aren’t asking the hypothetical girlfriend and the hypothetical business partner to work together, so I don’t see why it should be an issue. It might get weird if there were social events involved, and it might get weird if either party involved talked about their home relationships at work and vice versa. The girlfriend might not want to know about her ex. And same for the business partner, he might not be interested in her anymore. So, are you asking me what I would do? I guess I would have a talk with my girlfriend and see how she felt about it. If it's a really lucrative deal, I would explain that home and work are very different places and there really is no reason they can’t remain separate.” She thought for a minute. “Unless you're concerned that there might be a rekindling between the two of them during the course of the project. That would get awkward knowing you were stuck working with the guy who stole your girlfriend.”

“That’s assuming everything is amicable. What if you find out there was a contentious, heated past between them?”

“Either there is something very serious going on here, or you’re reading some interesting books. Does this hypothetical situation have anything to do with what Ethan helped you out with last night?”

I sucked on my teeth and nodded.

“That wasn’t very hypothetical, Dylan. You bribed someone with a bottle of very expensive wine.”

“I didn’t bribe anybody. I used the wine as bait to lure someone out of a hole. That's very different.”

She crossed her arms and gave me one of those looks I had only ever seen mothers give. Sarah was disappointed in me. “How contentious, Dylan?”

“Abusive,” I answered.

“Oh, that’s easy,” she said. “No.” She started counting down points on her fingers. “Nothing has been signed. You support the people you love by not supporting their abusers. If you go through with the deal, don’t be surprised when she is no longer your girlfriend. I can’t believe you are even asking this.”

“It’s hypothetical, and I just needed confirmation that I’m thinking clearly. I need the legal team to back me up. Can you please get them on the phone?” I asked as I picked up my bag and started into my office.

“Of course I can. And Dylan?”

I stopped and turned back to Sarah.

“I hope your girlfriend is okay, that nothing horrible happened last night.”

I nodded. “She’ll recover. It was worse on me.”

“Trauma is trauma. And for your own wellbeing, no amount of money is worth working with someone who caused you that kind of pain.”

I was glad I spoke with Sarah before the call with Legal.

“Sounds like you’re making business decisions with your dick. You might want to sit on this with those numbers in front of you for twenty-four hours before you make any decisions,” the lawyer said.

I didn’t need to look at the numbers. They were etched in my brain. Five hours. She had been missing for five hours. Three hours to clean and bandage, and twenty stitches in her left heel. Those were very precious numbers when compared to the projected profits of the Carmichael Proposal.

“I’ll take that under advisement. Quick question.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Do you have a girlfriend or a wife?” If he could tell me I was thinking with my dick, it was only fair to ask.

“Divorced. And I don’t have one girlfriend, I have many, if you know what I mean?”

“I hear you loud and clear,” I said. And what I was hearing was that he didn’t have a woman in his life whom he cared about more than money. I certainly hoped the blanket he wove out of dollar bills kept him warm at night. I much preferred having Jessica to lose myself in and wrap around.

Knowing that Legal had my back, whether they agreed with me or not, was irrelevant. I just needed to know my bases were covered before I made the first call to the investors.

I was ready to face a barrage of disappointment.

“Sarah, can you put the call to Frisco Investments through?” I asked, braced for that challenge ahead.

I didn’t have to wait long before she buzzed by phone. “Mr. Thompson is on the line for you.”

“Edward!” I said with false bravado, diving right in, not giving him a chance to put me on the defense. “I really want to thank you for your extra diligence in reviewing those numbers on the Carmichael proposal. That extra time actually allowed us to unveil a very problematic situation, one that would have only gotten much worse if we had signed the deal.”

“What are you talking about? It seems to me we have a bigger problem on our hands now. Or should I say on your hands. This morning, I received a very concerning call from Mr. Carmichael himself, bringing up the very real issue of bringing litigation against us and other investing partners for intentionally dragging out the process so that we lose out on certain properties. Property values these days are practically doubling overnight. And he’s right. I don’t want to be named in a frivolous suit,” he grumbled.

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