Page 19 of The Suit

I smiled, then I flicked my eyes over to Rafe who was watching me intently. I wondered if he’d told her about our little conversation yesterday… legally he had to, but as he didn’t seem to take anything I’d said seriously, I had some doubts. Let’s see…

“I’m sure Mr. Latham mentioned yesterday that your husband would like to offer you the New York townhouse and will transfer the deeds into your name, as well as twenty million, made up of nine million in cash, plus stock in the company. He’s also prepared to offer you a seat on the board with one voting right, if we can sign today.”

I gave her my best and most winning sympathetic smile while I waited for her to respond. I prayed my luck would come in and she’d agree, which meant this would be over and I could fly home and tie the case up from there.

I kept my gaze on Mrs. Maynard while I waited for her to stop contemplating. I wished her hair didn’t remind me of Santa. In fact, I wish this entire fucking case hadn’t dredged up every fucking memory that was putting me off my game. Fuck this city. I couldn’t wait to get back to Chicago where none of this would haunt me.

Where I only had new memories.

Mrs. Maynard quietly cleared her throat again, then leaned forward a fraction in her chair, a movement that was ever-so-slightly hostile.

“Ms. Holmes,” she smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes, “how did my lawyer respond when you made your offer yesterday?”

I blinked, trying to understand what she was asking. “Excuse me?”

“I said,” she replied, using a tone I didn’t not appreciate, and one that people usually used at their peril, “how did my lawyer respond to your offer yesterday?”

I looked over to Rafe who was staring at me, also waiting for a response. His expression was far too muchI told you sofor my liking.

“Have you forgotten, Ms. Holmes? Shall I remind you?”

My fists clenched at his saccharine tone, but I looked away from him and back to Mrs. Maynard. “He declined the offer, ma’am.”

Rafe let out a low chuckle. “Now, now, there was a little more to it than that… Don’t be shy Ms. Holmes, we’re all adults. Well, two of us are at least.”

I ignored the jab, but my nails were now digging into the flesh of my palms. “Um, he told me to tell your husband to stick his offer up his ass, along with his townhouse.”

“I see. And did you pass the message along?”

Mrs. Maynard pinned me with a steely glare. Turned out she wasn’t so meek after all. And now I knew how she’d survived twenty-five years of marriage.

“I told him it had been declined, yes.”

“But not to stick it up his ass?”

I looked back at Rafe. Whatever was happening was his fucking fault. No one pushed back at me like this. Maybe I was in shock, maybe she’d reminded me so much of my past it had knocked me off balance, or maybe she had just been married to Johnson Maynard so long that nothing phased her.

“No, ma’am, I did not.”

She shifted slightly, her hands clasping in front of her. “Shame, because then he’d have known that I’m not interested in his paltry offers or his faux insinuation that he wants this divorce dealt with swiftly and amicably.” She leaned further across the desk, her index finger now pressing down on the mahogany wood. “Let me tell you something. I was married to that asshole for twenty-five years, and he cheated on me every single day for twenty of those. I bore him three children and I stayed home to raise them on his insistence while he toured the world on business, fucking any woman he could get his hands on,” she scoffed, “and he thought I didn’t know. I had a degree, Ms. Holmes. I graduated with Johnson when he didn’t have a penny to his name. I worked, I helped him build his business, I had a life, but when we had kids, I stayed home. Johnson might think I’m the compliant wife who never paid any attention to his business dealings, but I did. I know he has the money, so don’t insult my intelligence by pretending he doesn’t.” She sat back and smoothed her dress over her legs, while I waited wide-eyed for the next phase of her speech. “I know twenty million is a lot of money; I don’t need twenty million to live a good, happy, decent life. But half of Johnson’s assets belongs to me and our children, and I want it. Seven hundred and fifty million is a generous offer from us. Now, are you ready to have a proper negotiation, or is this no longer within your authority?”

I looked between her and Rafe, and the stupid smug grin I wanted to smack off his face, because he’d known exactly what was going to happen in this meeting. Mrs. Maynard’s smile hadn’t faltered when I turned back to her.

“Mrs. Maynard, the stock crash a few years ago wiped seventy-five percent off his value. He lost a lot of his personal wealth that wasn’t tied up in the company, and he hasn’t recovered it. I can’t offer you seven hundred and fifty million because he doesn’t have it. We shared all the financial disclosures, everything is there. Any further assets you might believe are Mr. Maynard’s belong to the company and aren’t part of the settlement. Mr. Latham should have informed you of that.”

I sent a telepathic message to Duke that he better be fucking right, because Rafe Latham was rarely a bluffer, and when I told him that Rafe would sniff out the money if he had to, I meant it.

Mrs. Maynard’s smile held firm, before she abruptly stood. “I can see we’re wasting time when you should be consulting with my husband. I look forward to hearing from you Ms. Holmes; please do let Rafe know when you’re ready – with an acceptable offer.”

Rafe leapt up and held the door open for her, but I stopped them before they could leave.

“With due respect, Mrs. Maynard, if you don’t need twenty million, why are you asking for seven hundred and fifty? It’s quite the leap.”

“It’s going to charity,” she replied with a smile she could only have learned from Rafe, then turned away and walked down the corridor to the elevators.

Of course it fucking was. Fuck my life.

My eyes stayed glued to their retreating backs until Rafe spun round and locked mine with his. With a sly grin, he started rubbing his finger and thumb together in a payday gesture, to which my involuntary response was to aggressively flip him the bird with both hands, only making his grin widen before he disappeared in the direction of his client. I rapidly clenched my fists again before someone caught me in what was a wholly unprofessional display of behavior, but somehow it was all I managed when Rafe Latham was concerned.

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