Page 125 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

“It’s a pleasure to meet both of you,” Hazel smiled, her cheeks growing pink as she glanced at Jareth.

“Hazel, bring the documents into the dining room. Mr. Alden and I will be in shortly.”

She nodded and moved ahead of us, clearly familiar with the layout of Jareth’s home.

“What papers are you signing?” Jess’s eyes narrowed as they searched my face.

“It’s for an as needed security job,” I responded. I didn’t want to lie to Jess, but I wasn’t ready to tell her about the shares until I had them signed over to me.

“I thought you hated him?” She didn’t bother to hide her disbelief or lower her voice.

Jareth chuckled as he stood. “I’ve heard the two need not be mutually exclusive.”

He wasn’t wrong.

I pressed a kiss to Jess’s lips. “It’ll be fine. You keep looking. We’ll be right out.”

The paperwork was straightforward. We were to each sign two copies and keep one. In the event we did not find damning evidence against Jess’ parents tonight our contract was null and void or, in the newest part of the contract, one I had not been privy to earlier, I was given the option to sign on for a ten-year contract with Jareth and he would honor our agreement regardless of us finding anything to incriminate the Sultons.

“What the fuck is this?” I pointed at the part of the document we’d discussed, realizing Jareth must have messaged his assistant after the phone call.

“You have the ability to say no, Mr. Alden.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “What if we find the evidence a week from now?”

He searched my face. “I know you read the contract. It’s only good for what we find tonight. If you sign your name to that line and we find nothing tonight, you work for me for the next ten years, but Jess gets her three percent. You sign and we do find something tonight, that section is void.”

If I worked for Jareth for ten years, it was unlikely I’d be able to start my company anytime soon. My savings would be gone, and I’d need to be available whenever he called.

“We don’t have all night, Mr. Alden.” Jareth picked up a pen, ready to hand it to me.

“Fine, give me the damn pen. I’ll sign it.” I could wait on my dream. Jess had waited long enough for hers.

He handed it over. “You must love her very much.”

I grunted my reply. What did he know about love? I signed my initials on both our copies, grabbed my own, and walked into the next room.

“Hey baby.” I sat down next to her and pulled her into my arms.

Her breath caught on a sob. There was nothing left in front of her to go through. “I thought we’d find something.”

My throat grew tight. “Me too. It’ll all work out. We’ll find another way.” We had to or ten years of my life would be dedicated to Jareth.

“How? They still win, James. They have the majority, we know they’re not on the up and up, but we can’t find proof of it.” She leaned against me, her gaze drifting over to Jareth who had just entered the room with Hazel by his side. “I’m sorry, Jareth. I thought we’d find something that would pin them for what happened to your dad.”

Jareth’s jaw ticked. “We’ll keep looking.”

Hazel gently touched his forearm. “Hey, I’m going to head out. Is there anything you need from me?”

Jareth shook his head. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

We watched them go and a minute later Jess let out a big sigh. “Let’s just pack it up and go home.”

The two of us stacked the loose papers and grabbed the four notebooks that had been laying under the haphazard stack Jess had gone through. As Jess shoved them into the bag, a worn, little blue one with dog-eared corners fell to the floor.

Jareth entered the room, his gaze stopped fixated on that one notebook. “Where did you get that?”

“It was in the pile,” Jess responded, waving her hand at the coffee table.

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