Page 65 of My Orc Contract Husband
As her fingers twined with mine, I heard a little exhale from my brave little wife. Harper, meanwhile, was flipping through the papers.
“And everything he needs, gentlemen, includes quite a lot of money. See, the estate Sami inherited didn’t just include her father’s half of the company, but property—for instance, his penthouse home—that he personally owned, as well as a significant savings account.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” Montgomery growled.
“Good,” Harper announced, “so we can agree to leave that out of the negotiations.”
“Negotiations?” the other lawyer announced, leaning forward eagerly. Maybe he wanted this to be done as much as I did. “You’re willing to negotiate.”
“Mr. Montgomery wants Ms. Shayson’s half of the company, yes?” Harper’s grin was wolfish. “My client is willing to negotiate.”
“I’m notbuyingit from her,” Montgomery spat at. “That defeats the purpose! I would have to liquidate most of my holdings to pay?—”
“What it’s worth, yes,” Harper interrupted smoothly. “However…” She turned to Sami and raised a brow.
My Mate took a deep breath and straightened, and my chest nearly burst in pride, seeing her strength.
“Pierce, when I left the city and cut all ties, it was because I didn’t want anything to do with my father, the company, or you. I don’twantmy father’s half of your company, and I don’t need your money.”
The older man’s eyes narrowed, looking for the scam. “What are you saying?”
“If you promise to leave me alone for the rest of my life,I willgladlysell you the company for far less than it’s worth.”
“I don’t believe you,” he spat, just as his lawyer shifted in his seat and asked, “How much are you willing to accept, Ms. Shayson?”
Sami took another deep breath and exchanged a glance with me, her fingers tightening on mine. “A hundred thousand.”
“Dollars?” Montgomery sputtered. “You want only a hundred thousand for—” His laughter wasn’tnicelaughter. “You can’t even buy property for that much!”
“We know,” Sami said with a firm nod. “But a hundred thousand, invested wisely, will be enough to start a scholarship fund for the underprivileged kids here on Eastshore to attend college on the mainland. That’s what we want to do with it.”
Montgomery sputtered into silence as his lawyer took over.
“To confirm, Ms. Shayson: You’re willing to sign away all rights to your half of the company in exchange for a hundred thousand dollars? Which you will then just…give away?”
“She doesn’t need it,” I rumbled, beyond proud of her. “And we don’t want it.”
“Hell,” spat Montgomery. “I spend more than that on my suits. You want a check?”
This man had the money available? Even better. Harper’s smile turned from predatory to pleased.
“I think that we can definitely come to an arrangement today.”
The next hour was exhausting. And confusing. I’ll admit that I tuned out quite a lot of the debate, which was mainly between the two lawyers, and Montgomery chiming in occasionally. What was fascinating to me was that he hadn’t given Sami another look after she agreed to sell at such a ridiculously low price.
If that didn’t tell us everything we needed to know, nothing would.
He might’ve wanted Sami, but not forSami. He wanted her because she was beautiful and accomplished and would look good on his arm. He wanted her because of her connections, and her father’s half of the company.
He didn’t wanther. He didn’tknowher.
But I did.
As the negotiations droned on, I gave up resisting the urge to touch her. I slid her chair closer to mine and put my arm around her shoulders. She tipped her head sideways, and I loved the way I could feel her breath on my throat whenever she exhaled. The chaos swirled around us, but together, we were grounded.
At long last, Harper nodded. “I think that’s it. I’ll write up this sale contract and get it to you by tomorrow morning.”
The other lawyer was already packing up his papers. “Then we can sign it, write your client a check, and be on the first flight out of here.”
