Page 8 of Boss of Her

“Don’t play dumb with me, Gene. It’s beneath you.” Simone pushed the contract on the table before her away. “This? This isn’t what we agreed upon.”

Gene shrugged. “Sure, we talked terms. But until the ink is dry, it’s all just that. Talk.”

“We had an agreement,” Simone said firmly. “A verbal agreement, but an agreement nonetheless. I made an offer. You accepted it. So why is the figure on this contract ten percent higher?”

“I changed my mind. That land is in a prime location. It’s worth far more than what you’re offering.” He leaned back in his chair, a smirk crossing his lips. “Consider this my counter. I won’t take a cent less.”

Simone drew in a deep breath. She’d spent weeks negotiating with Gene, all in good faith.

She was done being civil.

“Listen,” she said. “You either sell me that land for the price we agreed upon, or you get the hell out of my conference room and never come back.”

He held up his hands. “Settle down. Look, I’m open to negotiations. But your original offer—”

“That you accepted.”

“Yes, but—”

“It’s a fair price. We both know you’re not going to get a better one.”

“Maybe not right now. But in five years? That’s a different story. So if you’re not willing to up your offer, I’ll take the land off the market and let time do the work.”

Simone leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

“How’s your wife, Gene?”

The man blinked. “My wife? She’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. But you’ve sold off a significant portion of your company’s assets recently and transferred the funds offshore.It’s almost as if you’re squirreling away your wealth so it can’t be touched by anyone. A soon-to-beex-wife, for example?”

His face paled. Gene Kingsley’s rocky marriage was an open secret in certain circles. While Simone didn’t enjoy the kind of banal conversation that went on at high-class parties, occasionally she’d glean a piece of information that was useful to her.

Like the fact that Gene’s wife was planning to leave him and take him for half his worth. And rightfully so, given the rumors about the kind of husband he was. The fact that he was trying to sell off assets and hide the money in preparation? Simone had extrapolated that by herself.

And Gene’s expression told her that her suspicions were correct. The man was desperate. He needed this sale even more than Simone did.

Anyone in her shoes would be tempted to use that to their advantage, to drop their offer to a fraction of what the plot was worth, knowing that Gene would have no choice but to accept it. And given his underhanded tactics, it was what he deserved.

But while Simone had a reputation for relentlessness, she refused to play dirty. Exploiting her competition made her no better than men like Gene.

“I don’t care what’s going on in your personal life,” Simone said. “But your financial situation is no excuse to try to cheat me. I’m offering you a fair price. You know it. I know it. And frankly, after this stunt you pulled, I should walk away right now.”

“Simone, just—”

“I amnotfinished.” She rose from her seat, her fingers splayed on the table in front of her. “Despite what you tried to pull, despite you reneging on our agreement, I’m willing to hold up my end of the deal. So either sell me the land for what we agreed upon, or get out of my sight.”

Silence fell over the room. Gene’s smirk was long gone now. Instead, his lips were pressed firmly together, his hands balled up on the table.

He glanced at the men on either side of him. “I need a moment to confer with my lawyers.”

“No, you won’t be wasting any more of my time.” Simone gathered her things from the table. “We’re done here. I’ll give you a moment, but I expect you out of this room, and this building, within the next ten minutes.”

She marched toward the door. But she only made it a few steps before Gene stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over in the process.

“Fine!” he said. “I’ll honor our agreement. The original agreement, that is. The plot is yours.”

Simone paused, her back to him, for just long enough to make him sweat.

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