Page 23 of A Million Times, Yes

“Here’s what I’ll admit,” I said. “If the flight attendant doesn’t hurry up with my scotch, first I’m going to choke you out, and second, I’m going to walk off this plane.”

Gavin laughed, a sound that only got louder. “I was right. You met someone.”

“How long have we been waiting in this room?” I asked my brother, my knee bouncing, my foot tapping on the hardwood floor.

If his answer wasn’tforever, I wouldn’t believe him.

Because I was positive we’d been sitting in this conference room, somewhere inside the hotel Clover was staying at, for a goddamn eternity.

“At least an hour,” he replied.

“Fuck this.”

“Where are you going?” Gavin held on to the small table we were sitting at like I was about to pick it up and throw it.

“I’m going to go find him.”

“Is this the scotch talking? Or is this really your plan?”

I laughed. “Settle down there, you fucking drama queen. I had one scotch, followed by breakfast. If I was feeling its effects, I wouldn’t have waited an hour to go find him. I would have done it after ten minutes.”

“Play nice!” Gavin shouted as I left the room.

I walked down the hallway, and before I got to the lobby, I passed the entrance for the spa. I wasn’t more than a foot beyond the door when I heard it open. I turned around, and a woman was coming out. It took only a second before I realized who she was.

Timing: Sometimes it worked against me; today, it was sucking my dick.

“You’re Sylvia, am I right?” I came to a stop, waiting for her to catch up, and once she did, I matched her pace.

“Yes.” She eyed me, pulling her bathrobe closer together, her other hand going to the towel wrapped around her hair. “And who are you?”

I held out my fingers. “Jordan Worthington. We met when you and your boyfriend were in Costa Rica. My brother and I came to your suite and chatted about purchasing Andrew’s NBA team.”

“Oh yes.” She grinned and gently shook my fingers. “I thought you looked familiar.”

“I’m just going to be frank with you, Sylvia. I’m sure you’re used to that, given the kind and patient man you’re dating.” I winked to rub in the sarcasm. “I’ve been waiting for your boyfriend for the last hour, and he still hasn’t showed. I’m fed up and leaving, so I would like you to relay a message to him. Would that be okay?”

“I’ll call him—”

“No need.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and while I moved my face close to hers, I held my cell above us and snapped several pictures. I’d use it as evidence of my encounter with the mistress in case it needed to come into play later. “Please let him know that the last offer we made is more than fair. It’s also our final. We’re not going to play this back-and-forth bullshit game of how many more millions he can squeeze out of us. He’s going to agree to the contract our attorney sent over, or I’m going to send his wife the pictures I took of you and Andrew kissing in Costa Rica. It’s that simple.”

Her eyes widened. “That wouldn’t be very nice of you—”

“He has twenty-four hours to sign the contract before I release the photos. The choice is up to him.” I smiled. “I hope you enjoy your time with him in Chicago. Looks like he treated you to a facial.” I added some beef to my smile. “Must be quite the spa. Your skin is glowing.”

“Mr. Worthington—”

I ignored her plea, completely tuning out everything she said as I turned around to go back down the hallway, entering the room whereGavin was waiting. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that he was still alone when I came in.

“Let’s go.”

With his phone in his hand, my brother turned toward me. “We can’t leave yet. We haven’t talked to Clover—”

“Yes, we can. The deal’s done. Time to head home.”

“It’s . . . done?”

I waved the air, letting him know I wanted him to get up. “I ran into Sylvia and gave her a message to deliver to her boyfriend. He has twenty-four hours. I would suspect by the time we get to the plane, our attorney will have the approval in his inbox.”