Page 12 of The Bargain (Dalton Family #2)

Chapter Twelve

Sofia

I open the door to find Lily standing there, palms up.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry for interrupting, but your attorney is on the phone.

Your cellphone is going to voicemail, and there’s some document that wasn’t signed.

I don’t know. It seems urgent.” She points to the office and mouths, “He’s so hot. Who is that?”

“Later,” I mouth, and then say, “Put the call through, please.” After which, I shut the door and hurry toward Ethan, who’s now perched on the edge of my desk, and while he might consume a small space, his presence has a way of owning the room.

And me.

He owns me in the most intimate of ways, and it’s important I remember that what stirs the body and hormones is not always what is best beyond the bedroom.

He’s savvy and financially intelligent in ways I’ve never had the chance to explore.

That places me in a position of vulnerability, though the truth is, Ethan seems to really be an honest guy.

“Everything okay?”

“Harper’s trying to reach me,” I explain. “Apparently, we missed a document, or something to that effect. Lily was too smitten with you to form a coherent sentence.”

He laughs. “I think it was stunned. Apparently, you haven’t talked about me at all. I’m not sure how to feel about that.”

“I keep my private life private.”

His eyes warm. “I like that about you, Sofia.”

The phone on my desk begins to ring, and I grab it, all too aware of Ethan shifting his body my direction.

“Harper,” I greet, leaning on the desk but facing forward where there’s no direct eye contact with a hot billionaire to distract me from the conversation.

“Sorry,” I add. “I’ve been having trouble with my phone. What’s up?”

“The board wants to add an amendment, which includes more money for you, but also a non-compete. I’m not sure if you should sign it until I review it in detail. I’m trying to reach Ethan to calm their tits and buy us a day to talk things through, but he too, doesn’t seem to be taking my calls.”

“A non-compete?” I repeat, shifting left, my eyes meeting Ethan’s, and he does not look pleased.

He pushes to his feet and motions to the phone. “Let me talk to her.”

“Is that Ethan?” Her voice is utter disbelief. “Holy hell, he does not listen. I told him to let you get this deal done before he talked to you. But what does he do? He goes to see you in person.”

I cover the phone with my hand. “She’s not happy you’re here.”

He takes the phone from me, and I move out of reach of the cord while he reclaims his perch on the desk. “What the fuck is going on?” he demands, and, yes, what is going on.

“Focus on business, Harper. I’m here. I’m not leaving. Deal with it.”

Ethan looks skyward and scrubs the tension at the back of his neck before he adds, “I get it. Now, what the fuck is going on?”

He listens a minute and then drags his phone from inside his jacket pocket, thumbing through messages.

“They sent me the amendment and notes. I see what they did.” He slides his phone back into his jacket and says, “It’s only a bad deal for her if you let it become a bad deal for her.

And since it would be a conflict of interest for me to explain that point of view, I can’t tell you what to do.

If you’re as good as I think you are, you’ll figure it out.

” He listens a moment and says, “Yes. It will, but we’ll make that work.

I’m going to give you your client back.” He offers me the phone, giving me a small nod of reassurance.

I accept it and press the receiver to my ear. “Harper?”

“If they sign the Zoey line, they want you to be exclusively theirs for ten years. The only way that works is if they pay you a whole hell of a lot more than the proposed in your mentorship agreement.”

My lashes lower as I ask, “What did they offer?”

“A million.” My knees are weak even before Harper adds, “We need that to be five million. In addition, you maintain ownership of the brand with split profits and auditing terms I approve.”

“That’s a lot.”

“It’s really not, but they’ll huff and puff as if it’s a small fortune.

And they’ll want the monetary rewards to be based on performance goals, and won’t want to have it be paid out upfront or in a lump sum, but we’ll push back hard.

I’ll insist on a cash payout at five years if you hit certain performance goals.

If they won’t do any of this, you need to be willing to walk away. ”

At the huge number discrepancy, my gaze rockets to Ethan as I ask, “Is this going to fall apart?”

“No,” he says, at the same time Harper adds, “Doubtful. They’re just testing us to see what they can get away with now that the head legal counsel, David—I swear these dweebs are always Davids—finally read the agreement.

The dipshit let someone else handle this and then had buyer’s remorse.

He realized they’d left out the standard clause Moore’s requires for this type of partnership, but I think this can work in your favor.

They opened the door for further negotiations. ”

I press my hand to my forehead and turn to lean against the desk. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Every contract I write has a cold feet clause. You have three days to back out. The problem is they have the same, and his lack of attention to the contract has now turned into an after-signature negotiation. Which is, again, why I’ll need to threaten to walk.

Do I have the approval to issue that threat should it be needed? ”

My stomach roils, but I manage to steady my voice. “If that’s what you think we need to do, then yes.” I drop my hand from my forehead and press it to my leg. “I trust you.”

“Okay, then. The good news is that despite Ethan doing what I advised against by visiting you, he’s there to distract you from the stress of the negotiation.

Only that’s not really good news at all, not for him.

Because the bad news is he’s put himself in a compromising position with you and the board. He’s supposed to look out for Moore’s.”

“And he’s not?”

“He believes fair negotiation means long term relationships thus he is indeed, looking out for everyone involved. He’s wrong. Send him home. Now. Fast. If you care at all about his future—”

“I do. Of course, I do. And I will.”

“Good. Be forceful. And get your phone charged. More soon.” She hangs up and leaves me with the task of being selfless enough to send Ethan home. Alone. Without me. And he’s not going to take well to me pushing him out of the door.