Chapter 40
TRENT
Chicago was the same as always, loud, impatient, and convinced it was the center of the universe. Charlotte and I had landed late last night and we’d barely left my apartment building this morning when Alex texted, an ominous sign that this trip was going to be exactly as hectic as I’d expected.
AW: We’re waiting for you in the conference room. Bring caffeine and a miracle.
I didn’t have caffeine. Or a miracle. Just my usual optimism, which was running on fumes. Especially as I dropped Charlotte off to catch up with Stella while I went to meet with her brother.
She climbed out of the car but ducked back in where I was still sitting on the back seat and pressed a lingering kiss to my lips, her blue eyes bright, but worried. “Let me know how it goes?”
“Of course.”
“See you soon,” she whispered against my mouth. “Stay out of trouble, husband.”
“Stay away from blind dates, wife,” I replied, even managing a smile just for her, but as soon as she laughed and stepped away from the car, slamming the door behind her, that last burst of humor vanished.
Charlotte took off down the sidewalk to wherever she was meeting her friend and I turned my thoughts to what lay ahead. I really didn’t have much detail about what I was walking into, but Jameson had seemed grim—and he didn’t do grim.
When I finally pushed open the door to their executive conference room, Alex was standing with his hands braced on the table, looking like a man who’d spent the last two hours deep-throating legal jargon. He glanced up at me and exhaled in a way that did not bode well.
“What is it?” I asked, shutting the door behind me.
Alex raked a hand through his hair. “Gregory brought in a lawyer.”
I strode around the table and sank into one of the chairs, spinning it to face him. “A real one or someone who played one in a college improv group and he’s just using him to scare you?”
“A real one.” Alex swiped a folder up from the table, holding it out to me like it was either a ticking bomb or something foul, but either way, he didn’t want it anywhere near him. “Gregory claims the paperwork for the marriage between him and Charlotte was already signed.”
For a second, I just stared at him, then barked out a laugh so loud, it echoed off the very expensive conference table. “Right, and I’m the king of Denmark.”
Alex didn’t smile. “I’m just telling you what they’re saying. The bigger problem is that he already signed the prenup.”
My laughter died, smothered mid-breath. “A prenup? Charlotte didn’t sign any fucking prenup.”
“No, but Gregory did and so did my dad. Good old Greg is arguing that it gave him a legitimate expectation that they would be entering into a marriage.”
Part of me was waiting for him to smack his leg and say, Just kidding. But he didn’t. His expression remained bleak.
“What the hell did it stipulate?” I asked slowly.
Alex finally slid the folder over when I didn’t make any moves to take it from him. “The terms entitle Gregory to access the portion of the Westwood estate that would fall under Charlotte’s name once married.”
My stomach hit the floor with all the grace of a dropped bowling ball.
“So, let me get this straight. A man Charlotte didn’t want, didn’t choose, and didn’t even like, is now claiming he has legal rights over her future inheritance because he signed something behind her back?
Something she didn’t even know existed and sure as shit didn’t sign? ”
“Pretty much.”
I let my head drop back. “Douglas let him sign that?”
“He produced it,” Alex ground out. “Our very own fucking lawyers drafted the goddamn thing.”
I jerked my head up. “Come again?”
“It was his idea,” he said. “Gregory signing a prenup that secured the estate within the family. He thought Charlotte would eventually comply and he went ahead under that assumption.”
Comply. I actually saw red blotches in my field of vision. There were a thousand ways to describe Charlotte Westwood, but compliant wasn’t even within shouting distance.
“That’s what Gregory wants to enforce now,” he continued. “He’s desperate, Trent. He wants the estate and this prenup, if challenged, could make things extremely messy.”
I leaned back in my chair, exhaling deeply and trying to blink away the red. “Okay, then what can be done? Charlotte is my wife. End of discussion.”
Alex’s mouth tightened into a hard line. “It’s possible she won’t see a cent of the inheritance if Gregory goes after Dad with all this paperwork. It’s a tangle of signatures, bad intentions, and legal loopholes.”
I felt something ugly and mean coil in my chest. “She doesn’t even want the money. Get me face to face with him. I’ll straighten it out.”
“That’s not going to happen. I’ve tried getting a meeting with him myself,” he said immediately. “He’s made it very clear that he’ll only meet with Dad.”
“That’s rich,” I muttered. “He’s trying to throw Charlotte under the bus, but only wants to negotiate with her father?”
“That’s how this family does things,” he replied, rubbing his temples. “Dad isn’t thrilled that she ran off and married you. I think Gregory is hoping that if he keeps appealing to Dad, he’ll insist that she divorces you and marry Gregory instead.”
“Yeah, maybe, but Douglas gave her the goddamn option,” I snapped. “He told her that she was getting married and that if she didn’t want to marry Greg, she should marry me.”
“He gave her the option, but he didn’t think she’d take it, man,” he said, blowing out a heavy breath.
“Well, maybe he shouldn’t underestimate his daughter next time.”
The room went quiet and I saw the worry under Alex’s irritation, his genuine concern for Charlotte.
For years, he’d helped her navigate the ins and outs of their family.
I didn’t doubt he wanted what was best for her, but this whole situation was a burning garbage fire built by people who thought money and control were the same thing as love.
I took a breath, trying to ease my aggravation about all this. “Look. I don’t care about the inheritance. I don’t care if Gregory sets that prenup on fire, or eats it, or has it framed above his bed. I have more than enough money for Charlotte.”
Alex’s shoulders sagged a little. “It’s not just about the money.”
I’d really thought we were just about done here, or at least done enough for coffee or a drink, but Alex didn’t move away from the table. He just stared at the folder again.
I sighed. “What now? If it’s not just about the money, what else is there? Principle? Pride? Because I’m not trying to be an asshole, but—”
He finally lifted his eyes back to mine and the expression on his face had changed. It was more serious now, tighter than I’d ever seen it, and it made my pulse speed up.
“There’s something in the inheritance that makes it invaluable,” he finally said, his voice grave. “It’s a share of the company, Trent. If Gregory gains access to her inheritance, he gains control of her share.”
I frowned. “Charlotte has a share?”
“She will,” he corrected himself mildly. “Once her marriage is recognized by the board. That’s why Gregory is fighting this so viciously. That’s what he’s really after, the share. I strongly suspect the money is just window-dressing.”
My jaw clenched. “What does he want it for?”
“I don’t know, but it’d give him control. Leverage. Voting rights.” He shoved both his hands into his hair and slowly dragged them through it. “Gregory is saying she verbally agreed to the marriage. He’s calling it an implied contract. A verbal confirmation of the documents Dad already signed.”
My pulse jumped in my throat. “Except she didn’t agree. She ran.”
“He’s twisting every conversation they ever had,” Alex said. “Long story short, he’s presenting it like she intended to marry him before you intervened.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Are you blaming me?”
“No, but Gregory is,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like he’s plans on stopping with Charlotte, either. He’s saying he’s going to sue you for everything you’re worth. That you coerced her. Influenced her. Maybe even groomed her.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t funny. “Groomed her? I got to know her five minutes before I married her.”
“He doesn’t care,” Alex said, his voice tightening. “He’s painting you as a predatory billionaire who swooped in and manipulated a young, emotionally compromised woman.”
“That’s really fucking rich coming from him,” I muttered.
Alex didn’t argue, but he didn’t relax either.
“He knows every legal loophole, Trent. Because he’s done this before, he knows how to game the system.
He’s pushed women into corners, used his family name and theirs, the law, and pretty much everything short of physical force.
And he’s smart. Disgustingly so, actually. ”
For the first time since I got here, something cold slid under my ribs.
Alex wasn’t easily rattled. The man had been raised to rule over Chicago and the entire midwest’s financial world.
I’d watched him negotiate with global board members twice his age and walk away the clear winner.
Seeing him anxious? I didn’t like it one bit.
And seeing him like this was contagious because I was started to feel his anxiety now myself.
“Then what do we do?” I asked.
He grimaced. “We may have to give him what he wants.”
My blood went hot, then ice cold, then hot again, but Alex still wasn’t done. “If we don’t, he’s going to try to take not only your ranch or my company, but Charlotte.”
“He won’t,” I said, my voice dangerously low. “He won’t touch her.” For a few seconds, all I heard was my pulse pounding in my ears. “I’m not giving him a damn thing. Not from her and not from me.”
Alex’s chin lifted. “Then we prepare for war.”
I stood, pushing back my chair and giving my head a firm shake. “I’ve been through worse, and I don’t lose when it matters. Get me a meeting with him or a meeting with Douglas, but Gregory isn’t coming within five miles of my goddamn wife and he’s not taking what’s rightfully hers either.”