Chapter 6 Working Out the Details
WORKING OUT THE DETAILS
REN
I've been sitting in Jack's LA office for an hour, listening to him rant about that no-good, sneaky, conniving, underhanded, pain in the ass, Penny Wolf.
Every time he begins to calm down, he glances at a new page of the preliminary agreement she sent over and his tirade begins again.
Because, apparently, both of those women are obviously taking the piss out of an agreement that should have been cut and dry, done and dusted.
So far, most of what he's complained about hasn't appeared too egregious to me, but in his words, that's because ‘I’m too blinded by the pussy’ to be able to see exactly what they're trying to pull over on me.
While I strongly disagree that I'm blinded by anything, this is why he gets paid the big bucks. To strike me the best possible deal to suit my best interests.
He's about five minutes into his current tantrum about our living arrangements when I interrupt, "Jack. I don't care where I live."
Jack stops talking abruptly, his eyes narrowing as he responds, "Yes, you do."
I raise my hands dismissively. "But I really don't. I'm hardly ever there as it is."
His narrowed eyes turned into a full-on glare. "Well, I'm here to care for you."
Sighing, I shrug, not at all convinced that it's an important matter but happy to allow him to do whatever he wants.
I open my mouth to say as much, but then he jumps to his feet, shoving the paper across the desk, pointing at it violently as he says, "Did you see the part about the timeline here? They’re trying to milk more time from you than originally agreed upon. "
I glance down at the page, noting the many slashes and circles of red all across the words. At first glance it does seem alarming, so I slide the papers closer, reading the full paragraph before shaking my head. "They're not trying to sneak anything, Jack."
"How can you say that? She said quite clearly in her initial proposal that this arrangement was supposed to be over after a year, but this new wording could easily bleed this into two or three years."
Huffing out a breath, I sit back in my chair. "But it's more of an offer than a stipulation. Even if it remains in the agreement, I'm still welcome to end the arrangement any time after the aforementioned timeframe.”
Jack eyes me suspiciously, as if my interpretation of the paragraph is something he has to worry about.
He snatches the paper off the desk, sitting heavily in his chair as he appears to read that paragraph over and over.
After a few moments, he sets the paper back on the desk in front of him and asks, "But why? "
"Oh, Jack," I respond dryly. "I know you're not a family man or anything, but let's not forget the child that stems from this agreement will be mine. She was allowing me a generous leeway so I'm able to establish a strong foundation with said child."
He makes a face and then says, "You're right, I had forgotten. But since that's the case, we can swap this around into so much stronger language to ensure your parental rights are not impeded on."
I shake my head. "I don't think that's necessary. Even with it worded as such, if she wanted to make any definitive changes to my parental status, she'd have to take me back to court. This current wording is just fine."
Jack gives me a look that screams disgust. "Come on, Ren. You've got to give me something."
"Don't worry, Jack,” I respond with a smirk. “I have a few counter demands up my sleeve that I prefer to bring up in person."
Jack's eyes light up and he leans closer, obviously interested in what I'm going to say. "Please tell me more."
I open my mouth to reply just as Jack's receptionist buzzes, letting us know that Penny and Cassidy have arrived.
Jack instructs her to take them to the conference room.
He walks around his desk motioning for me to precede him to the door, but then he jumps in front of me, his hand on the doorknob as he says, "Remember, Ren. No mercy."
I laugh loudly and then shake my head as we both walk through the doorway. "It's not that serious, Jack. I think you need to relax."
He slings an arm around my shoulder, directing me down the hallway as he responds, "See, it's that exact mentality that proves you need me in your corner."
Walking into the conference room, I don't bother responding, noting Penny and Cassidy already seated at the long table. Penny immediately stands but I sense from her demeanor exactly why she has the reputation that she does. Jack stops a few feet from her, mutters quite grumpily, "Ms. Wolf."
Penny barely manages the fakest smile I've ever seen as she responds, "Mr. Jackson."
Then the two of them stare at each other, or rather glare at each other, apparently in a silent battle neither is willing to lose.
I glance at Cassidy who's watching the exchange with amusement in her eyes. I use her distraction to check her out, from her upswept hair to her prim suit, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to muss her up.
Her sparkly eyes slide to me, catching me watching her and her smile fades, her eyes narrowing slightly.
I can't decide if it's because she truly dislikes me or just a habit.
As if after all these years she's just been conditioned to act and react a certain way around me.
But then she flips me the bird and that fleeting question I had about her true feelings for me immediately dissipates. Yes, she's the fucking worst.
Tapping Jack on the shoulder, I say, "Let's get this over with."
Jack jumps slightly, my interruption of their standoff startling him, but then he nods. "Yes, let's."
He moves to the far end of the table so he's facing Penny. I sit to his left facing Cassidy. I do understand why I was presented with a laundry list of potentially irrelevant demands. I'm sure Cassidy has concerns about losing whatever upper hand she could have here.
Which is completely absurd given the fact that she knows I want that team. There are very few conditions I wouldn't agree to get my hands on it.
Jack flips his papers over sliding a carbon copy across the table toward Penny. She takes it gingerly, as if she's concerned she's going to catch something off of the now tainted contract. Then she glances at Jack and asks, "Did we have some concerns then?"
Cassidy glances over, her eyes widening at the amount of red ink on the page. Jack glowers at her from across the table. "I guess you could say that. About halfway through it, I'm starting to wonder if you're going to ask for unicorns and fairies."
Penny laughs and Cassidy only looks confused as she asks, "Surely it wasn't that bad?"
Jack's bark of laughter comes out bitter. "The first thing we're going to address is the living arrangements."
"Non-negotiable," Cassidy responds immediately.
Jack opens his mouth to argue, and I put my hand up stopping him. "I literally don't care where I live."
Cassidy immediately relaxes in her seat, and I reach over, yank the pages out of Jack's hands. I hold it out in the air between me and Cassidy. "Is all this shit important to you?"
She waits a beat and then finally nods, so I add, "I will agree to all of it as long as you agree to three addendums."
Penny flips her page over, pen at the ready as she says, "Shoot."
I lock my eyes with Cassidy as I ask, "The whole point of this is for you to end up pregnant?"
"Yes," Cassidy responds firmly.
I hold her gaze for another moment and then nod. "Addendum one, she travels with me. Barring some type of medical advice or conflicting events that cannot be rescheduled, we travel together."
"That'll mean sometimes you have to travel with me?"
"Yes," I reply. "That's the plan."
She eyes me momentarily before turning her gaze to Penny, who's already watching her. She gives a short nod, and then she turns back to me and says, "What else?"
"Addendum two, no birth control."
"But," she begins to argue, but I interrupt, "You have an end goal here, so there's no point in putting it off. Starting right now, no birth control."
Her expression is conflicted, which I find rather confusing, but again, after a moment, she turns back to Penny and nods. This time she doesn't turn her gaze back to me, and Penny asks, "And the third addendum?"
I smile, fully prepared for her to outright refuse the next one, especially considering we haven't discussed it at all beforehand. "Free use."
Penny gasps. Jack laughs.
Cassidy frowns in confusion, her face reflecting a bunch of emotions all at once as she slowly lifts her eyes to mine. Her cheeks pinken slightly, and for some odd reason, her discomfiture has my body tightening. Then she whispers, "You can't just do it whenever and wherever you please.”
"I can and I will."
Her jaw drops. She sputters for a moment obviously at a loss for words. Then she exclaims, "But what if I'm ill or just completely uncomfortable with the situation."
I roll my eyes slightly. “Obviously there are contingencies for being unwell, I'm not a complete monster. And at the end of the day, you'll always have your safe word."
"But are there repercussions for using the safe word?"
"Of course not," I respond patiently. "Unless it becomes clear you're using it just out of spite or in an attempt to put off the inevitable."
"Do you want to intentionally put me in uncomfortable situations?"
"I will never put you in dangerous situations, and I will always have your best interest at heart."
"Can I quote you on that?" Penny asks matter-of-factly.
I glance at her to find her staring at me, her pen hovering over the page, and when I nod, she scribbles furiously.
She then turns to Cassidy, waiting for confirmation.
Cassidy sighs heavily, but then nods, and Penny begins to write on the paper again.
I put my hand up stopping her. "Just to be clear, these are in effect for the duration of our agreement, not just the aforementioned year. "
Cassidy frowns and says, "What do you mean?"
"Even during that time period that you have allowed for us to cohabit after the birth of our child. You can't expect me to stick around like that and be a monk."
She looks to Penny, who shrugs a shoulder and shakes her head in response. "That's your call."
Cassidy turns back to me and says, "But won't that put us in an endless cycle where we basically end up stuck with each other forever?"
I think over her question for a moment before responding, “Birth control is at your discretion postpartum. And we can add in a clause giving both of us a no-fault right-of-way to end the agreement or renegotiate terms annually after the second year."
Penny, who was still scribbling on the page, stops writing, looks to Cassidy who once again nods.
I sit back in my chair feeling rather proud of myself.
My glance at Jack shows that he is not happy at all, but I don’t fucking care what he thinks.
I glance back to Penny and I say, "Are we done here then? "
Penny nods appearing to be happy as a clam. She gathers up all of her papers and says, "I'll get this drafted up lickety-split. Have it sent over for your signature by the end of the day."
Penny rises, turns to Cassidy as she says, "Are you ready?"
"Cassidy stays." I reply sharply.
Penny glances at me, then back at Cassidy, who says, "It's all right. I'll catch up with you later."
Penny sighs then turns towards the door as I say to Jack. "You get out too."
Jack hesitates momentarily but then stands with a shrug. My hand on his forearm draws his attention back to me. "Make sure the cameras are off, the blinds are drawn."
He raises his brows at me but nods before booking it for the doorway. I wait for the door to shut, the blinds to darken the large windows, then slowly turn my attention back to Cassidy who’s eying me suspiciously. And rightly so.
“Stand,” I say gruffly, my pulse picking up as she raises her brows, shifts in her chair. But she doesn’t stand, so I clear my throat and repeat more firmly. “Stand. Up.”
Eyes narrowing, she straightens in the chair, slides her ass to the very edge. Resting her forearms on the table she leans toward me. “Why?”
I lean back in my chair, my smile predatory. “We need to seal the deal.”
“Seal the deal?” she asks slowly. “And how do you suggest we do this?”
My smile broadens. I push my chair back from the table, my gaze flitting toward my lap suggestively. Her gasp of outrage has me chuckling softly because I know I’m being a bit of a sleaze bag, and I fully expect her to tell me to go fuck myself, but still, I can’t help but push her buttons.
Raising my eyes to her face, I waggle my brows at her. “What’s it gonna be, princess?”