Chapter 19
ZACH
“I’m afraid to ask how much you spent on that,” Alex said, standing in the doorway of the conference room like the painting might attack him if he got any closer.
“I’m afraid to say,” I admitted as I crossed my arms, studying the oversized canvas currently dominating an otherwise very bland but elegant room. “It’s really not very pretty, is it?”
“Nope.”
He strode further in and came to stand beside me, joining me in squinting at the painting like we might be able to figure out why it cost so much if we just stared hard enough.
We were two grown, successful men who were allegedly intelligent, but here we were, both of us frowning at what looked like blobs of paint on canvas.
“It’s bold,” Alex offered after a few minutes too long. “It’s very colorful, too. Vibrant, some might say.”
“Do you see those sharp lines over there?” I stepped forward and squinted a little more. “Do you think the artist glued rulers to the canvas before she launched balls of paint at it and then just peeled them off again?”
“That’s as good a guess as any.” He stepped closer too. “What’s it supposed to be?”
“Life, apparently.”
He cocked his head so far, his ear almost touched his shoulder. “Okay, I’m not trying to be rude or disrespectful, but how exactly is that supposed to be life?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Something about chaos and beauty. I don’t know, but I was told it’s open to your interpretation.”
“Right,” he said slowly. “So what’s your interpretation?”
“That I paid way too much money for a piece of cloth with some paint on it.”
He let out a quiet laugh, and honestly, it helped ease some of the tension bleeding through my veins. We were reviewing the contract he’d had drafted today and I couldn’t say I’d been looking forward to it, but laughing with him now reminded me that above all, he was still my brother.
I could be honest with him. No matter what, I had a say in the terms of this thing, and even if we wound up having to argue it out, Alex would have my back in the end.
“Why is it in here?” he asked.
“It needed a home, so I gave it one.”
“Was your office too obvious?”
“I didn’t want to look at it that often.”
He glanced back at it, then nodded. “Yeah, that seems like a good point. Are you ready to get started?”
“Yep.”
We both gave the painting one last, skeptical look, then spun at the same time and headed to the table. I pulled out a chair and dropped into it, pulling the marriage contract toward me on the tabletop.
Alex sat across from me, settling in before he spoke. “You’ve been through it?”
“Twice,” I confirmed, flipping to the section I’d been lingering on.
“What do you think?”
I shrugged. “It seems like pretty standard stuff, but there are parts I don’t like here and there.”
“That’s why we’re here. Talk to me.”
I turned to the relevant page and then slid it back across the table toward him, leaning over to tap the clause with my pen. “Why is the acquisition between W&S and the Morris Company set out in so much detail? There’s a separate agreement for it.”
“Yeah, but that’s Adeline’s dowry,” he explained, not even flinching.
“Obviously, we’ve got the separate contracts that will allow and entitle us to acquire a third of the company, but it still had to be detailed in this document how the two deals relate to one another. Background and context are important.”
“Are they?” I shook my head, irritation flickering as sharp and quick as a blade in my chest, but as peeved as I was, that didn’t change the fact that to everyone else, that was what this was.
A deal. “Change the terminology. We’re not doing it like this.
If I marry Adeline, I marry her, not her dowry or whatever the fuck you want to change it to. ”
“Alright, we’ll change it, but it’s an accurate term under the circumstances.”
“It’s still unnecessary to refer to her like that,” I said. “Change it.”
Alex held my gaze for a second. “Sure. Yeah. If it’s bugging you, I’ll have them rephrase it. What else?”
I exhaled quietly, dragging a hand over my jaw before flipping a few pages forward and tapping the next section that had been worrying me. “Let’s talk about the financials. You’ve included the standard clause that she gets one million a year for the first five years of marriage.”
“Yep.”
“Increase it.” I held his gaze steadily. “Make it two million a year. I can pay for it myself.”
“One million a year is already generous.”
“Not when you’re a billionaire. It’s not enough.”
“Two million a year for the first five is ten million dollars, Zach.”
“I’m aware, but again, I’ll cover it personally.”
Alex leaned back, his expression a little more careful now. “You’re setting a precedent here.”
“The only thing I’m doing is making sure she doesn’t have to worry,” I said simply. “Either increase it or I’ll just have another contract drafted as an amendment to this one before the first year is out. It’s up to you.”
He blew out a heavy breath through his nostrils but nodded. “That’s not necessary. We’ll up it to two million.”
Relieved, I flipped to another page, scanning before stopping again. “The future children clause needs to be struck out.”
“It’s standard.”
“Nothing about this is standard.”
His eyebrows pulled together slightly. “Zach, it outlines expectations and provides protection to both of you as well as whatever children—”
“I said, strike it out.” I looked at him, hoping we’d still be on the same page if I just explained where I was coming from.
“What if there are no more children, Alex? Her first marriage dissolved because the contract demanded a boy that never came. I won’t put that kind of stress on her again. She’s a person, not an incubator.”
“If there are no children, the clause becomes irrelevant.”
“It becomes pressure,” I said firmly. “Stress. Expectations. It’s her body and she’s already had two kids. I don’t even know if she wants more, and even if she does, I would make sure that they’re looked after. All of them. I don’t need a contract telling me to do it.”
“It’s not meant to add pressure. It’s just—”
“Take it out. Fuck. Why are you fighting me on this?”
Alex held my gaze for another long second, then slid a pen out of his pocket, leaned forward, and struck through the clause in totality. “There. Are you happy now?”
“Yes,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Yep.” He set the pen down slowly and folded his arms on the table, eyes locked on mine. “You’re changing a lot.”
“I’m not going to make it harder for her than it already is,” I said.
“I realize these are standard terms, but she just got out of a marriage in which she got fucked by their version of standard terms. I don’t want her feeling like the contract is hanging over her head, Alex.
We’re going to have a tough enough time of it, especially at the beginning, as it is. ”
“Okay. Anything else?” he asked after searching my gaze for something he obviously hadn’t found. “I’ll need to get this back to the lawyers as soon as possible so we can have the revised document sent over to Simon.”
“There’s just one more thing.” I scanned down to the section I’d flagged mentally the first time through. “I want provisions added for Adeline’s girls.”
Alex’s brow lifted. “They’re not technically part of this agreement, but okay. What kind of provisions do you want added?”
“I’m already setting up trusts for them,” I said.
“You can refer to those in here. I’ll have Jacque send over the details, but I also want to add education, health care, living expenses, and whatever else they might need.
I want them protected and I want that money to be untouchable by anyone but them. ”
“Alright,” he said finally. “We’ll draft it clean and strict. You’re worried about the father coming back for more if he finds out about it?”
I nodded. “He’s already drained Adeline’s trust. I want all this worded so that there can never be any claim made by anyone who isn’t Jennifer or Lauren Weatherby.”
“We can absolutely do that.” He made a note, then glanced back up at me. “Is that it?”
I looked at the contract one last time, then closed it and pushed it across the table toward him. “That’s it. Thanks, Alex.”
He took it, stacking the pages neatly before folding them and sliding them back into the envelope on the table. “I’ll have it finalized and sent over to Simon as soon as possible.”
“Today would be best.”
“I’ll get it done.”
I stood and adjusted my jacket. “Thank you, Alex. Seriously, I mean it. I really appreciate all this, and I really appreciate you not fighting me on it.”
“You got it.” He gave me a look that said he had many opinions about the things I’d just asked him to add into the contract, but thankfully, he kept them to himself.
I headed back to my office before he could change his mind and tell me to sit down again, gathering up my stuff and going straight home after.
By the time I got back to the Manor, I’d decided that I needed to stop thinking and that the best way to accomplish that was to make it physically impossible.
“Get up,” I said as I walked into the living room.
Theo didn’t look up from where he was lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone. “No.”
“I was talking to Bear.” I smirked at my brother. “You should come too, though.”
The dog’s head snapped up from his spot on the floor, his ears alert and his tail already starting to thump. Theo finally looked up and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t involve me in this.”
“You’re already involved,” I said. “We’re going on a run.”
Bear was on his feet immediately, but Theo groaned and sank back into the couch. “There is no way.”
“You’ve been sitting here for how many hours?”
“I’ve been working.”
I leaned over the back of his couch and squinted at his screen. “You’ve been flirting with someone named maybe not Ashley.”
“Hey.” He angled the phone away from me. “Boundaries, man.”
“Shoes,” I countered, heading for the stairs to go change. “We’re leaving in five minutes.”
“This is harassment.”
“Every complaint buys you two more miles.”
“Scratch that. It’s not harassment. It’s abuse.”
“Four more miles.”
He sighed dramatically but finally stood up. “I never should’ve told you that I wanted to up my physical activity.”
“Probably not,” I agreed. “We’re leaving in four minutes now, though.”
Ten minutes later, we were on the sidewalk with Bear running on his leash ahead of us. I set an easy pace, knowing Theo would collapse if I sprinted the way I wanted to right from the very start.
“You’re in a mood,” he said after the first block, breath panting. “What’s going on?”
“Why does anything have to be going on? I’m always in a mood.”
“Yeah, but this is different. You’re brooding like it’s specific this time.”
“I don’t brood,” I said, my voice measured between strides. “Especially not specifically. Whatever the fuck that even means.”
“It means that you should talk to your little brother about whatever is bothering you instead of trying to kill me with exercise.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t respond, trying my best to tune out the world and focus only on what lay physically ahead of me.
When we passed the first park, a motorcycle club had set up a full-scale barbecue.
There were grills going, music playing, and people laughing together between massive motorcycles parked on the sidewalk.
Theo slowed slightly as he glanced over. “I’ve been thinking about getting one.”
“A grill?” I asked.
“A motorcycle.”
I hummed, but I was too deep in my own head to take him very seriously. He kept staring at them as we ran past, though. “I’m thinking of doing a road trip across the states. Just me and the open road, with no plan and nothing holding me back.”
I scoffed. “That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“I think what you mean to say is that it sounds like freedom.”
“No, what it really sounds like is that you’re forgetting you have a job.”
He shrugged. “There’s a whole marketing and PR department to cover for me.”
“Okay, but that’s not their job.”
“I’m basically a professional yes man. I go wherever I’m needed and I finished my stint in marketing and PR. For now, I don’t have a role anyone will miss me in if I leave.”
“Your dedication to the family business is inspiring.”
“Thank you.”
We kept running, but whatever he said after that drifted right past me, my head already moving on to the next thing. “You’ll have the house to yourself for a while.”
Despite the fact that he was already sweating profusely and breathing hard, Theo perked up. “Excuse me?”
“If Adeline signs, I’m taking the girls up to Wisconsin for a few weeks.”
He frowned. “You’re taking them to your ranch?”
“Yep. I’d like to, at least.”
“Adeline and her girls?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Wow.” He laughed. “Imagine that. You taking kids to the ranch.”
“Why is that such a surprise?”
“I didn’t think I’d live to see the day you voluntarily spent an extended period of time with bundles of chaos who are probably regularly covered in sticky stuff and glitter.”
“Neither did I,” I said honestly. “But I want to get to know them better and it feels like a good idea to take them up there before the girls start school in the fall.”
He grinned. “I’m proud of you.”
“Don’t be.”
“So how long do I get the house to myself?” he asked after a brief pause.
“For a few weeks, assuming Adeline’s onboard with it.”
He threw his arms up in the air like he’d just won a marathon. “I’m going to throw a party.”
“No, you’re not. If I come back and the place is on fire, you’re explaining it to Dad. Don’t expect any backup from me.”
“It won’t be on fire, though there might be some light damage.”
I shook my head but didn’t argue. Honestly, I just didn’t have it in me today. The truth was that whether or not he threw a party or burned the house down, I was still taking Adeline and her kids to Wisconsin if she signed, and I was really, really hoping she would
For reasons I refused to justify by admitting that I was as in love with her as I’d been eight years ago, I just…
I really fucking hoped she’d put a pen to those papers and sign.
No matter what else might’ve changed in the last near decade, the one thing that hadn’t was that I still wanted Adeline to be my wife.