Chapter 35
Gabe
There’s a loophole,” my attorney said. “It’s a small one, but it’s there.”
“Enough for her to have told me?”
“Enough for her to tell anyone. A sloppy mistake, if you ask me. Probably been using the same agreement for decades without updating it to current law.”
“Thanks, Doug. I’ll let you know if she decides to take it further.”
“And I’ll have your back and hers if she does.”
I tapped my fingers on my desk. Doug and I had been friends since college, and he was one of the best attorneys out there. He’d been working for me since I hired him years ago. If he had a way to break the NDA, then it was a valid one.
Picking my phone back up, I checked my calendar and dialed my pilot, booking a flight to Dulles in two days.
I left my office and headed to Tori’s. We’d been inseparable since the night she slept on my couch with me, but that had been the only night she’d spent with me.
We were still in the slow phase, which was killing me, but I would handle it as long as she wanted.
Whatever it took to get her back completely.
Movie nights, dinners, and Thanksgiving with her family.
The month of November had come and gone, ending when I’d taken her and Reid to Rockefeller Center to watch the tree lighting.
Now we were in December, nearing the time I’d asked her to marry me, and the nostalgia this time of year had always left me burying my emotions in my scotch.
Not this year. This year I had every intention of making December as amazing as it had been the year I met her.
She was finishing a call and gestured for me to wait.
I closed the door and took a seat, listening to her run through numbers with whoever was on the other line.
She never ceased to amaze me. Intelligent, sharp, and determined.
How Carl Bradman had ever thought she was only there as eye candy confounded me.
Sure, she was beautiful, but there was so much more to her, and it was the many layers of Tori that I’d fallen for.
When the call finished, she sat back in her chair and blew a strand of hair from her face.
“Tough call?” I asked, crossing my ankle over my leg.
“Eh, not that bad. What’s up?”
“What are you doing this weekend?”
She eyed me, curiosity in those blue orbs. “Reid and I were going to ask you to decorate for Christmas with us. We need to get a tree.”
A constricting sensation enveloped my chest. “I’d love that.”
Her smile was contagious as she said, “I thought you would.”
That changed my plans, but not terribly.
“Friday, I’m taking you both to Virginia.
I have a meeting with the manager at the Tyson’s Corner location, and I thought we could stay in Crystal City and then take the Metro into DC on Saturday.
Take Reid to the museums, see the monuments.
We’re too early for the tree lighting, but I can always fly us back if you want to see it.
” I was rambling, unsure of why my nerves were so heightened.
Her smile spread, and my nerves settled. “I would love that. As would Reid.”
“I can get us back in time on Sunday to get a tree and decorate.” I scratched my ear, trying to hide my excitement.
“That sounds perfect.”
“Great. The plane is scheduled for ten. I have a two o’clock meeting, then I’m all yours.”
I started to leave, and she stopped me. “Is there another reason for the trip?”
My lips thinned as I remembered what I’d promised her. Clearing my throat, I turned back to her. “No secrets, right?”
“No secrets.”
I returned to her desk and picked her phone up, dialing our secretary. “Paula, can you get Carl Bradman on the line for me?”
While she gathered his number, I said to Tori, “Bradman spends every December in Northern Virginia, which I suppose you know. He works from an office he has in one of his Tyson’s properties. One of the few cities my father’s holdings and his ever crossed over.”
“I have Carl Bradman on the line,” Paula said.
“Thanks. Put him through.” I placed the phone on speaker and set my finger against Tori’s mouth to let her know to keep quiet.
“Carl,” I greeted him as if I didn’t want to rip the man’s throat out.
“William. How nice to hear from you. I was hoping we’d have a more cordial relationship than I had with your father.” I could hear the undercut in his voice. “After our last meeting, I wasn’t certain we would.”
Tori rolled her eyes, but I kept my hard mask on. “I have a meeting in Tyson’s Corner this Friday afternoon with one of my property managers,” I said, ignoring his dig. “I was hoping to stop by and say hello before I leave.”
“Let’s see Friday…I’m free after four. Stop by. We’ll have a drink and start fresh.”
“Sounds great.”
“I’ll let the front know to expect you. Safe travels.”
I disconnected, and Tori sat back, crossing her arms. “What are you up to? I thought we agreed to let this lie.”
“We did, but I need to remind him that touching and threatening the woman I love is behavior I won’t tolerate.
I may not be my father, Tori, but I’m very much like him when it comes to asserting my power in this world.
” I adjusted my jacket and took the three strides back to her door.
“I won’t go after him, but he needs to know I can, and if he ever steps foot near you again, I’ll drag him so far under he’ll never emerge. ”
Wide eyes stared at me with a hint of desire behind them.
“Dinner tonight?” I asked her.
“I…umm…yeah.”
I gave her a sideways grin and left her still gaping at me.
My shoes echoed on the marble floor as I walked from the elevator.
The top floor of Carl’s building was a garish display of money and assumed power.
Gold patterns, crystal light fixtures, designer furnishings in bright colors.
A stark contrast to the reserved, elegant style my father had always preferred.
I stared out the window at the view while I waited for him. Tori was down there somewhere with Reid, shopping like I’d suggested. She needed a dress for tonight, and Reid needed a suit, both of which I’d forgotten to have her pack.
“William, so nice to see you.” Carl extended his hand, and I took it, my skin crawling now that I knew his secrets. It was men like him, with their despicable behavior and expectations that they were above the law, who gave all men a bad reputation.
He walked me to his office, which was the only one on the floor. Surrounded by glass, it offered a view that extended over Tyson’s Corner.
“Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?” he asked, heading to his bar and gesturing to the seating area.
“I’m good. This isn’t a personal call.” My demeanor had changed since greeting him, and his vision snapped to mine.
Beady eyes waited for me to explain. I studied my cufflinks as if I didn’t have any other cares.
“You slapped my CFO with an NDA under the threat of smearing her reputation and ruining her career.” The same thing my father had threatened to get me to leave her.
That was likely the only thing the two men had in common.
As much as I hated my father, I respected him as a businessperson.
He had never acted like this man did. While he had his own faults, including misogynist beliefs and ignorant biases, he steered clear of anything that could hurt his reputation or our family’s.
“NDAs aren’t unusual.”
“No, but using them to keep women quiet about your misconduct is.” He went pale. “And before you threaten anything, my lawyers have unraveled your precious contract and will bury you in the courts if you dare go after her.”
His eyes narrowed as he lowered his glass. “What do you want?”
“Stay away from Victoria. If I find out you’ve laid a hand on her again, dared to even speak to her, or so much as looked at her wrong, I’ll knock you from your pedestal and bring your company down around you.”
His laughter filled the room. “You can’t touch me. You’re a boy playing in a man’s world. Grow up and come back to me in twenty years.”
He returned to pouring his drink.
“Do you think my father was ready to give me his company? Ready to retire so early? I can be a thorn in your ass just like I was to him, Carl. I have enough on you to send your stock plummeting. A few leaks to the press about how frequently women leave your employment or your history of buying off your unacceptable behavior, and I’m sure you won’t be sitting so comfortably. ”
He stormed over to me, but I stopped him, grabbing him by the lapels.
“I wouldn’t try it. You’ll lose, and my attorneys will have a field day suing your ass for attacking me.
I’ll make this simple, Carl. Stay away from Victoria.
I don’t want you anywhere near her or anything of mine for that matter.
You’re not welcome within ten feet of my properties.
In return, I’ll maintain a civil business relationship with you when necessary and keep your secrets quiet. ”
I released him and smoothed his jacket. “Understood?”
Clenched jaw and silence. It was almost like talking to my father. “You don’t know what you’re doing, William.”
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing. Removing the scum from my properties and protecting what’s mine.” I stepped closer to him so that I towered over him. “And Victoria is mine. Don’t even dare think otherwise, or you’ll feel my wrath.”
“So, you’re sleeping with your CFO, and you have the nerve to threaten me because you have some claim on her? Childish, just like your father.”
My hand shook as I fisted it and held back from punching him. Rolling my neck, I turned my back on him and walked to the door.
“I’ve had a claim on her since well before she worked for you, Carl.” Even if I had given that claim up, and now had to earn it back. “And I can guarantee if I were sleeping with her, I wouldn’t treat her like a piece of property who owed me something.”
I swung the door open and turned back to him.