12. Leo
LEO
Leo felt strange leaving Olivia in his apartment.
He couldn’t help feeling it was impolite to leave her alone when he’d all but begged her to come to New York, but he couldn’t cancel this meeting.
Along with his CTO, Jake McKinley, he was meeting with a major streaming platform that was looking to optimize video quality with less loading time.
It was the kind of project Kyle would have loved.
Leo got to his office with a few minutes to spare and quickly changed into his spare set of clothes, which he kept in the office for those times he ended up pulling an all-nighter. He freshened up in his private bathroom before exiting into his main office.
While he’d been gone, the office staff had removed Kyle’s desk. Leo had asked for them to do so, but it still made his heart ache to see the imprint on the carpet where the desk had been.
Strange. He’d been so caught up with Olivia that he’d hardly thought about his brother in the last few hours.
“Leo!”
Leo was pulled from his thoughts by Jake striding into the office.
Jake was a few years older than Leo, but he’d been working at Palasa almost since the beginning.
He was the closest thing Leo had to a friend.
Jake had often joined Leo and Kyle at large meetings, or while working on important projects.
They’d hung out a few times outside of work, too, grabbing beers in the evening or dinner after winning a big contract.
In the last few months, though, Leo had been avoiding Jake — he reminded him too much of Kyle and everything they’d shared.
He was happy to see Jake now, though.
“Jake,” he said. “Please, have a seat.”
“Boss, I have to say, you look a little worse for wear.” Jake wrinkled his nose, “Are you hungover from your big night in Vegas?”
Leo rubbed his temple. “Maybe a little.” He’d told a few employees that he’d be gone an extra night because he was going to Las Vegas. Jake, being close to Leo, clearly didn’t mind teasing him a little about it.
“Good for you,” Jake grinned. “It’s nice to see you let loose a little. It’s been a while since you’ve had any fun. Decades, maybe.”
Leo rolled his eyes at the good-natured ribbing. “I have plenty of fun.”
“Balancing Palasa’s accounts at midnight doesn’t count,” Jake joked. “Seriously, though, how was Vegas? Did you win big?”
“Um…” Leo hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Jake about the biggest surprise the Vegas roulette had thrown at him — his new bride. “I played some poker. A little roulette. I won a few times.”
“That’s it?” Jake was incredulous. “I did that much gambling at last year’s company party.”
Leo smiled at the memory of Jake ruling the blackjack table at the party, Kyle by his side. Leo himself had steered clear of the games that night, his mind on an important meeting the next day.
Maybe Jake was right. Maybe he did need to loosen up a little. And Olivia was the clearest example that he was loosening up.
“Something else happened, too,” Leo said cautiously.
Jake’s eyes widened. “Let me guess. Did you get some?”
“No.”
“Come on, boss,” Jake said, laughing. “You’re killing me here. What happened?”
“I met a woman,” Leo said.
“Oh, so you did get some.” Jake winked, “Good for you, boss.”
“I didn’t, but I did do something a bit reckless. I got really drunk, and…”
“Yes?” Jake rolled a hand for Leo to continue. “What happened?”
“I got married,” Leo shrugged. For a long moment, Jake just stared at him. Then he burst into laughter.
“That’s a good one, boss. You really had me going. I almost thought you’d actually gotten married in Vegas!” Leo’s expression remained neutral, and Jake’s laughter faded away. “Wait,” his expression suddenly turned serious. “You’re not joking? You got married?”
“I did. See? I really let loose.” Leo shrugged again.
“Please tell me there was a prenup,” Jake said. He leaned forward, his eyes focused intensely on Leo.
“A prenup?” Leo shook his head. “I don’t even remember getting married. I doubt two drunk people were thinking much about the legal consequences — or thought to consult a lawyer.”
“You don’t remember getting married?”
“No. But neither does she.”
“Are you sure? Is that what she said?”
“It is. And I believe her.” Leo felt suddenly defensive of Olivia, who was just as much in an unplanned situation as he was. More so, even, since she’d come with him to New York. “Neither of us know what happened or why we decided to get married. We’d had a lot to drink.”
Jake’s brown eyes were wide. “You need to fix this. Now. You need to get a postnup on paper as soon as possible.”
“That really isn’t necessary,” Leo said. “Olivia is great. And I have great lawyers, if everything did go sideways. We’ll sort it all out during the divorce.”
“I’m not saying she isn’t great,” Jake said. “But did she know you’re a billionaire when she agreed to marry you?”
Leo tried to think back. “Maybe? Probably. I did shell out some serious change at the gambling tables. But I’m sure that’s not why we got married.”
“How can you be sure? You don’t remember deciding to get married. What if Olivia found out that you’re a billionaire and the founder of Palasa and decided to take advantage of the situation? Maybe she was planning to get something in the divorce.”
“She didn’t. I’m sure her intentions were good, and that she isn’t lying about not remembering what happened.”
“Even if this Olivia has the best intentions, there’s nothing to stop her from changing her mind and trying to get something out of this. What do you know about her?”
“She’s a photographer,” Leo said. “She lives in Seattle, but she was in Las Vegas for a trade show for the camera company where she used to work.”
“Used to? She doesn’t work now?”
“Not at the moment.” Leo’s stomach began to twist. “But she’s very nice. Honest. And she was even more freaked out by the marriage than I was.”
“Even if that’s the case, Olivia could decide that she wants half your money.”
“That thought has crossed my mind.” Leo sighed. “But if she did, my lawyers would fight back. That’s part of the reason I invited her back to New York with me, so that I could keep her close, just in case.”
“You brought her back to New York?” Jake shook his head.
“We have to focus on one thing at a time, so I’m going to ignore that for now.
But her going after your money isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
What if she goes after your shares in Palasa?
What if she tries to smear you in the media so that you’ll give her what she wants?
This woman has a lot of power right now.
Do you really know what kind of person you’ve married? ”
“I…” Leo shook his head. “Listen, I don’t really want to discuss this. Olivia is great. She and I will work things out together. And in the meantime, we need to prepare for our meeting. We don’t have much time left before we meet the client, and I want to look over the presentation one more time.”
“Whatever you say, boss. But if you want my advice, keep your new bride close, try to figure out what she wants, and start working on that postnup.”
“Let’s get the slides up,” Leo said quickly. Despite his best intentions, Jake had sown the seeds of doubt.
Leo wasn’t an idiot. It had occurred to him that Olivia might try to take something in the divorce. But he hadn’t even considered that she might go after his company or his reputation. She wouldn’t do that. Would she?
Leo put on a brave face as they headed to the meeting. He couldn’t appear unsettled or distracted in front of their big client, no matter what he was feeling. He and Jake managed to play off each other perfectly, selling the client on their pitch, but Leo was still distracted by thoughts of Olivia.
What if Jake was right? What if she did try to hurt his reputation? What if she tried to take his part in the company?
He wasn’t just worrying, though. He also thought of the kiss they’d shared, one of his last memories before waking up in bed with Olivia, fully clothed.
It had felt so right to hold her in his arms and kiss her.
She’d tasted like champagne and strawberries, even though they hadn’t eaten strawberries.
And she’d fit so perfectly into his embrace.
In the end, both his desire to get to know her better and his worries about her intentions had the same solution: Leo needed to keep Olivia close.
He needed to figure out what she was thinking and what her plans were.
And in the meantime, he’d work with his lawyers to create a postnup agreement.
If Olivia was really as innocent as she claimed, as Leo wanted to believe she was, she’d be happy to sign it.
For now, though, he wouldn’t tell her that he was working on the postnup. If she did intend to take half of what was his, keeping her in the dark might head that off.
She’s a good person, a quiet voice in Leo’s mind reminded him. She didn’t even know who you were when you got married.
Or did she? a second, more devilish voice asked. Did she know from the start?
If only Kyle were still here. Then Leo could have talked to his brother about the whole situation and figured out a good plan. As it was, Leo felt very, very alone. Jake had his best interests at heart, he thought, but they were very different people.
“This all sounds great,” their client said, standing. Leo snapped back to the present moment. He’d done the whole pitch on autopilot.
“I’m happy to hear that,” Leo replied automatically.
“I need to run this by the rest of the board, but I imagine we’ll be taking your proposal.”
“Wonderful.” Though the word proposal reminded Leo of his marriage. Again. “I’ll have my assistant, Julian, walk you out.”
“We’ll be in touch.”
The client left the room, and Jake glanced at Leo.
“Are you okay, boss? You didn’t seem quite like your normal focused self.”
“I’m fine,” Leo said.
“Can I take you out for a beer?” Jake asked. “We can discuss your marriage and what to do.”
As much as the idea of getting some advice was tempting, Leo shook his head. Jake had already made him unsettled, and he needed to get home.
“I’d better get back to Olivia.”
“Fair enough.” Jake smiled at him. “Have a nice evening with your new bride. And remember — get that postnup on paper.”
“I hear you,” Leo said guardedly. “Have a nice evening too.”
“I always do.” Jake left the office, humming under his breath, and Leo followed a little behind. It was time to go home and talk to Olivia. Hopefully, he’d be able to get to know her better and figure out whether there was anything to be worried about.
First, though, he stopped by Palasa’s legal office and put in a request with his lawyers to start drafting a postnup that would ensure Leo kept all that was his when he and Olivia got divorced.
“Start figuring out the divorce process too, please,” Leo added. There was no point in waiting.
With his lawyers already handling the legal side, Leo headed home, a mix of anticipation and concern tightening his chest. Part of him was excited to see Olivia again and hopefully talk to her more. Another part was worried. What if she really was planning to get something in the divorce?
He wouldn’t even be able to blame her for trying. After all, she was currently unemployed and seemed worried about money.
Maybe Jake had a point. Difficult situations could make even good people do bad things, and even a fraction of Leo’s money and stocks would be enough to fund Olivia’s dream of becoming a professional photographer.
In her shoes, Leo wondered if he’d be trying to get something out of the unexpected marriage.