Chapter 48
48
LEO
T he bar is chilly as I take a long sip of my bourbon, my leg crossed over my thigh as I lean back in my seat.
I watch the man enter from the front door, his weaselly face glancing around before his beady eyes land on mine. A sly smile forms on his lips and all I want to do is slap it off.
He stalks toward me, wiping his hands through his greasy hair before settling in the seat in front of me.
“Thank you for meeting me,” he tells me, glancing next to me at my lawyer.
A waiter comes over, but before they can ask him for his order, I say “No need, he’s not going to be here long enough.”
The waiter nods, heading off in the direction for the bar.
Tony crosses his arms. “I’d like to thank you for the warm welcome,” he chuckles.
At my signal, my lawyer passes a file over to him.
“What is this?” he asks.
“It’s an agreement. If you sign it, we still have to go through the courts and get it approved, but I’d like to assure you we have every single document to prove that it’s the best case scenario, and it will go through. I’m adopting Elara. ”
He chuckles. “You have to actually get married for that, and she’s never going to agree to that.”
“I thought you’d say that,” I tell him, nodding to my lawyer. Opening his briefcase, he takes out another folder, handing it to me. I take out the marriage certificate inside, holding it up to Tony. “We actually already got that figured out.”
His eyes narrow in on the piece of paper before sliding over to mine, reminding me much of some kind of slug. Or maybe it’s just my hatred of the man. I hadn’t even officially met him before.
“How much did she demand in order to agree?”
I shrug. “Nothing, actually. But I’m not discussing details with you. I’m offering you one million dollars to be out of her life completely. You sign that document and you’re gone. Not another word to either of them.”
“And why do you think I’d sign this? Or take the money? I know how much you’re worth, Warner.”
“I thought you’d ask that.” My lawyer hands me a third folder. “After a real thorough investigation we not only got a complete confession and papertrail from the man you hired to break into her place and trash it, which included stealing a significant amount of costly personal items, but we also found cameras around the home that weren’t originally there. In addition to that, after hiring a private investigator I’ve found significant proof of you cheating on your current partner, as well as, well, you know this one, proof of fraud found by a team of forensic accountants. That’s, well,” I chuckle, “that’s a lot of things that could put you in jail.”
Tony stills, his eyes darkening. “There’s nothing illegal about getting your dick wet by someone else,” he sneers. “I’m sure you’ve done it, too.”
“Actually,” I cock my head, “I haven’t. And it’s interesting that that’s the only thing you’re defending.”
He shuts up, his lips forming a firm thin line .
“Anyways, I do believe that it’s in your best interest to sign these documents.”
He eyes them suspiciously. “How do I know you won’t just turn these over to someone as soon as the adoption goes through?”
“You have my word.”
I almost thought he was going to ask to get his lawyer involved, but I should have known that a man like Tony would put pride above anything. He doesn’t care about Elara, he doesn’t care about anything but money and power.
If he did bring a lawyer, they probably would have read over the documents a little more. Or asked some tougher questions.
Because while I gave him my word, I wasn’t the only one with this information. In fact, I turned it all over to Briar. Briar, I told was in control of the situation completely.
We had gotten married at the courthouse the day after I proposed, worried Tony would make the first move before we could. I immediately paid off Briar’s lease at her old place, something that should have happened a long time ago, and I called the schools to get the proper paperwork for a transfer.
We’re still having a wedding, that’s for damn sure. Fuck, if I missed out on throwing a huge party with my best friends and watching her walk down the aisle in a beautiful white dress I’d be pissed. That’ll come in a couple of months.
Right now getting her and Elara in a safe place where they don’t have to worry about this asshole is the most important thing.
I promised Briar that this would be the last time I used my money to get what I want. And I meant that.
It is the last time. And it feels really, really good.