I stared at him.
“Do you have some problems, Miss Dawson?” he asked. “Never mind, don’t answer that. We’ll be here all day if you start listing them.”
“I could say the same for you.” I rolled my eyes. “If I decide to help you with this, I want a bonus.”
“You’d need to earn it first. And what the hell do you mean by ‘decide’?”
“This goes beyond my scope of job responsibilities,” I said. “It’s way beyond short notice, highly illegal, and you know that.”
He looked like he was about to deny any of those facts, but he sighed. “How much money do you want?”
“Half a million should do it.”
“You’re out of your mind.”
“You’re about to get a quarter of a billion, and you’re worried about such a small amount?”
“If I give you half a million, you might be tempted to quit working for me.”
Exactly.“That’s not what I’m thinking at all.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Well, that’s my price,” I said. “Take it or leave it. I’m sure there are plenty of other executives you can trust to get this done for you secretly and at the highest level.”
“There are. Hundreds.”
“Then go and harass one of them.”
Silence.
“Get a notary to sign off on a short note that you promise to give me at least six months’ notice if you ever decide to quit, and I’ll pay you the half million.”
“Six months?” I balked. “The industry standard is two weeks.”
“Take it or leave it.” He mocked me. “That’s my price.”
Don’t do it, Jenna. Hold the line. Hold the goddamn line.
“Okay, fine.” I held out my hand for a handshake, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he gently pushed it away and gently grabbed my waist, pulling me closer than necessary.
As if someone was in the room with us, listening, he lowered his voice.
“Assuming you’ll have that note to me in a matter of hours, what do I need to do next?”
“Send me a short—and I do mean short—wish list of all the qualities you want in a wife so we can make this as believable as possible.”
“How long do I have?”
“Two hours,” I said. “Not a minute more.”
5
NICHOLAS
Nicholas Saint’s (Wife) Wish List
Assuming that she’s intelligent enough to pretend to be mine, i.e., know that NOTHING serious will ever become of this…
