“Things like this take time,” she argued.
“How hard it is to print out the same contract you gave Bucky?”
“Bucky is in breech for not showing up, Gail,” John said.
“Bucky worked for the lodge. Do you?”
“I’m more freelance, but I pitch in often. Bucky wouldn’t have entrusted me to this if he didn’t know I was capable of handling it,” Monte told her.
“And the money? He wasn’t allowed to take a penny more than normal rates provided through the lodge. What are you asking for?”
“Nothing. I’m not taking a dime from the lodge or you. And I’m not a gold digger.”
“It’s okay to take your fee,” I told him.
His eyes looked as if a fire lit behind them as he glared at me. “I’m not taking your money, Zoey.”
“But you’ll still teach me?”
He nodded.
“Then let’s stop wasting time and do this.” I turned to Gail. “If it makes you feel better, he’ll sign the contract, but I’m not wasting any more time on this. Finish setting up please.”
My men snapped to it and got to work even though Gail was still fuming.
I loved her and I loved that she went out of her way to protect me on all things legal. She was an excellent entertainment lawyer, and I was lucky to have her on my team. But on this, she was just going to have to trust me.
While she was busy on her laptop, no doubt updating the contract and paperwork, the others set up cameras around the room for various angles. Bryan was the director who handled the team and ensured we captured everything needed for the series of videos that would come from this.
“This is a lot,” Monte said.
I shrugged. “You get used to it after a while.”
“I’m not sure I ever would.”
The air grew heavy between us. Was he trying to say this was too much for him to handle? This was my life and my livelihood. As my mate, he was going to have to get used to it because I wasn’t going to shut down my business just because he was uncomfortable with it. Did he even have any idea how many people I employed, how hard I worked, or the time and effort that went into something like this?
My body was growing tense as I thought about it. Monte seemed to notice immediately.
“Zoey, look at me.”
I didn’t want to. I feared he’d see how vulnerable he made me. I didn’t want him to know how unworthy I felt to be his mate or how devastated I would be if he shunned me now.
Where is this even coming from?I asked myself.
Everything was happening so quickly that it was making my head spin. This time yesterday I didn’t even know Monte existed and now it felt like he was quickly consuming me in every aspect of my life. It was terrifying, but I also felt a sort of comfort I could barely comprehend.
I should be questioning these feelings, but I wasn’t. I was ready to accept this fate I was handed. He was mine and that sense of possession when it came to him was overwhelming me.
Slowly, I forced myself to look at him.
He smiled and nodded. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me.”
That was the thing, I did trust him.
Unable to put any of this into words with company surrounding us, I just nodded. He made me vulnerable, but it didn’t take much to put back on my usual mask, the one reserved for Zoey Unboxed.
Few people ever got the opportunity to meet the real Zoey Rey, but I was struggling to be anything else when Monte was around. Because of that, I was bracing for a long, hard day ahead of me.
