James glances down at the smashed quartz. His mouth tightens. “Were you breaking those?” he asks.
Dr. Markovic and James agreed that I should hold off on the more physically demanding parts of my work, like stone crushing, until after I gave birth. I disagreed, but I was outvoted two to one.
“No,” I reassure him. “Brinley was here helping me.”
He chuckles. “Then I'm surprised they're not crushed to dust.”
I shrug. “She tends to be a little more aggressive than me with a hammer. I miss doing it myself, but once the rock crusher is installed, I'll be able to do it myself with the push of a button.”
“Thank you for resting. I know it kills you not to be able to pick up that hammer.”
“You want to try it? It's pretty cathartic. You might like it.”
James looks offended. “In my good suit? You've got to be kidding me.”
My eyes run over his body. His tie is undone, and the bags under his eyes are dark. I frown. “You look more tired than I do.”
I pat a spot on the couch next to me, and James takes a seat. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I lean happily into his warmth.
“I had my meeting with Victor today,” he says.
I perk up. While I've been resting, James has been in and out of meetings with his lawyer and the Sequel board, trying to change the terms of his contract with my father. The business aspects have been getting a lot of pushback from the board, unsurprisingly. James insisted on taking out any language that would guarantee a merger between the two companies. He also insisted on installing exit clauses every three months.
In other words: if my father misbehaves, James can pull out of the deal within weeks.
Obviously, the Sequel board wanted to guarantee their access to Pages’ top properties, especially some YA fantasy book series that Brinley and I both put down after five pages. (Our conclusion: mer-werewolves are not sexy. Fins or fur, pick a lane.)
Untangling the personal ties between us and Victor has been even more complicated. James and Jack Archer went through the contract with a fine-tooth comb, eliminating every word that would guarantee Victor access to our child.
I hear that when my father saw the new contract, he threw his computer monitor at a glass door and shattered it.
Once the contract was rewritten, then came the hours and hours of renegotiations. To hear James tell it, the meetings are mostly my father yelling while James grinds his teeth and tries not to satisfy him with a reaction.
“How did it go?” I ask quietly.
James sips his coffee. “It’s handled. The paperwork’s in motion.”
My heart leaps. “So what happened? He signed the new contract?”
“Yes.”
“How?” I breathe. Deep down, I was starting to fear that my father would never sign. He'd rather chew off his own arm and give up the idea of an heir. The longer the negotiations went on, the more scared I felt that we'd lose.
My husband just tightens the arm around my shoulder. “Victor has less power than he thinks.”
I snort. “We're talking about my father, right? All he's done my entire life was acquire power.”
“Then maybe he should've spent some more time growing his business. Pages has taken significant losses over the past two years. A fact Victor chose to hide from his shareholders. Without the deal with Sequel, I doubt he'd keep his position as CEO for another year. He needs us far more than we need him.”
“Good.” I snuggle against his shoulder and close my eyes, a deep feeling of satisfaction rolling through me. Somehow, James managed to restructure our future around me and our baby.
“Do you want to feel the baby?” I ask.
“It's not kicking yet, is it?”
“No. That won't happen for a long time. There's barely even a bump. But sometimes, it's nice to feel her anyway.”
James stiffens. “I thought we were going to wait to find out the sex.”
