The room tilted slightly beneath me, but my head started shaking. “No, he can’t. He signed the papers.”
“Yes, but then he found out that you’re marrying into my family, and now, he’s claiming you signed under pressure.”
I felt sick. Louis hadn’t cared a bit about my future or the girls when he’d taken off with his mistress. He hadn’t cared about where we went after we left the Hamptons and he sure as heck hadn’t felt a thing when he’d used my trust fund while I’d had to work my ass off to pay for the lawyers.
He just hadn’t given a shit until another, more powerful family had entered the picture. Now, he had an audience again and, more importantly, a shot at getting even more money than he already had.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring up into Zach’s green eyes and not comforted at all by what I saw there. “What happens now?”
His hands tightened slightly on my shoulders and I knew he meant to ground me, but really, all I wanted was to turn back the clock. Even just a few hours would be good, to early this morning when the sun hadn’t even risen yet, the sky only just starting to lighten when he’d slid into me for the final time. The look in his eyes had been warm then, tender.
“Our attorneys think we can shut it down if we move fast,” he said, that steel glinting in his gaze even more obviously now. “They want us to get ahead of it.”
“How fast are we talking?”
“Fast enough that I need to get back to Chicago to find a better solution. I can’t do anything from here, but I’ve got this, okay?”
The air left my lungs in a rush, everything suddenly feeling fragile and temporary again. Like the happiness we’d all been feeling had only been on loan to us before reality had come crashing back in through the front door.
“Okay,” I said slowly, dragging in a deep breath in an attempt to regain control of myself. The first times the rug had been yanked out from underneath me like this, I hadn’t had any options. There hadn’t been any other choices available to me, but that was different now. Zach was in our corner and I knew he would fight to his last breath to protect both me and the girls. “Keep me updated and let me know if there’s anything I can do. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
CHAPTER 33
ZACH
By the time I reached downtown Chicago, I’d already texted Adeline six times. We had no new information yet, but she was panicking and I was trying to keep her from spiraling while also white-knuckling my way through traffic and contemplating homicide.
The only thing I knew for sure right now was that I wasn’t about to let that asshole back into their lives. Not for anything. We all knew this was a powerplay, but the thing about those was that you had to be the most powerful guy involved to win.
In this case, he wasn’t. That title went to me and I wasn’t about to let him stand in our way or dictate how things would go from here.
ME: I’m at the office now. Don’t let Louis scare you. I’ll handle it.
Her response came in just as I opened the car door.
ADELINE: I know. I’m trying to stay calm. The girls are missing you already.
A strange warmth spread through my chest. I knew protectiveness and possessiveness, and this definitely had elements of both, but it was neither. Shaking my head, I shoved my phone into my pocket and focused on the task at hand.
Later, I could work out why I was feeling the way I was, half-crazed and on a mission unlike any other, but for now, I stormed through the doors of Westwood and Sons, heading straight for the executive floor.
The receptionist tried to talk to me as I stalked off the elevator, but I blew past her without stopping. I liked Nelly. She’d been the main receptionist on the executive level for years, but I knew that if I paused for even a second to talk to her, I’d only manage to pry myself away two hours from now.
I seriously didn’t have time for that. Instead, I stayed the course, shoving open the doors to the executive conference room at the end of the hall without hesitating. I’d called Alex’s assistant on my way over, only to be told he was in a meeting all afternoon.
It seemed the message I’d left that I’d be here soon hadn’t reached him, because when he looked up as I burst in, his eyes widened in surprise. Thankfully, Jesse and Nate were in the meeting too, which would save me the time it would’ve taken to track them both down.
About six other executives were with them, every last one turning to face me as I strode into the room. I met each of their eyes in turn and lifted a hand to point at the door. “Get out. Now. If your last name isn’t Westwood, you’re leaving.”
Alex sighed. “Zach, what are you doing here? This is the quarterly?—”
“Everyone out,” I said, speaking over him, and chairs finally started moving. “We need to talk and we’re going to do it now.”
Executives gathered their laptops and papers at record speed while Jesse, who’d been lounging back in his chair looking heavily bored, seemed to be ecstatic about this development. He straightened up, grinning from ear to ear.
As the room cleared, he glanced over at Alex. “You better keep a firm hold on your position, big brother. Zach might actually make for a damn good CEO.”
“Shut up, Jesse,” Alex muttered.
