There was a rustle under the table, then a sudden weight on my lap. A small tabby cat had hopped onto my knee and immediately began kneading with its claws. Into very sensitive terrain.
I straightened in my seat, jaw locked.
Andrea’s eyes flicked down to my crotch, then back to mine.
“And naturally,” I said, my voice a fraction too high, “there would be… protections. A mutual NDA. Non-disparagement. Indemnity if either of us is dragged into anything unsavory. And a neutral, pre-agreed exit narrative we’re both comfortable with… ‘schedules didn’t align, still friends.’ We can discuss that.”
The cat pressed harder. How did one remove a creature like this? Dogs, I could handle.But cats?They didn’t come off clean. Try it, and you risked teeth, claws, humiliation. I wasn’t giving her that.
I held her gaze and kept my breathing steady.
“In return, you’d have… security. Discretion. And the satisfaction of knowing you didn’t leave me—us—dangling in front of Hugo. I assume youdocare about not looking like a liar, given Hugo’s industry connections.”
The cat purred louder. My spine was ramrod straight, everymuscle frozen as the claws clicked through the thin fabric of my trousers.
Andrea set her cup down. Her eyes flicked to my groin, my balls gradually turning to puree while we chatted about technicalities. The claws pressed deeper. My body betrayed me with a shudder. Her eyes caught it—and that was all the invitation she needed.
“Impressive pitch,” she said at last, lips quirking, “but I’m not sure about your delivery.”
A rattling sound came from the back of the room, and the cat leapt from my lap, leveraging itself painfully off my crown jewels as it did so.
I gasped.JesusChrist.
My testicles breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God the animal had gone. My eyes watered, but I kept them fixed on her. Now just this one predator remained.
Andrea delicately sipped her tea, ice cool. Or—was that a glimmer of suppressed laughter I saw in her eyes? It was. How on earth could I make it through an entire wedding with this woman?
“Fine.” She put her teacup down. “I assume the devil is in the details, Mr. von Roth.”
For fuck’s sake, was shetryingto piss me off?
“Novon,” I said coldly. “Oh, and as part of this… this thing… you can’t call mebabe.”
She laughed, but her eyes were dead. “Right. NobabeforMr. von…Liam. I realizedarlingis more your vibe.”
I picked up my tea. “What else would you like to know?”
“I’ll need to see the paperwork—and confirmation of the compensation—before I agree to anything.”
“Naturally.”
“Good, then.”
“Yes.”
It was silent. Andrea stared at me, her blue eyes like ice.
“There is one other thing we need to discuss, Mr.… Liam,” she added.
“Please.” I wanted to get this over with and get out of here while my testes were still relatively intact.
“If we’ve beeninvolvedfor nine months”—she smiled a wry smile—“I probably need to know something about you. And not just your propensity to destroy companies and lives on a whim. Do you think we should, I don’t know, give that some thought?”
I gritted my teeth. “Why would we need that? Since you’re so talented at making things up on the fly?”
“Apparently, it worked with Hugo.” She smiled sweetly again.
“Well, I’m happy to wing it.” Fuck.Why did I say that?I really needed to treat this as a military operation. “As long as you’re good with me discussing your imaginary fungal infections, or whatever else strikes me in the moment.” I fixed her with a stare I hoped was as cold as hers.
