Page 115 of Masters of Control

“Sorry about this,” she said, and her dark eyes were filled with sincere apology. “I think we’re going to have to adjourn for today while Mr. Alexander and I talk through some things.”

“I see,” Freddy said, giving her a wry smile to offset his tone. Then he stepped around her, his face falling into a more serious expression for Mr. Alexander, and picked up his briefcase. “That is no problem as long as Mr. Alexander understands if he contacts Mrs. Alexander, by any means, she will immediately end any attempts at negotiation, and we will see you in court. I’m sure the public spectacle would be quite interesting.”

At least he could keep the asshole from contacting Brittany for a bit and hopefully give her a reprieve.

Mr. Alexander glared at him, jaw clenching.

Hopefully, Freddy hadn’t just made things harder for Camille, but in this case, his first priority had to be his client. Still, he shot her an apologetic look as he left.

Chapter Eleven

Camille

Another hard talk with Mr. Alexander, another visit from Donaldson Sr., and Camille was ready to take the first job offer that came her way if it paid the same. The desire to jump ship was overwhelming. Calling her mom at the home and getting to talk to her for a bit helped get Camille back on an even keel. She couldn’t just up and go without a replacement job. She didn’t have the savings for herself, much less to take care of her mom, for any real length of time.

At least she’d gotten the process started. She’d even gotten an email back from a firm in Baltimore, requesting an interview. Not that she wanted to move back across the state, but she was starting to think the commute would be worth it.

Putting together a list of the things she and Mr. Alexander had talked about, she shot it off to Freddy. Granted, he wasn’t willing to bend on much, but after Freddy had dropped his threat, the man had seemed slightly less combative. She’d learned that, underneath his pricked pride, he also didn’t want her to have any shares in his company, and that was something they could push for, especially if he was willing to give on some of the other sections.

While she had a feeling Freddy was right about what would happen if they went to court, the fact Mrs. Alexander was still open to negotiating meant Camille might be able to make Mr. Alexander less unhappy. She didn’t have a lot of hope he’d actually be happy with her efforts.

She couldn’t do anything about him sulking because Mrs. Alexander hadn’t shown up and was clearly happy to do everything by proxy. It was a good move on Freddy’s part. Though Mr. Alexander seemed determined to drag things out, without Mrs. Alexander there to torment, he seemed to have lost most of his energy for it.

As soon as she was home, she called Freddy.

“Hello, beautiful. How was your day?”

Just hearing his voice made her smile, though that greeting didn’t hurt either.

“I thought we were keeping things professional,” she teased.

“Don’t you call all your co-workers beautiful?” The mock innocence in his voice got an outright laugh from her.

“You are trouble.” She sighed. “Sorry about today, but I think we got some real work done. Did you get my email?”

“About the shares? Yes. I think Brittany’s main concern will be getting him to leave her alone. She doesn’t want anything to do with the company or him, so that shouldn’t be an issue if you can get him to agree to it.”

“I’ll do my best. If you can put up a big show of reluctance and make every concession begrudgingly, that will help.”

“Oh, believe me, every concession will be begrudging on my part,” Freddy replied dryly. “Normally, I wouldn’t show it because I get great satisfaction out of denying assholes what they want, but I’ll make an exception in this case since I think both you and Brittany would prefer it that way.”

Knowing she was part of the equation made her feel warm inside.

“I do love watching you take him apart,” she said. “It’s hot.”

He chuckled.

“I feel the exact same way about you.”

“I don’t take him apart,”—Camille wrinkled her nose—“though I want to sometimes.”

“I don’t think you realize the effect you have on him. Trust me, he feels taken apart.”

Hm. Well, that was something to think about. She had definitely been firmer with him the past week than she had originally and knew part of that was because Freddy was there watching, but it felt good. It felt right. Like she was alive again.

That night at Marquis had kicked off so much more than she’d realized.

“I’ll have to take your word for it. I feel like I’m holding back so much, maybe it’s hard for me to see what I am doing.”