Page 129 of Masters of Control

“Thank you, you, too.” She couldn’t help watching as he left, sighing inwardly. It felt like any lightness in the room was sucked out the door with him, leaving her with a pouty manchild.

“I shouldn’t have signed that,” Mr. Alexander grumbled, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into signing.”

“I ‘talked you into it’ because it was the best possible option,” Camille replied, not bothering to sit down as she gathered her papers. “You get to keep your company’s shares, as you wanted, and you’re only paying half of what you might have had to out of your current assets, which was a major concession. If you’d dragged it out further, we would have ended up in front of a judge, and you could have lost on both the shares and the payments.”

He huffed, but apparently didn’t have anything further to say. Thank goodness.

“Okay then, I’ll be in touch. It’s been nice working with you, Mr. Alexander. If you have any further questions, you can email or call me, as always.” She pasted a smile on her face as she lied through her teeth. He huffed again, and she retreated.

Chances were, as soon as he’d had a few minutes to think, he was going to be off to complain to the partners. However, there was nothing to be done unless they flat-out lied to him about what they might be able to do for him… in which case she was going to hand over everything to them and wash her hands of it. No matter what they said. Even if she had to quit.

She’d already had a promising phone interview with Everly Murdoch from Murdoch Family Solutions, and she was meeting with her next week for an in-person interview. While she couldn’t be sure she would get the job, she had another phone interview with a different firm tomorrow and two others that had emailed her back. All of them had flat-out told her they didn’t need references from her current firm. They were aware of her and her work and didn’t trust what any of the Donaldson partners might say about her. She could have cried with relief.

So, that was one small upside to Donaldson’s reputation. She hadn’t realized they were well-known for taking promising lawyers and either grinding them into dust or turning them into the same kind of ‘gives a bad name to lawyers’ practitioners as the senior partners.

She hadn’t been back at her desk for ten minutes before her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Camille, what’s this about you forcing Nicholas to sign an agreement he didn’t want?” Donaldson Senior sounded upset but not accusatory, thankfully. Unlike his son, he knew how unlikely it was Mr. Alexander’s accusations were untrue. Still, she had to roll her eyes.

Since Junior hadn’t gotten him what he wanted the last time, Mr. Alexander had decided to go running to Daddy.

Straightening, Camille pushed her shoulders back. It was time to end this.

Freddy

“How does it feel to be a free woman?”

“Like I could walk on air.” Brittany grinned, then threw her arms around Freddy, causing several passersby to give them odd glances. “I can’t thank you enough. I would have conceded on everything to him if it hadn’t been for you, but I’m so glad I didn’t.”

Despite the biting cold of the winter air, Freddy felt warm from the inside out. This was exactly why he did what he did.

“You deserved everything you got and more, just for putting up with him for so long,” he said baldly.

“You’re right,” she admitted, one of the first times she’d done so instead of prevaricating. She looked up at the big office building looming over them. “I feel kind of bad for his lawyer, though. She seemed nice.”

“She’s doing her job, and sometimes, asshole clients are part of the job. You, however, have been a delight.”

“You have been, too.” She tightened her hold on him again before releasing him and stepping back. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

“You can thank me by following through with your plan—move to New York to be closer to your parents and find happiness,” he said gently. “That’s all I want for you.”

“You’re a great guy, Freddy. I hope you find some happiness too.”

“Oh, I will.” He didn’t think about the effect of his words before they slipped out.

“Oh?” Brittany’s eyes lit up with interest. “Have you met someone?”

Freddy tended to be friendly with his clients, though he did his best to maintain necessary boundaries, but he had told Brittany he was single when he’d first started working on her case, when they were getting to know each other. She’d been at a loss, making conversation and bemoaning how hard it was to be single at her age. Since she was only a few years older than him, he’d sympathized and told her he was in the same boat.

“Yes, I have, though nothing official yet,” he admitted.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you… That gives me hope.”

“Good. You should have hope because you, Brittany Adams, are a catch.” He deliberately used her maiden name, which she’d told him she planned to go back to.

“God, it feels good to hear myself called that again.” Happy tears sparked in her eyes. Impulsively, she reached out and grabbed him for another hug, which he was happy to reciprocate. She’d really come into her own once the asshole had stopped harassing her, and he was so proud of the way she’d handled herself today. “Knowing I never have to see him again. I’m leaving this weekend for New York, and I’m not coming back except to visit my sister.”