“No, I…” She trails off, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth.
I lean forward, kissing her, forcing her to stop the gesture, and she relaxes under my touch. “I want you, Clare. I want you in Amelia’s life. I want you in my life. And I want to pay you what you’re worth. Why can’t you accept that?”
“Okay,” she says sheepishly. “Twist my arm.”
I laugh. Leaning my forehead against hers, I brush a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Honestly, I thought you were going to choke up a million for me because you were paying a million to Zander.”
“A million you’d have accepted, but less than a quarter of that is too much?” Sometimes I can’t wrap my head around the way her mind works.
“No, I’m just saying, that was the first thought that popped into my head, and I panicked. And then when you said two hundred thousand, it still sounded like a lot. I’m rambling.”
I press my lips against hers, my hands on her hips, lifting her onto my desk. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” I say, guiding Clare onto her back.
“Yes, but honestly, can we just go up to your bedroom? That guard you hired, he can probably hear us, and honestly, I’m not into voyeurism.”
“That’s too bad. It could have been extra spicy, and we could have given him a show.”
“One that would wind up on the internet.” She smacks my shoulder and sits up.
“Nah, he signed an NDA. I trust he knows that I’d sue his ass, and he’d never get hired anywhere else.” I have a reputation for being tough but fair.
She climbs off the desk, and we grab the files and folders from the floor and stack them haphazardly on the desk. It’s going to be a mess to deal with tomorrow at work. Clare grabs a file, and the lawyer’s letter spills out, falling gracefully to the floor.
I pick it up. “This is the correspondence we plan on sending to your ex.” I let her read it, waiting for her input.
“I think it’s good. I mean, he’ll think he won the lottery with the type of offer you’re making.”
“You don’t think it’s too low?” I ask. Not that I want to give the bastard a cent, but I want the offer to be enough to turn his head and make him walk away, not challenge us for a bigger payday.
“One million dollars? He’d be crazy not to accept it.”
I stare at her. Unblinking.
She laughs, realizing that he is crazy. “It’s fine. He’ll accept it. I was married to him for six years. I know him well enough to judge that he’ll take the deal. He was a gold digger, always loved money more than me.” She pauses and her eyes flinch.
“What is it?”
“He knows that I work for you. It’s no secret that you’re a billionaire. I wonder if this was somehow his endgame all along. Try and get a massive payout.”
I shift uncomfortably at her remark.
Zander could have gone after Amelia or Clare for ransom and gotten far more than one million dollars. But that’s why I have Douglas around and a top-notch, state-of-the-art security system. The bastard wouldn’t be the only man that’s ever thought of kidnapping a family member of a billionaire.
This has to work.
And if the money isn’t enough to make him walk away, there are other ways to silence him and keep him away from my family.
“How soon would he be required to leave the city?” Clare asks.
“The details are all in here.” I tap the folder. “Well, they were. The first page was the basic logistics. The specifics and consequences of failure to abide by the terms in the agreement are somewhere on the floor. But he’ll have seven days, or if he’d like the payment wired immediately, then he’s expected to leave within twelve hours.”
“That doesn’t give him much time to pack.”
“That’s part of the agreement. We would provide movers and take care of the expense of getting his ass out of New York City. The first month’s rent would be handled as part of the relocation expense package, and we’d buy out whatever term is on his lease.”
“Wow.”