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"That’s beside the point. The total sum is far higher than we agreed upon—"
"Wrong." Ashley was done letting him run roughshod over her. "We have been through every piece of this deal. Your original offer was lower, yes, and immediately thrown out by Heliodoro. You are the one who insisted we get this app, Mr. Murray. That means paying more than the next company hoping for the same. You are certainly educated in the principles of supply and demand, are you not?"
The old man stared at her. She wasn’t sure if it was in horror that she’d dared say such a thing or that no one had ever spoken to him like that. Frankly she no longer cared; her job was nearly done for this deal. The instant he unfroze, inhaling deeply as though he was winding up to shouting at her, his neighbor the CEO leaned in and whispered something. Whatever it was cut off any explosive reaction, though the whispered argument that commenced was obvious.
Ashley ceased paying attention to her clients when the other door opened. Zach Slater was well known to her at this point as the lead attorney for their side, his paralegal also familiar, and she had been introduced to the man who ran the development team at one point, though she had forgotten his name. It was probably in her notes somewhere, but she forgot about it entirely as a well-dressed, tall, dark, and handsome man entered behind the group she had met. His suit was high end, which was enough to tell her that this must be Heliodoro’s owner and CEO, though he looked far younger than she had anticipated for the owner of a large software company, maybe in his mid-thirties. From his surname, Brantley, she had been expecting a Caucasian software developer, probably on the nerdier side. Instead he looked like he had Middle Eastern ancestry, maybe, and his winning smile as he approached the table made her stomach clench in surprise—this was one charismatic CEO. That smile made her like him, made her want to help him, and even though she was conscious of the new inclinations, it didn’t help her resist him at all. Damn.
She had to consciously look away in order to stop staring at him, and just in time, too. His dark eyes met hers briefly and she hoped he liked what he saw, even if she immediately kicked herself for thinking of it at all. This was who she was making a deal with, not a handsome stranger at a bar! Ashley took cautious breaths as she moved into her seat at one end of the Next-Gen Apptec side of the table. Since the center of the other side had been given to the lead lawyer, she found herself opposite the Heliodoro CEO instead, and had to quickly turn her attention to her clients. "Allow me to introduce the chief officers of Next-Gen Apptec; this is Mr. Pierce, the CEO, and Mr. Murray, the CFO."
The opposite side of the table nodded politely enough; their CEO gazed at each guest long enough to make Mr. Murray shift uncomfortably—Ashley hid a smile. The CFO was a coward, but at least she knew he wouldn’t be vocally opposing the deal now that he was faced with Mr. Brantley.
Slater shifted forward in his seat and gestured at the team developer first. "This is Nathan Holcombe, head of the Surge project, and our CEO, Rafael Brantley. Welcome to Heliodoro Software."
Mr. Pierce had a polite speech planned, but Ashley found herself tuning it out as the CEO’s eyes landed on her; his regard was enough to make her consider shifting awkwardly, too. Perhaps she had been a little hasty in judging Mr. Murray. Mr. Brantley’s chocolate brown eyes had hints of something more like copper, but the light made it seem almost gold for a moment. She distracted herself by looking at the other lawyers, but she could still feel the eyes on her. Was she making it up, or was he looking at her far longer than the others? It could be that she was the only woman in the room, but it didn’t seem like the lecherous looks she had received far too often in the past. He simply seemed to have chosen to pay more attention to her than the chief officers, sitting silently with his leather folio and pen and letting his lawyer run the meeting.
It was hard to concentrate on even her part of the meeting, but it seemed like Zach Slater was doing better managing the questions of the Next-Gen officers than she had been—it was something of a relief to let him take over. In any other situation, she knew she would like Zach, he’d seemed like a nice guy when they’d had phone calls to discuss some of the disputed points in the contract. Still, she found herself inspecting Mr. Brantley once his eyes had moved away, mostly from beneath lowered lashes or from the corner of her eye. The olive-green shirt he was wearing wasn’t something she saw often, but it definitely suited him in a way something more bland would not. She even caught the glimmer of cufflinks, brass or maybe bronze, it was hard to tell in the shadow of his suit sleeve. Set in the ruddy golden metal was some kind of green stone with speckles and lines like fancy marble, just in much smaller scale. Somehow the unique cufflinks kept drawing her attention even as she was pulled into the discussion of how the contract in front of them had changed from the prior version. Between the two sides, the lawyers explained the final terms.
Mr. Murray sniffed audibly, which was politer than he usually felt like being. "For this price, it would seem like there’s a missing clause about developer access, should we require it." He didn’t glance her way, but she had a feeling he was thinking she hadn’t done her job.
A low chuckle from Mr. Brantley across from her made her stomach knot at the sexy rumble. "You couldn’t afford my developers, Mr. Murray, believe me. You are getting an app unlike any other in the marketplace, so it’s unsurprising that you must pay top dollar for it." Ashley leaned back in her seat, pleased that he had echoed what she had told Murray before the meeting. It was validating, and not just because he’d agreed with her, but opposed Murray to do it.
Murray didn’t seem willing to drop it, looking across at the development team leader. "What do you think, would any of your team be willing to be on retainer for the first six months to a year?"
The developer stiffened, though luckily in Ashley’s mind, the company owner didn’t blink at the disrespectful question. The developer shook his head. "No, we have a new project we’ve already begun. While I’m sure we could answer questions if an emergency arose, we don’t have the time or inclination to go elsewhere." He glanced down the table at Mr. Brantley, the two exchanging a small smile that looked quite friendly for the company owner and one of his employees. "Raf’s right, we get paid quite generously here to develop new products, not get stuck with the same ones forever."
Ashley didn’t miss the nickname, nor the fact that 'Raf' Brantley didn’t object to it. How well could he possibly know the developers under him? Even if he were only familiar with the team leaders, the company took up the top six floors of the building—she’d counted. That had to be a lot of teams. It was also surprising how easily Brantley smiled at his lawyer and team leader, like they were in on an inside joke at Murray’s expense.
Zach Slater, the attorney, spoke up before anything further could be said on either side—whether that was for his CEO’s benefit or to avoid Murray, she couldn’t tell. "The terms for requesting aid with one of our products are all laid out in the contract, and how long we will offer such assistance. Your developers will get their hands on it and we’ll no longer be responsible for changes made. At that point it’s your problem." Score one for Heliodoro; Murray, zero. If only she could shut him down so completely.
When Mr. Pierce spoke up, he actually had a legitimate issue with the wording in one of the clauses, which was a surprise to Ashley. She saw Zach’s eyes flick to hers and she gave him a little shake of her head, her shoulders rising just enough to be noticeable. This was the first she had heard of it. Why they wouldn’t have mentioned it before the meeting, she didn’t know, unless it had actually been something the CEO came across just then, which she doubted. Damn them for making another revision necessary.
Pierce traded comments with the other side’s lawyers, sussing out a better way to word something which Ashley thought sounded fine just the way it was. It was enough of an upset for her to sit back, frowning, until she caught Mr. Brantley watching her and quickly schooled her expression. How long had he been eyeing her? She hoped it wasn’t too obvious that the chief officers were causing trouble for her; she wasn’t keen on a stranger knowing her business. She’d already submitted very detailed notes and a complaint about Next-Gen Apptec to her bosses, so hopefully the situation would be dealt with. She had told them in no questionable terms that she refused to work with Mr. Murray again, and had the drafts and notes to back up her accusations about the man’s misconduct. This final straw was Pierce, though, which surprised her. He had seemed to be the voice of reason for the most part, even if he was trying to demand the most he could possibly get. That was the CEO’s job; she hadn’t thought twice about it before. Now she may have to add an addendum to her complaints about the company.
A pair of brown eyes met hers across the table. While he definitely had noticed some of her distress, he didn’t reveal any pity for her predicament. If anything, he looked like he was calculating her potential afresh after realizing how much extra work the Next-Gen Apptec chief officers could be. She met his eyes calmly, surprised to notice that the flecks of color in his dark eyes almost perfectly matched the metal of his cufflinks. No wonder he would wear something other than premium.
Zach Slater drew the meeting to a close with a nod of agreement from Ashley when she caught his quirked eyebrow. They would have to have yet another meeting in order to sign the papers that she had to adjust, again. Maybe she could convince them to avoid such measures and just get Pierce to sign off before she brought the contract to Heliodoro herself? It would be far smoother, and faster, than dealing with getting all the major players in the same conference room again.
Pierce and Murray left brusquely as soon as Slater bid them farewell until the contract was signed. She let the other lawyer from her law firm go with a smile before she approached Zach herself. "I’m sorry, Zach—"
"No, don’t apologize, Miss Seaver." He had almost universally refused to call her Ashley except when he got caught up in something they were discussing. "I’ve dealt with clients like him before. I used to work for a local firm before Raf offered me a more appealing placement here." He nodded to his boss and the developer, who left the room talking quietly with only a quick nod to Ashley in farewell. "If you ever consider getting out of it, you know," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder to see if his boss was still present. "I’d be happy to put in a good word for you."
The CEO’s nickname again surprised her, though why the lead attorney for selling the various apps the company designed wouldn’t be on a first-name basis with his CEO if some of the developers were, she didn’t know. It just surprised her in general that someone worth billions would be so friendly with his employees, she guessed. She had to smile at the offer, though. "That’s very kind of you. I think I’m happy where I am, but if my bosses don’t—or won’t—make some changes with companies like Next-Gen, I’ll keep it in mind." Ashley hadn’t missed how pleased the developer sounded with his employment, and now Zach echoing it made it even more appealing a prospect. "What do you say if I just email you the revised contract and then get Pierce to sign it before bringing it by? I don’t want to play schedule hockey again if I can help it. Would Mr. Brantley have time to sign it sometime tomorrow, do you think?"
Zach looked relieved at the suggestion, not bothering to hide the expression from her now that they were alone in the conference room. "That would make things easier. I’ll ask him to make some time, just call me before you come, okay? He’s not always in the office, but he’d be in the city."
"Why don’t you tell him same time tomorrow, rather than putting pressure on him to drop whatever he’s doing? That way I will have plenty of time to redraft, corner Mr. Pierce, and get over here." She knew she had other things on her calendar the next day, but she’d expected this contract to be signed by the end of this meeting. She would shift things to make it happen if she had to.
"Same time tomorrow, then. I’ll let him know." Zach shook her hand and gestured for her to precede him out the door, revealing more manners in the single move than any of her clients had shown in weeks.
Chapter 3 - Rafael
Rafael gestured for the server to bring another round of beers for the round booth, where he, along with his friends Michael and Aidan, were keeping Chas company in the shifters-only VIP lounge of Club Phoenix. The four dragons could drink any other species under the table in no time. "But she’s okay at the moment, right?" he asked, just to confirm the way the conversation had been going. "When I heard you were here yesterday, I figured something had happened. You had us worried, Chas."
Chas ran a hand through his wavy blonde hair and sighed. "I’m sorry about that. Angie is doing okay at the moment. She’s stuck in bed again, but she was in pretty good spirits when I left her." He hesitated, swallowing, his glassy eyes revealing the depth of his love and concern for his sister. "I had just pinned some pretty high hopes on this new treatment, and it looks like it’s going nowhere. I just wish…" The man trailed off, picking up his pint glass and draining what little was left.
"Yeah, man, us too," Aidan, one of the investors in the club, agreed from across the table.
Michael nodded his sympathy, reaching out to clasp Chas’ shoulder when he seemed lost in thought. "You’ll find a way, Chas, you always do." The real estate developer yanked the knot of his blue silk tie looser by a couple inches and reached up to unbutton the top button of his shirt, looking relieved as soon as it was undone.
