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Victoria did her best not to cringe. “Hit me with your worst.”
Jillian spent nearly ten minutes detailing the state of the various affairs Victoria needed to tend to. It was entirely overwhelming. Victoria and Alexa had wreaked some serious havoc with their behavior.
One good thing was that Alexa’s lawyer was working with them to get a gag order out on theirintimate encounterin the police station. On that issue, they were entirely on the same page.
On every other conceivable issue, they were at odds. Victoria knew that such matters in business could often be resolved via negotiation rather than in court. Now that the case had started, and it was clear that they were on relatively equal footing in the eyes of the judge, at least so far, it would be a prime time for negotiations to take place.
Victoria couldn’t bring herself to do it, now. She was still simmering with resentment thatAlexawould try to take her company from her. It would be the sensible thing to do, but doing it felt quite out of the question.
Of course, she had trained her employees never to be afraid of questioning her judgment when they thought it was wrong. She usually appreciated it, but today was one of those days when her own actions really came back to bite her in the ass.
“Victoria, we need to talk.”
Luke looked uncharacteristically serious, but that wasn’t unusual these days. Victoria supposed they had all been looking serious, what with how high the stakes were.
“Yes, Luke?”
“Come, let’s talk privately.”
Victoria followed Luke to his office and sat down. She hoped whatever he needed her to deal with didn’t take long. Her to-do list was already reaching epic proportions.
“You need to talk to Alexa.”
“What? I thought you said I wasn’t to have any more contact with her?”
“I don’t mean talk to her about your relationship. I mean, you need to arrange a meeting with her as the CEO of Rossi Corporation.”
“No.”
“Victoria, be reasonable about this. I know you’re pissed at her, but you need to think of the good of the business. We have no idea which way this case is going to go. If the two of you could come up with an agreement, maybe sharing the patent somehow—”
“No,” Victoria snapped. “Alexa has taken enough from me. She’s not taking this too.”
Luke folded his arms. “I call bullshit. This is not your business brain talking. Unless you can think of one good business reason not to sit down with Alexa, I’m telling Jillian to schedule the meeting.”
Victoria clenched her teeth, resisting the urge to shout. This is what she had lectured her employees about over and over. Victoria was human and fallible like the rest of them. If they thought she was making a mistake, they needed to step in, just like she would with them.
Of course, she was the CEO and she had the final decision. She could simply order Jillian not to contact Alexa… but she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t because as much as she hated to admit it, Luke was right. She was thinking with her heart and not her head.
“Fine,” Victoria muttered. “Set it up.”
“Thank you. I know it’ll be difficult to put your personal feelings aside, but try to remember that this is a business matter. Treat it like you would treat every other business meeting.”
That was going to be difficult, but Victoria would have to try. She was already hoping that Alexa would refuse the meeting.
Unfortunately, Alexa was either having an easier time separating business and emotion than Victoria, or she also had some good people advising her. Whatever the reason, she agreed to the meeting.
Victoria spent the next day dreading it rather than preparing for it. She should be coming up with lists. If they were going to negotiate, she would need to compromise. As much as that rankled, it was unavoidable.
With three hours to go until the meeting, Victoria finally got off her ass and started cramming. She met with Mike, and the two of them went through strategy. Victoria would make Alexa an offer she couldn’t refuse. She would offer to buy the patent from Alexa. Given that the patent didn’t even belong to Alexa, an offer to buy it was generous, especially given the amount Victoria would be offering.
She put together some bids; she’d start with her lowest one and allow herself to be worked up to the highest she was willing to go.
Victoria finished two minutes before she was due to leave. It was the most rushed proposal she’d ever put together—probably not the best idea, given that her entire business hinged on the outcome of the battle over this patent.
Well, it was too late to regret it now.
Mike and Luke were ready to go, just waiting on her.
