AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I apologize, Mr. O’Connor, but I’ve been going through the past legal counsel’s contracts and I believe they set you up for failure. There’s a lot left to be wanted in these documents and I think a few of them will need to be renegotiated completely.”
Setting the documents down, he sighed heavily, scrubbing his face. “No one told me the kind of shit I’d be getting myself into when it came to expanding our company. How much, exactly, are we looking to change?”
Pursing my lips, I almost felt bad for him. He looked overwhelmed and while they said they were partners, I had no idea what the other two were doing to help him. So far all the contracts were signed by Liam. Which meant it’d probably fall to him if something went wrong so it was lucky I found the errors before anything happened.
“A good deal of them. There were a lot of loopholes even in the smaller contracts. It may not have affected you yet but I don’t want to leave it and have it come back to bite us in the future. And the contracts with the builders need to be completely rewritten. To be honest, they made very little sense and I’m not entirely sure why you signed it in the first place.”
He shot me a dirty look. “I get over a hundred documents thrown at me at any given time, Ms. Sloan. The last guy was supposed to be one of the best and I expected him to handle it. There’s a reason he no longer works for us.”
I knew I shouldn’t piss him off but he’s a smart guy so it didn’t make any sense for him to have signed documents so poorly written.
“You don’t have anyone else signing for you, do you? Because if you actually read the documents–”
Fury crossed over his features and it almost felt like the room’s temperature dropped a few degrees. “No. No one signs them but me. No one handles the business side but me. Was the entire purpose of this meeting to berate me and insult my intelligence or do you have something useful to contribute? There’s a lot more that needs to get done and I don’t have time to walk you through the process of my decision making. And if this is the way you deal with your clients, I suggest you rethink your behavior unless you’d like to end up like the last lawyer who thought he could fuck with me.”
Gone was the level headed and polite man I’ve been working with all day. In his place was a real mafia boss who I decided to scold like a naughty child. I felt the blood drain from my face and my fight or flight kicked in immediately.
I almost didn’t hear Mateo clearing his throat over the pounding in my ears. Liam’s focus shifted and I pushed out of my chair, excusing myself. It took a lot of effort to keep my strides even as I basically ran from the office. I was beyond grateful that the elevator door opened immediately when I pressed the button to call for it. I felt like I couldn’t breathe and it only got worse when the elevator doors shut, enclosing me in that tiny space with the stupid windows in the back.
What the hell was I thinking? Yes, our first few conversations were easy to manage but that didn’t give me the freedom to tear him down. I was so used to clients who didn’t know a contract from their elbow and having to basically spell out what they needed to be doing that I let my mouth run away with me. He wasn’t the first client that I spoke to like that but sometimes I felt like I had to be brash in order for them to understand me.
The doors opened on the lobby floor and I hurried out, heading straight out the front door. I was moving so quickly, I didn’t notice the faces as I passed them until I heard Jaime calling my name behind me. I didn’t stop for him, though I did regret not stopping in my office first for my coat. Light flurries and cold wind whipped around me and helped numb the panic a little.
I had no idea where I was headed. I would have to go back eventually at least to pick up my things but I was too terrified right now to try. He looked ready to murder me and I wasn’t naive enough to think he’d go easy on me because I’m a woman. I kept going, clenching my hands into fists as I did my best to clear my head enough to figure out what the hell I was going to do next. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to come back from that and everything I’ve worked for might’ve just been thrown out the window. If I pissed off Liam O’Connor enough for him to want to kill me, I’d have no choice but to go crawling back home just like my father wanted. I may not have seen it in person but I know my father has killed people for less, just because he felt like they disrespected him.
I was so distracted, I wasn’t paying attention to my feet or the patch of ice right on the corner as I moved to cross the street. I slipped and landed hard on my back, the wind knocked out of me.
“Rebecca! Jesus, are you okay?”
Jaime stood over me, looking confused and worried and I really didn’t want to see him right now. I pushed myself up, grimacing, but when he reached to grab my hand to help me to my feet, I jerked away. His eyebrows flew up and he put his hands up in surrender.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me. I–”
“Are you here to kill me?”
He looked stunned. “What?”
It took work to even get to my knees. Every time I tried to stand, I slipped. He looked like he wanted to help me but I batted his hand away when he reached for me again.
“I pissed him off! You should’ve seen the look on his face! That’s why you’re here right? To deal with me like the last lawyer?”
He didn’t say anything, just stared at me with his mouth hanging open. I finally forced myself to my feet, edging carefully off the patch of ice and back onto the sidewalk. I glanced around worriedly. There weren’t a lot of people out here, he could probably get away with doing it now.
“Rebecca…”
Shaking my head, I backed away. “I can’t do this. Even if you aren’t here to hurt me right now, I can’t work for someone and constantly be waiting for him to end me for making a mistake. I– I have to go.” I spun on my heel and turned to flee again. I don’t care if I have to walk home, I’m not sticking around here. I’ll have a courier pick up my things and take the chance canceling the contract. If I explained things to my bosses–
“Rebecca, wait! Let’s just talk about this for a second!”
I ignored him, carefully stepping past the ice patch to cross the street. But when I hurried across I didn’t see the patch of ice that was hidden by a light layer of snow from the flurries. Once again I was reminded that high heels and ice don’t mix as I slipped and slid. This time I landed on my behind, which was better than before. It still hurt but I didn’t crack my head open, which was a plus. What wasn’t a plus was that I was now stuck in the middle of the road and when I forced myself to my hands and knees, I heard the blare of a car horn coming straight toward me.
Horror swept through me as I glanced up, watching the car as the driver slammed on the brakes. I wasn’t the only one slipping on ice though and with parked cars on both sides of the street, there’s nowhere he could go to avoid me. I squeezed my eyes closed, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get to my feet that fast, and waited for the impact.
When a force slammed into me, it wasn’t from the direction I was expecting. Solid warmth hit my side, knocking me out of the way. We rolled to a stop against the curb and for a minute I just stared at the sky above me, too shocked to move.
I heard a car door open and someone started shouting but I wasn’t fully absorbing what they were saying.
“Shit! Are you alright? I tried to stop, I swear! The ice–”
