AllFreeNovel
Share Us
14
JASE
Isighed internally as the man sitting at the table opposite me rambled on. Bernard Wilkinson was a businessman who owned a number of properties dotted around Manhattan and Queens, and Emilia and I had inspected one that had interested her in particular.
Neither of us liked the doddering, misogynistic older man, but the fact remained he owned a property she desperately wanted enough to put up with his annoying traits. He was old school, convinced a woman’s place was not in the boardroom but behind a desk.
Bernard had dropped by the office half an hour previously and had insisted on speaking with me immediately about finalizing the deal, advising me he had several other parties interested. I’d been reluctant to acquiesce to his demand because Emilia and I had a long-standing agreement that no deals would be finalized unless both of us were present, but Bernard had refused to leave the office until I saw him.
Emilia was down the hall in an important meeting with our marketing team, one she’d agreed to take alone so I could speak to a supplier in Asia. Neither could wait, and my video call had ended just before Wilkinson’s arrival.
This day was not turning out as planned, and a sense of foreboding washed over me.
“So, do we have a deal?”
Bernard held out his hand for me to shake, and I felt obligated to take it. “You know we’re interested, Bernard, but I can’t confirm a deal without Emilia present. That’s not how we work.”
“Nonsense, my boy. I’m sure your female will be on board with it.”
Wilkinson’s pompous, arrogant attitude rubbed me the wrong way, but since Emilia had her heart set on acquiring this property, I bit my tongue and said nothing. “Send over the paperwork to the office and we’ll review it.”
I ushered him out of the meeting room as quickly as possible, wanting him to leave before Emilia saw him to avoid the inevitable conflict, but luck was not on my side. As we stepped out of the room, the door down the hall and across the way opened right after.
Emilia and the marketing team stepped out of the room, but I only looked at one person. I spotted the flash of anger on my partner’s face.
Fuck.
“Hello, Bernard.” Her greeting was polite but distant.
“Emily, how are you, my dear?” The stubborn old ass refused to even address her correctly. “Just popped in for a chat with Jason here. I’m thrilled we’ve come to an agreement about the property and have sealed the deal!”
Double fuck. That wasn’t what had happened at all, and he fucking knew it. I’d literally just told him I couldn’t agree to a deal without my partner, and he was making out like I’d already done it without her.
I gazed at Emilia intently, but she refused to look at me, instead putting the older man in his place with a steely expression. “No deal will be sealed without my say so, Bernard. Thank you for stopping by. I’ll discuss it with Jason privately.”
“Oh, don’t be so fussy, girl. Jason’s perfectly capable of agreeing to a price without you present.”
I saw the flash of hurt on her face before she schooled her expression into a neutral one, giving nothing away.
Wilkinson had made it very clear in our past dealings that he didn’t consider Emilia equal to me because of her gender, and it bothered me to the point where I’d told her I’d have been happy to cease all dealings with him.
But she had insisted we continue negotiations, because he owned an admittedly gorgeous apartment down in Greenwich Village that she wanted for our ever-growing portfolio. She planned to renovate it and use it as a space for foster kids who’d aged out of the system to live in while they studied in the city.
We encouraged all the foster parents who worked for the foundation to help those children with the potential to get scholarships to apply for them, and together with the program we personally funded it meant that quite a few of them ended up coming to New York City to further their education.
We already owned a few apartments they lived in while they attended school, but Emilia wanted this particular three-bedroom apartment because it was in a great neighborhood and we didn’t currently own anything there.
“I’ll have my attorney send over the paperwork tomorrow. Good to talk to you again, Jason.”
We walked everyone to the elevator and an awkward silence descended while we waited for it to arrive. Once it did, Bernard and the marketing team got in, and as soon as the door closed behind them, I turned to the love of my life.
“Emilia—”
“Don’t fucking speak to me.” Her tone was cold, her posture rigid, and she wasn’t looking at me.
“It’s not what you think.”
That did get her attention, and she looked straight at me for the first time since we’d left our respective meetings. “Really? Because it certainly sounds like you agreed to buy some property without me present, when we agreed we’d speak to him together to negotiate a better price.”
