He shrugged and added, “Or at least will give her enough of a business reason to back off.”
Lauren stared at him before asking, “What are you planning?”
Hakim shook his head. “It’s better if you don’t know. I promise, it won’t hurt you. Or Patricia.”
“I know that. You wouldn’t do that. I’m worried if it’s going to hurt you.”
Her trust in him warmed his heart. If he hadn’t recognized that he was falling in love with the stunning, brave woman sitting across from him before, he knew it now.
“It might affect my company, but it won’t hurt me. The only thing that could hurt me is if you say you can’t be part of my life.”
Lauren nodded and smiled brilliantly at him. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“I’ll set up the meeting then?” Hakim asked.
“Do you think she’ll agree to meet with you? It might be better if I do it and we don’t tell her you’re going to be there.”
Hakim turned the problem around in his head. He had an idea, and any way he looked at it, some kind of deception was necessary. Better that he was the perpetrator instead of Lauren.
“I’ll set it up. Fair warning, I’m probably going to have to give her a reason she can’t say no to.”
Lauren thought about it and Hakim could see her come to the same conclusion. Not for the first time, he was impressed with how smart she was, instinctively catching onto his strategy.
“You’re going to threaten to go public with the story about you winning the auction? Maybe some sordid tale of my week of servitude?”
“Leaving out the part where my dog now likes you better than me and how I’m still finding the things you deliberately moved around? That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
He looked back again when he heard her choked laughter. She had her hand pressed to her mouth and was trying not to grin too much. If this plan worked, he vowed that he’d spend the rest of his life trying to make her laugh life that all the time.
Lauren agreed it was the best way and slipped out of the dog park before she could be noticed. Hakim let her go and hoped it was the last time he would ever have to do so.
Chapter 23
Hakim
Setting up the meeting went almost exactly like Hakim thought it would. Patricia said no and so he threatened to go to the tabloids with the story of how he had bought Lauren at an auction and had her cleaning his house and running errands. He hated himself as he stressed the degradation Lauren must have felt and how awful it would be for her to see that in the papers, but he knew it was the only surefire way to get her in a room.
Patricia agreed, as long as he would come to her, and so Hakim found himself pacing outside the offices of Sanders & Company five minutes before the agreed-upon meeting time. He’d seen Lauren walk in a few minutes before and was giving her time to get upstairs first.
Right on time, he appeared at the reception desk and allowed Patricia’s secretary to show him into her office. Patricia sat behind her desk, Lauren on the other side with her back to the door. Hakim could see the look of relief on her face as he sat down next to her.
Patricia’s expression was not a welcoming one, and Hakim decided that small talk was not the way to open the negotiation. Instead he took the large folder he was carrying right up to her desk and threw it down where it made a satisfyingly loud smack as it landed.
“I’m tired of this feud, Patricia. It’s stupid and immature. For my role in it, I apologize. I’m not proud of who I’ve been the last few years and I’m truly sorry for antagonizing you.”
Patricia was staring at the folder, almost like she thought it might blow up in her face, but she looked up sharply when Hakim apologized.
He nodded. “Lauren means the world to me. What I did at the auction was ill-conceived and cruel, and I’ve apologized to her for that. She’s accepted my apology. I would never hurt her, no matter what. I am in love with your daughter. She is everything to me. I chose her over my business every single time.”
Hakim pointed at the folder on the desk. “If you don’t believe me, maybe that will convince you.”
As Patricia opened the folder, Hakim put his hand on Lauren’s shoulder. She reached up and covered his hand with hers, a silent gesture of support. Patricia’s expression changed as she read through the folder, shock followed by bewilderment.
When Patricia looked up again, Hakim added, “Take them all.”
“Are you bargaining with me? Your clients for my daughter? In spite of what you clearly think, she’s not something to be bought or traded for.”