“You wouldn’t dare!”
“I would dare. In fact, I’m kind of hoping you refuse to sign. I don’t really want you to drop the lawsuit. Releasing the documents and ruining your sham of a life would be much more satisfying.”
He stared at her again and she could see him having an inner debate with himself. “No one would believe you.”
“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
“Fine, have the money. It isn’t like I don’t have a lot more stashed away, far out of your reach,” he sneered, grabbing the pen and ripping the divorce papers out of her hand.
She watched him sign. “Tim?”
“What now? What the fuck could you possibly want now?” he shouted.
“Only to warn you. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness. I’m giving you a chance to go away quietly. If you try to do anything, anything at all, I’ll make you sorry you ever looked my way,” she said, delivering the threat like a professional bully.
“You’ve changed,” he snapped, sliding the papers across to her.
“I have, and I’ll never be the woman you abused again.”
“Are we done here? I have a life to get back to. Don’t contact me again,” he said, as if he was the affronted party.
“You won’t have to worry about seeing me again.”
She stood when he did, not wanting to give him the additional height over her. She never wanted to feel small and helpless in his presence again.
He looked out the window to see Ben watching everything and turned back to Katherine. “You’ll never marry him. A man like him will never want you. You are nothing but a piece of ass to him.”
She walked towards him, showing him just how not afraid of him she was. She leaned in close. “You’ll never be more than the man who was too weak to treat a woman well. You’re the kind of man who needs to squish a woman under his boot to feel powerful. Fuck you, Tim. You were nothing, but a waste of time and you are a sorry excuse for a human being. You’ll never be more than what you are right this minute and that is nothing more than a pathetic loser who doesn’t have the guts to be a real man. A real man treats a woman with dignity and respect. You’re a sad, sad man and you will always be miserable,” she said, watching him actually lean away from her.
It gave her more satisfaction than she could have ever imagined. The power was heady. She had a tiny glimpse into what he must have felt all those times he had intimidated her.
She walked to the door of the board room, noticing Tim’s lawyers looking at Meredith and Ben, clearly angry to discover their client had been alone in a room with his soon-to-be ex-wife. She grinned, turned back and waved to Tim who was still glowering at her as she walked across the plush carpet in the hall.
Tim was not her problem anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ben
SHE LOOKED HAPPY. THAT was a good sign. He waited, not moving as she threw open the glass door and strolled towards him. She was looking at him, that sexy gleam in her eyes. It had gone well. She walked right up to him and kissed him.
“Hey sweetheart,” he whispered.
“Hi,” she said, turning to stand beside him, his arm snaked around her and held her close to him as he watched Tim stomp out of the conference room.
“Why don’t we all move back into the conference room,” Meredith suggested, looking at Tim and the other lawyers.
Ben made a move to head into the conference room. “Are you going back in?” he whispered into Katherine’s ear.
“Actually, I don’t think we need you,” Meredith said, looking at Katherine and smiling.
Katherine shook her head. “Nope, I don’t think you do.”
“I thought this was a settlement meeting. I’m in no mood for games. We did not fly up here for another wasted meeting. Your client will be paying for all of this,” Tim’s attorney started to say.
“I’ll be in, give me a minute,” Ben said, nodding to Meredith.
There was no way he was going to miss the moment when Tim had to tell his lawyers he wasn’t going to pursue the lawsuit. That was a memory he wanted to look back on many times over the years. Ben moved Katherine down the hall while the others headed into the conference room.