Hard Limit (St. Louis Mavericks 2)

I wasn’t playing around anymore. This legal battle had to end before it cost me things that were far more important than money, like my dignity. And Lars.

God, I didn’t want to lose Lars.

Deep down, I loved the overprotective Neanderthal that came out when anyone so much as looked at me wrong. I couldn’t let him know that I liked it, because he had to knock it off until he understood how much was at stake, but it still made me feel good inside. No one had ever cared about me like that. Hugh probably would have laughed if someone had spit on me while we were together. Lars, on the other hand, would protect me, no matter the cost. It was probably time to tell him everything, but I was afraid. Everyone except my mother and Vanessa had used me or abandoned me over the course of my career, and Lars wasn’t just some guy. He was the man I’d fallen in love with.

“All right, everyone.” I raised a hand to quiet everyone down as my executive staff gathered around the conference table. “Here’s what’s going on.” I gave them an abbreviated version of my plan to sell Vanessa the company for far less than it was worth. “I just don’t want my ex to get anything more from me.”

Ian Coulter, my chief financial officer, didn’t look pleased. “That looks terrible on paper,” he said slowly. “As if there’s dissention in the ranks. It could hurt us going forward.”

“No one has to know. This isn’t a publicly traded company so I can do whatever I want. I understand it’s a little uncomfortable for all of you, but the contract specifically says she can’t fire anyone for six months.”

“So what will your role be?” Marnie asked.

“On paper, I’m a design consultant. And I’ve got lots of plans for next year, but I’m not going to throw anything else into the mix until my personal situation is handled. Once that’s settled, and I’m legally in the clear, Vanessa will sell me back the company for the same amount of money, and everything will go back to the way it was.”

“I don’t like it,” Ian said, shaking his head.

“I know.” I sighed. “And I’m sorry to do this to everyone. I just have to get through this legal battle I’m in. Until I do, it’s impacting every part of my life. I’m exhausted and stressed, so the sooner this is done, the sooner things can get back to normal.”

“Vanessa, what do you think?” Our chief technology officer, Lenny Katzenburg, asked.

“I just want Sheridan to be okay,” she said softly. “I’ll do anything she asks of me.”

“So we don’t get a vote?” Bernie asked.

“Not with this, no. I’m sorry.” I met his gaze guiltily, but this wasn’t negotiable. “But I promise, nothing is going to change. This is simply to stop my ex from continuing to make money off of me.”

“He sounds like a low-life prick,” Marnie muttered.

“Believe me, he is.” I got up and gathered my things. “Thank you for meeting on such short notice, everyone. I’ll be in touch once the papers are signed.”

“Sheridan, wait up.” Vanessa followed me back to my office.

“Hey.” I sank into my chair. “What’s up? I think I’m going to work from home the rest of the day.”

“Seriously? You just dropped a bomb on everyone and you’re just going to cut and run?”

“I’m not running anywhere,” I said, scowling. “I work from home all the time.”

“Well, today you should be worried about morale.”

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded. “I thought you were on board with this?”

“I am…I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I do. Believe me, I have a plan.”

“Are you going to share?”

“I did. I’m going to sell you my company for a ridiculously low amount so dickhead only gets half of a pittance. Then Marian is going to go to the judge and demand we get a court date to get this over with.”

“You think that’ll work?” Vanessa looked doubtful.

“Marian thinks it will.”

“What does Lars think?”

“About what?”

“All of it.”

I hesitated. “I haven’t told him.”

“You haven’t…” Her voice trailed off. “What do you mean? You haven’t told him all of it or you haven’t told him any of it?”

I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling. “I haven’t told him anything. I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“What if my mess of a life scares him off? Especially with the shit going on in his life right now.”

“I think you’re taking a big risk.”

“I know. I’m going to come clean this week. It’s time. I’m in love with him and I can’t keep such a big secret now that it’s getting serious.”

“Is it?”

“What, serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, I think so. I mean, we’re officially together and exclusive.”

“You’d better hurry up, girlfriend. It won’t be pretty if he finds out on his own.”