My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

“What? Partying on money you’re not working for? I can’t imagine how that feels.”

He turned around. “It wasn’t my choice to leave. You three chased me away.”

“Because you were treating our partners like shit. You were treating us like shit. Like this company’s capital was your personal trust fund.”

“I made one mistake.”

“It was a choice. What do you want? Coming back is not an option. David can’t even be in the same building with you. Becca is still hurting every time we talk about you.”

“That’s not my problem.”

I waited for him to continue, refusing to be baited into whatever he was after. If he didn’t want to outright say it, I wasn’t going to beg him.

“I’m bored of being a silent partner.”

“Tough luck. We’re not budging on this. You signed the contract.”

He smiled sardonically. “I did, but contracts can be amended.”

“We are not interested in doing that.”

Was he really here because he was too bored spending all that money? Once upon a time, I’d known Albert well. He’d been my best friend in college. We had big dreams for this company. And then he tried to steal from us by pretending to use that capital for clients. So perhaps I never really knew him. He was a thief, and the only reason we didn’t sue the shit out of him was because we didn’t want any of this to be public knowledge. No one would want to work with us if word got around that Albert had been misappropriating funds.

“Just think about this for a few days. You can convince David and Becca to do what you say. Everyone knows you run the show. What you say goes.”

I straightened up, placing both forearms on the desk and leveling him with a glare. “And what I’m saying is that you’ll never work here again. Ever. In any capacity. Don’t show your face here again.”

“That’s not stipulated in the contract.”

“I can have our lawyers add it in a heartbeat.”

“You’re that petty?”

“No. I just protect the people I care about. David spirals out every time you show up here, and Becca’s not doing any better.”

I rose from my seat, pointing to the door. I had no patience for this anymore. He clearly hadn’t come here with a goal, just to annoy us, and this was unacceptable.

“I can talk to David and Becca,” he said.

“Don’t, or I’ll tell our lawyers to work on a restraining order too.”

He shook his head so vehemently that his stupid sunglasses fell off. He caught them midair.

“You have no grounds for that.”

“We’ll see. Get out. And don’t even think about stopping to talk to Becca.”

I didn’t even blink until he left the room. What a fucking asshole. I counted to twenty before heading downstairs.

Becca was already on her feet at the coffee machine. Her hands were shaking slightly. She had her back to the staircase, probably in an attempt to not even make eye contact with him.

“What did he want?” she asked.

“Why don’t I take you out for a real coffee?”

She turned her head abruptly. “It’s that bad?”

“No, but I think it would be good for you to get out of here.”