Too close to losing the battle against the sob wanting to break free, I squared my shoulders and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind me, and once I was sure he hadn’t followed me out into the hall, I sagged against the wall and let my head fall back while I tried to get my emotions under control.
What the hell did I just do? And why on earth did I feel like this about it? It wasn’t supposed to have meant anything, but it did. It had meant one hell of a lot more than I ever would’ve thought.
Chapter 24
BEN
Courtrooms were horrendous places. I doubted anyone—except maybe lawyers—enjoyed having to visit them. As for me, I detested the damn courthouse. Being in it was giving me flashbacks to my divorce proceedings when things had turned nasty.
At some stage after that, I’d heard even the judge who’d presided over our case had ended up quitting. I didn’t blame him for having given up after being subjected to the two of us. It had been a mammoth fight, and the dirty laundry I hadn’t even known about had been aired for weeks on end.
Christ, I’d have retired myself after that if I could’ve. Maybe I really would’ve considered it if I’d known I’d ever be back here. Glancing to the other side of room where Nic was sitting with her legal team, I sighed through my nose and prayed to everything holy that this case wouldn’t drag on as long as our divorce had.
My ex-wife was dressed to the nines as always, from her expensive shoes to her stylish haircut that had probably cost a fortune. Nothing about her was or ever had been cheap. Except maybe for her soul.
There was a time when I’d thought she was the most beautiful woman to have ever walked the earth, but I knew better now. She was still striking, but having seen how hideous she was on the inside had cured me of any delusions of her being attractive in any sense of the word.
When I looked at her now, I only saw greed in her eyes. The irony of the situation was that I would have been willing to give her more if she hadn’t acted like a total bitch when I’d already given her so much more than she’d been entitled to.
I had more money than I could burn through in four lifetimes. Although it wasn’t a well-known fact and I liked it that way, I singlehandedly kept several charitable organizations afloat. I’d started a few foundations no one knew I was associated with in any way, and I sponsored a few scholarships a year. They were full rides, too. Hell, I even sponsored a few rhinos in Africa and some elephants in Thailand.
Money didn’t mean much to me. I realized I only thought that way because I had so much of it now. I was generous with it, though. And not just because I wanted to be lauded for it. The fact was that I kept my charitable contributions of whatever nature as quiet as possible.
If Nic had needed more money or if she’d truly been destitute, I’d have freely given her as much as she wanted. My problem was that she insisted on being entitled to it and that she’d made my life a living hell because she only wanted everything I had made or ever would make.
Maybe it was spiteful of me not to want to part with more, but enough had to be enough. Any regular person would’ve been able to live the high life and still leave money behind for generations with the settlement I’d already paid her.
The number of years we’d been married and the pre-nup she’d willingly signed—despite her arguments to the contrary at the moment—didn’t justify or provide for more. Her lawyers, however, certainly didn’t seem to share my sentiment.
Judge Ramsey was allowing argument on the validity of our pre-nup, and Nic’s side was currently getting the chance to state their case. While I sat there stewing, her lawyers were making a litany of claims that were either outright false or ones that shouldn’t have had any bearing at all.
“The defendant promised our client he’d share his fortune with her,” the lawyer said, lying as I tuned back into the proceedings. “When she signed the agreement in question here today, she was told the terms were in accordance with the promises made.”
“Is your client illiterate, sir?” the judge asked, frowning and completely serious. “If not, then surely she should’ve read the contract before she signed it. It’s a well-known rule as old as the mountains that people who place their signatures at the bottom of a document are liable for the consequences ensuing from it.”
“No, Your Honor. She’s not illiterate. She was, however, not provided the opportunity to read the contract and wasn’t legally represented at the time.”
Henry jumped up to object with a speed I was truly impressed by. “The defendant has submitted evidence to prove the contrary, Your Honor.”
“And you’ll get your chance to refer me to it, sir.” The judge gave him a stern look.
Nic’s lawyer practically preened, but it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be looking quite so confident when Henry started presenting our case.
“As I was saying, Your Honor,” he continued when the judge motioned to him. “My client made meaningful contributions to the defendant’s business. She helped him build it from the ground up and supported him in every venture, only to be left out in the proverbial cold by a contract she was tricked into signing.”
Bullshit. The notion that Nic had done anything to help me earn so much as a cent was laughable. I’d already been wealthy when we’d gotten married, so her claims of having helped me build my “empire” were just ridiculous.
As was the argument that she’d been tricked into signing the pre-nup. Henry had asked her at the time if she wanted to consult with her own counsel before signing, but she’d declined his offer even though I’d already said I’d pay for her to go see a lawyer of her own.
What’d really happened was that she’d been so eager to become Mrs. Benjamin Reed that she hadn’t thought twice about having someone look over the terms on her behalf. She’d even raved to me in the car on our way home about the amount of zeroes there’d been behind the number she’d get if we ever got divorced.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any evidence of that part. Thankfully, Henry had had a few of his associates in the room during the meeting with her, and they’d all submitted affidavits concerning the offer that had been made about her getting her own lawyer.
One of them had even gone through the agreement with Nic clause by clause before she’d initialed at the bottom of every page. We’d been in the damn room when it had all been explained to her, but it seemed she hadn’t been listening to a word being said.
When it was finally Henry’s turn to state our case, he carefully constructed the argument we’d prepared for. “The plaintiff is simply being disingenuous, Your Honor. She’s not, in any way, entitled to more than she’s already gotten and she very well knows it.”
He referred the judge to the evidence he’d submitted while making his arguments. “The pre-nup stipulates a payout of ten million dollars, and an additional two million for every year of marriage. Since the parties only made it three years, that meant she was entitled to sixteen million dollars. As you can see, the divorce settlement provided for significantly more than that.”
I’d paid it happily to get rid of her, and I didn’t miss the way the judge’s eyes widened at the amounts my lawyer had so casually mentioned. By the time he concluded his arguments, I was fairly certain the judge was on our side.
“I’ll review the documentation and make a ruling,” she said before she excused us for the day.
Eager to get out of the courtroom, I bolted as soon as I could. After promising to speak to me when he heard from the court, Henry went back to his team and I headed for my car.
It was another icy, miserable day outside, and I cursed myself while I waited for not calling my driver to pull the car around earlier. The skies above were gray as far as the eye could see, and there was snow predicted later this afternoon.
I shivered and did up all the buttons on my coat, my mind flashing back to Tori leaving the hotel room in nothing but that tiny dress the other night. It had only occurred to me much later that she hadn’t had a coat wi
th her when we’d gone up to the room, but in the greater scheme of things, that was just another thing to feel shitty about when I thought back to that night.
Before I could think too much more about it, I heard Nic’s voice behind me. “I really don’t understand why you have to be so stingy, Ben. All I want is for you to share like a good boy. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?”
I spun around to face her, vaguely noting that her hair was cut into an even sharper shape than before. It hung to her chin in the front, but the strands seemed razor sharp between it and the nape of her neck. Even her hair looks deadly these days.
If only I’d realized sooner that I preferred soft, round curves to hard, sharp edges, I could’ve saved myself a lot of trouble. On the other hand, soft, round curves weren’t exactly going well for me either.
“I’ve shared enough with you,” I snapped roughly, letting some of the anger and frustration over my situation with Tori bleed into my tone. Jesus. I really should’ve kept avoiding women all together. “All you’ve done is to take everything I’ve given and demanded even more. I’m not putting up with it anymore, Nicole. We’re not married and we haven’t been for a long time. You can’t keep coming to me with your hand out.”
I didn’t understand why the rest of the population had to work their butts off for money, yet Nic somehow thought she was above having a job. Tori hadn’t even been fired for half a month before finding something different to pay the bills.
Why am I still thinking about her? Our night together hadn’t gotten her out of my system. Not by a long shot. Obviously.
Oblivious to my sudden disgust for her and her inability to lift a fucking finger, Nic’s delicate features pulled into a frown. “I’m disappointed in you, Benjamin. I thought you were better than this.”
As she walked away, I wondered what the hell I’d ever seen in her. Things might be bad with Tori, but at least it wasn’t because she wanted to use me. Well, not for my money anyway.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t really believe she wanted to use me for my body either. Her assertions of it not meaning anything if we slept together had angered me after she left so abruptly, accusing me of fucking her just so I’d be able to blackmail her. Now that I’d had some time to think about it, however, I doubted things were quite as simple as all that.
Nic jumped into a sporty little car she must’ve dropped a ton of my money on, and I shook my head when she was driven away by a guy who looked about half our age. I really don’t get why she can’t just leave me alone.
My driver still wasn’t there, and as I watched Nic and whoever her latest conquest was rounding the corner, I was suddenly hit with a burst of clarity. All this tit-for-tat shit was bad for me.
If I really thought about it, I had been trying to play the same game with Tori that Nic had been playing with me. It was wrong, and it was infuriating, confusing, and just plain fucked up. We couldn’t keep doing this. None of us.
At least, I couldn’t keep doing it. I owed Tori a real apology, and I’d better make it good. Nic might not deserve anything better or more from me, but Tori sure as hell did.
Chapter 25
TORI
It was a week before Valentine’s Day, and I was beat. My roster had been filled for days on end, but the calls never seemed to stop coming.
I’d actually been putting in twelve hours a day, dancing for people’s boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives. I kept expecting things to die down and for people to forget all about my viral video, but they just kept tipping me and saying they hired me because of the way I stuck it to my ex-boss.
So many people had told me that jerks like him deserved everything they got. It had made me realize that even though it had been unintended on my part, my actions had had real consequences on Ben’s reputation and, therefore, on Reed Global’s bottom line.
It made me feel like a jerk who deserved everything that was coming to me. At least if I was already feeling like a jerk, I couldn’t feel like any more of one after running out on him the way I had.
Thinking back on it, I’d realized that my reaction after sleeping with him had been something of a knee-jerk. I hadn’t been able to handle the stark reality of having slept with the man who’d fired me when the haze of lust had finally cleared, and as a result, I’d lashed out at him.
All in all, it really was better for me to just avoid him. Whenever I caught that flash of the person I’d strongly started suspecting he really was, it weakened me against him. Weak wasn’t something I could afford to be with him.
He was actively gunning for my job, and without it, I was totally screwed. The cash tips were the only thing keeping me from defaulting on my loan. If he managed to get me fired or even to make me less popular, I’d have no way of keeping my head above water.
In the little downtime I had, I’d been searching for another job in my field. A few places had granted me interviews, but I hadn’t had any offers yet. I was pretty sure that, as soon as potential employers realized I was that girl from the video, their interest in me quickly disappeared.
I’d have to wait for my notoriety to fade before I’d have any real shot at another job. In the meantime, I also had to pray that my notoriety didn’t fade too fast so I’d be able to keep paying my bills with my dancing tips.
It was a Catch-22 situation, and one I was sure Ben would find infinitely amusing if he ever had to find out about it. I hadn’t heard from him since that night, and strangely, I kind of missed him. In a weird way I would never, ever admit to out loud.
Ordering myself to stop thinking about him, I checked the last job on my list for today. Just one more, and then I could go take a nice, long bath. When I checked the address I’d been booked at, I groaned at how familiar it was.
Evidently, someone had rented the private dining room at Kari’s restaurant. I was supposed to do an apology dance. It wasn’t the first time I’d done one of those, and I briefly wondered what this person had done to merit having to buy an apology dance.
It’s probably just some rich guy who messed up with his fiancée again or something. I was quickly learning that those types preferred hiring someone to eat crow for them instead of having to do it themselves.
On the upside, whoever had messed up hadn’t requested I wear anything outlandish. There hadn’t been any theme with the job at all. Since it was my last one for the night, I’d decided on an elegant black evening dress I’d bought when I first started. At least that meant I wouldn’t have to go back to the office to return it to wardrobe before I could go have that soak I was looking forward to.
When Kari had seen the dress, she’d practically drooled all over it. The neckline was low without being too revealing, and the back was cut in a way that still allowed me to wear a bra. It was made of fabric that kept me warm enough if I just added a coat when I was outside but wasn’t so hot that it was stifling once I got into a building.
I’d paired it with closed toe heels and a few simple pieces of jewelry. To me, it was as dressed up as I ever bothered to get, but at Kari’s restaurant, I’d fit right in with the other patrons there for the dinner service.
Ally did a double take when she saw me, grinning as she looked me up and down. “Va-va-voom, girl! Are you here on a date, or did you just feel like putting on a nice dress?”
“I’m here on business actually.” I sighed and jerked my head toward the back of the restaurant. “Apparently, the client reserved the private room.”
A confused frown crossed her features when she checked her reservations sheet. “There’s no booking for the—”
Eliot cut her off, also frowning when he approached and heard me talking about it. “I’m in charge of serving the party in the private dining room tonight.”
Smiling as I tried to figure out why everyone in here was so frowny tonight, I nudged him with my elbow in his ribs. “It’s got to be a pretty important patron for you to pull out the big guns by personally serving them.
What gives? Is the president in town?”
The manager was usually easygoing and enjoyed kidding around with me, but he was completely serious this evening. There was no laughter in his eyes when he looked at me, and his pallor was a little off too.
“You don’t need to go back there, Tori,” he said urgently, keeping his voice low and his gaze intent on mine. “I can make an excuse for you if you want me to.”
Worry started blooming in my stomach. This wasn’t like Eliot at all, and it was scaring me that he was acting like he feared for my safety.
“Is there something terrible waiting back there for me? If you think I should bail because I’m in danger, I will, but I’ve never had any issues while on the job before.”
His features twisted into a deep scowl. “It’s nothing like that. I just don’t think you should have to dance for that creep.”
Ah, so that’s what this is about. It seemed the men in my life—not that either Ben or Eliot were really in my life—didn’t approve of my current career choice because they didn’t like the thought of me dancing for other men.
If only they understood it wasn’t sexual at all, maybe it would stop being an issue. Either way, I couldn’t bail on a client just because he might be a creep. If he was buying someone an apology dance, he couldn’t be all that bad anyway.
I gave Eliot a soft smile, trying to be reassuring even if I was a touch annoyed that he, too, thought he had any say in the jobs I accepted. I appreciated that he was trying to look out for me, but I was big girl. If I was uncomfortable, I had no problem turning down a gig.
“It’s okay, Eliot. I can handle it. I’ll be in and out of there in no time and no one will get hurt.” Except maybe the client if his apology dancer didn’t show up, and then I’d be in a river of crap at work.
Love Your Moves: A Billionaire Valentine's Romantic Comedy Page 15