Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“You're this determined to screw me over?” Her voice drips with disbelief while she shakes her head slowly. “Are you seriously declining without even reading what my lawyers have put together? To be so stingy and vicious. It doesn’t fit you, Callum.”
My jaw aches; I'm clenching it so hard. I want to tell her she doesn’t know me. Doesn’t have the first clue, but even so nothing I say to her will matter.
Bob lets out a bubble of laughter, yet he's a lot gentler about it than I would be. “If you consider the millions Mr. Torrio has offered you as an example of stinginess, it's clear we'll never come to a final agreement. Mrs. Torrio, I've been handling marital disputes and divorce agreements for thirty years, and I've never had a client willingly offer such a generous percentage of their net worth. Mr. Torrio has not once threatened to reduce his original offer. He only refuses to increase it. I’m not your lawyer, but if I could give you a piece of advice, it would be to take the offer.”
“So I won't get another red penny.” She folds her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow. “Not a single cent?” She tilts her head to the side, examining me. ”I thought you were motivated now?” Laughter dances behind her otherwise empty eyes, and it has the power to raise my hackles. I can’t give her the explosion she so visibly wants. Especially in front of so many witnesses.
“You shouldn't—” one of her lawyers cautions, but she dismisses him because she's always ignored common sense.
“Aren't you in a hurry to get me to sign the papers?” she continues, batting her eyelashes at me. Like that would fucking get me to break. “Wouldn't it make sense for you to be free, at least legally? That way, you can move on with your life?”
Romero sits up a little straighter, but a soft growl from me keeps him quiet. She's at a high simmer now, about to start steaming. The longer I sit here, refusing to react, the greater her rage grows. She’ll shoot herself in the foot the way she always does. It’s only a matter of time.
“It would be wise of both of you to come to an understanding, so you can both be free,” Bob points out in a firm voice. He’s losing control of the situation and he knows it.
“Mrs. Torrio played a large part in Mr. Torrio’s success,” one of her team points out. “She only wishes to be compensated for that.”
“Mrs. Torrio lived an extremely comfortable life while living beneath her husband’s roof,” Bob counters. “And, by all appearances, lives very comfortably now. Mr. Torrio filed for divorce when evidence of his wife’s various infidelities were uncovered—if it wasn’t for that, we might not be sitting here now.”
He checks his watch, sighing. “And we’re wasting time. Either she signs the papers as they stand now, or we start carving up what she’s already been offered.”
Amanda’s nostrils flare while I remain impassive, gazing at her without emotion. “I have an idea,” she murmurs, reminding me of a snake preparing to strike. She’s fresh out of ammunition, and the only way she knows how to react now is to hit below the belt. “Why don't you give up your little whore, and maybe then I'll sign.”
Romero grunts. Bob stammers.
I stand.
There’s an evil gleam in her eyes as she lifts her chin, following my progress. I lean in, palms flat on the table. My blood is boiling, raging. I can’t believe I ever found anything about this woman attractive. “You would know about being a whore,” I snarl. “That’s what this is all about, after all. Money. The only thing a whore truly cares about.”
“Callum…” Bob murmurs in warning.
Romero stands beside me, even as I ignore him the way I am ignoring Bob’s voice and the way her team inches their chairs away from her, like they don't want to get caught in the blast.
Amanda doesn’t even blink, nor does she look away. “And you mean to tell me she doesn't? What the hell would a young girl want with an old man like you? Typical midlife crisis,” she laughs, shaking her head. “I’ve considered you to be many things, however… I never thought you would go after a girl your daughter's age. How long has it been going on? Was she even eighteen when you started screwing her?”
“You will not say another word!” I slam my hands on the table hard enough that even she jumps, while one of her lawyers scrambles out of his chair and backs away, his back slamming into the glass wall surrounding us. “You don't deserve to talk about her. And you don't have the first fucking clue what we are or aren’t. But then again, how would you?” I demand, and Romero grips me by the shoulders, pulling me back before I climb over the table and wring her neck until the light leaves her eyes for good. “You don't understand anything beyond your fucking bank balance. And if you think I won't find a way to make you pay for what you've done to me, and Tatum, you're out of your fucking mind.”