Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Lucas

One of the Poindexter lawyers glares at me. "Look, Mr. Adams, we need to address this now."

"And where's your ring, Maddy," the other one says.

"Miss Charles has already made it clear to you that you are not to address her by that name," I say, taking a step forward. The lawyer looks terrified, which is exactly what I want. "If you call her that again, you're going to picking up teeth off the concrete."

He says, very weakly, "I'd sue you for everything you have."

"Then you might want to wait until Miss Charles and I are married because until then, you really don't have anything to get from me. I spent most of my net worth on the ring and that belongs to Miss Charles now." I turn to the other one. "As for where it is, you vulture, it's in the glove compartment of Miss Charles car."

"What? Why would it?—"

"Since you've never done a day of work in your life," I say, "you wouldn't understand someone taking off a valuable ring when she's getting her hands dirty. It's probably a little too much for you to handle."

"Okay, okay," the slightly older one says, lifting up his hands. "I want to apologize for how this has become, well, negative and mean-spirited. Let's take a step back. We aren't trying to offend Miss Charles or you. Emotions are just running high."

"Apology accepted. Now run along so the three of us can have our inspection meeting."

"But Mr. Adams," he says, "we need to deal with this now. It's all very complicated. You wouldn't understand some of it but it's important that you let us handle it."

"Oh, I see," I say. "I guess you deal with a lot of complicated things. Is this one as complicated as a fee audit?" Their eyes register surprised but not worry.

Yet.

"Because I understand fee audits. Is it as complicated as a client trust account audit? I understand that, too. Is it as complicated as a forensic accounting audit of managed endowments, annuities, and mutual funds? I understand those, too. Is it as complicated as conservatorship of a fiduciary entity during litigation? I'm pretty familiar with that, too."

"Are you threatening me?" this is the second one again.

"A threat? If I were threatening it would involve telling you that all of those things will happen if you don't back away from Miss Charles right now. That would be extortion, in fact. I didn't do any of that, though. I'm just trying to gauge the level of complication we're talking about here."

"So, you expect me to believe you're not threatening to do those things?"

"I don't care if you believe me or not. I'm not threatening you. I can't."

"What? What does that even mean?"

"I mean I've already instructed my lawyers to handle all of those motions. It's not a threat and it's not extortion when you've already done it. Now, you have two choices if you want to enjoy smiling without broken teeth. Choice one, you get the hell off this property so I can have my damned meeting."

I just now notice Madeline looking at me. I want to tell you that I'm not dramatically affected by the look of worship on her face. I want to tell you that but it would be a lie. She looks like she worships me and there is nobody on Earth I want that from more than Madeline.

"The second choice is that we walk to Maddy's car so you can see her ring and then you get the hell off this property."

The men look almost pale. The older one of them says, "I… perhaps just a picture of the ring."

"No. I take it back. You don't have two choices if you want to enjoy smiling without broken teeth. You have one. Come on. You're going to see her in her ring and then you're going to back the fuck away until you get a copy of the marriage license." I look at Maddy and say, "Come here, Honey," in the same stern voice.

Yeah, I do that because it kind of turns me on to take charge of her.

She hurries to me and I take hold of her hand. I don't exactly drag her along to her car but I can promise you that we're not just walking next to each other and holding hands. I guess I'm enjoying being in charge of her since I have some leverage at the moment.

And, I can't lie, I enjoy the feel of her hand in mine.

"I don't care what these idiots say, Honey," I say just loud enough for them to hear but just quiet enough to pretend it's not intentional. "You keep your ring safe all you want."

I pull open the door and then pop open the glove compartment. She sees the little velvet bag and immediately reaches for it. She puts it on and her eyes get really wide. It's a beautiful ring. Twenty-five grand will do that. The fact that I just put it in her glove compartment makes it a surprise. Of course, they need to think she's worn it and seen it before.

"I love how you're always delighted at the sight of it, Honey," I say.

Then I kiss her.

Yes, I'm taking advantage of the situation. What can I say? I'm only human.

And bear.

So, I'm taking advantage of the situation but I can't help myself at all. This girl is more than any man or bear deserves and even if she's a spoiled brat, I'll take what I can get.

And at the moment, what I can get is her kissing me back!

I swear it takes restraint to keep myself from climbing in the backseat with her. Okay, that's an exaggeration, obviously, with the men present. The kiss is beautiful but I cut it off and then take hold of her wrist and hold out her hand to the men. "It's not as ritzy as you guys are used to, I'm sure, but it's none of your business. She wanted one sone in a tiffany setting and you don't get a say."

They look at each other and I notice the contractor behind them. "Now get the hell off Miss Charles property so we can meet with our contractor." I don't wait for them to answer but kiss Madeline's cheek and walk toward the contractor. She doesn't speak to the men as they walk away.

Well, I cut through all of the contractor's bullshit about what he's able to do and he admits the problem with the insulation is a supply issue and delays from getting the right stuff in. There are some workarounds with proper additives. I negotiate with Maddy paying for half of the cost of that and him eating the other half for not being upfront about things.

And the conversation puts everything on track.

Of course, once the contractor is gone, Maddy finds a reason to call me an asshole and I find a reason to call her a spoiled brat. When we part ways, I'm pretty pissed off and so is she.

So, it's only natural when she shows up at my house that evening that I think she's there to fight.