Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(70)

 

Teagan is way cooler than I am. She smiles. “That’s very sweet of you, but I think we have it covered. They also have an expert accountant involved, so what Quin’s doing is just a quick review of her analysis. No big deal. We’ll be in and out in thirty minutes.”

 

Alissa shrugs, picking up her e-reader again. She’s already looking at the screen when she responds. “Just let me know if you want any help.”

 

Maybe she’s suggesting I would need help, but I’m not going to let it bother me. I know I kicked ass all over those records and no one could have done the work better than me, not even stick-up-her-butt Alissa. She’s smart, I’ll give her that, but she’s not as dedicated as I am. No one is.

 

I turn back to Teagan. “I’ll work on them tonight to refresh my memory at least. If I find anything else, should I just bring it?”

 

“Yeah. That would be good.” Teagan leans over and grabs the remote control. “Anyone up for a movie?” She points the tiny black box at the television. “Sexy, funny, sad, or action?” She looks at Alissa and then me.

 

“Action, all the way,” I say, knowing that with the way things are going and the mood in this room, anything else would be dangerous. Crying pregnant woman equals bad.

 

“How about we do a little Die Hard action, hmmmm?” Teagan asks, selecting a movie from a list.

 

I slouch down in my chair. “Classic. Bring it on. I do loooove me some Bruce Willis.”

 

I let my worries about law firm meetings, yellow roses, and the failure to launch with Mick fade away and be replaced by smoke, guns, fire, and testosterone-filled scenes of the stone-faced awesome that is Bruce Willis. There will be plenty of time for me to fret over my heart and messed up life another day.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY

 

 

 

 

 

I TRY REALLY HARD NOT to grind my teeth in frustration. Leaning over to murmur in Teagan’s ear, I school my expression to remain fake-interested. “I thought you said we’d be out of here in thirty minutes.”

 

She grins and answers me through closed teeth. “I have no control over these guys.”

 

Teagan failed to mention that we were attending a mediation today. This isn’t just a meeting to discuss my report. The attorneys for the step mother are on the telephone and a mediator person is in the other room, talking to them and then coming in and out of this meeting room that we’re in to negotiate. As far as I can tell, they’re getting nowhere.

 

Speak of the devil, the guy who’s acting as the referee in this mess walks back into the room.

 

“Okay. I have a response for you. As you know, you’ve asked for the initial public offering of the company to be delayed until the issue of share ownership is resolved. I recommended to the acting CEO that they do so.” He pauses to make sure we’re all paying attention. He’s like a fucking theater actor the way he stands there moving his bushy eyebrows around and clasping his hands together. Just when I think he’s about to bust out a ‘To be or not to be…’ soliloquy, he says, “But they have declined to take my recommendation.”

 

All the attorneys in the room either sigh heavily or swear.

 

“What does that mean?” asked Teagan. “How can they go ahead with the IPO if they have this lawsuit coming from me? You said that all pending lawsuits would have to be resolved before they went public.”

 

I reach over and put my hand over hers. She’s clearly upset, and I don’t blame her. All this stuff is ridiculous.

 

The main attorney looks at her and leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Generally speaking, that is the case. Investors do not like the threat of litigation hanging over the company. If the company were to lose any pending suits, it’s the investors who would end up paying in the form of reduced value of the company and therefore reduced value of the shares they bought. So for that reason, most IPOs do not take place until all threats of litigation are at least managed.” He turns his attention to the mediator. “Did they offer up any explanation for their thought process on this one?”

 

“Unfortunately … yes.” He looks over at Teagan for a second before completing his explanation for the lawyers. “Apparently, they are of the opinion that because the information received by Ms. Cross was confidential, and because she was not entitled to receive that confidential information, it cannot be used as evidence in any case against them.”

 

“That’s fine, we’ll just get discovery in pre-trial. Problem solved,” says one of the lawyers.