Freddie and Stephen exchanged looks of understanding as Julian took hold of the armrests of Fleur's chair to pull her close to him.
Freddie had been secretly worried that negotiations over the NDA could get messy and leave Fleur hurt and disillusioned, and she could see that Julian's lawyer had the same reservations.
But with the way Julian was now scooping Fleur out of her chair in order to have her sit on his lap..
Easiest paycheck ever, Freddie thought, and as she and Julian's legal counsel exchanged copies of the contract drafts they had outlined...
Stephen grinned, and Freddie grinned back. Great minds were definitely thinking alike in this room.
Fleur knew she should at least attempt to free herself from Julian's hold, but he it was just too hard. This was her first time to have ever sat on a guy's lap before, and she loved it. She could stay on Julian's lap forever, but...
"They're about to start," Fleur whispered when she saw Freddie and Stephen exchange copies.
"It's fine. Those two are good at their jobs—-"
"But—-"
"Oh, look, Fleur." Freddie flashed a mischievous smile at Fleur. "You're following in my footsteps."
Huh?
"Stephen's copy has all of Julian's basic information, and guess what? You're two years older than him!"
Fleur was hoping to hear Julian deny this, but when she saw his expression turn inscrutable instead—-
"You knew," she accused him. "You so knew."
"I...did."
"Since when?" she demanded.
"Does it matter?"
"Since when?"
This time, the words had been uttered in the cutest, angriest growl, and Julian was torn between laughing and wincing. "It's been some time—-"
"I swear to God, if you try hedging one more time—-"
"Two years," Julian said resignedly.
Fleur let out a shriek, and this time Julian did wince, along with Stephen and Freddie.
"It's not a big deal—-"
Freddie rolled her eyes. How typical of a man. Of course it wasn't a big deal for them to be older than their partners, but it was different for women. While the fact that she was five years older than her own husband no longer bothered her - or at least not seriously - there were still times when other people used their age difference to make a dig at her, and those instances were like...mosquito bites. Not harmful enough to kill anyone, but definitely annoying enough to ruin someone's day.
Julian decided to change tactics when he saw Fleur's glare. "It's just two years—-" He saw Stephen subtly shake his head in warning, and Julian stopped speaking when he realized he had once again put his foot in his mouth.
Since he was obviously going about this the wrong way, then...
"Tell me what you need me to say or do," Julian said finally. "Whatever it is, I don't give a fuck. We'll put it in writing. All I care about is that you become completely and exclusively mine for those twelve nights."
Freddie, seeing that Fleur was still intent on arguing and clearly not realizing what a good deal she was being offered, not-so-subtly pinched her friend's thigh under the table, and as Fleur let out a yelp of pain, Freddie right away said, "We appreciate your offer, and we'll definitely get back to you on that."
While Stephen could somewhat understand where the two were coming from, the lawyer in him had a hard time allowing his client to be put at a disadvantage just like that. This contract had to be fair to both sides at least, and since Fleur was obviously going to get what she wanted then...
"Per my client's instructions," Stephen heard himself say, "we'll do everything in our power to accommodate whatever questions you may have, but I do have just one question of my own."
Freddie could sense this was a trap, but since she also couldn't see any way out, she had no choice but to nod reluctantly. "Go on."
"What exactly is your client's reasons for wanting this kind of arrangement? What does Ms. de Konigh hope to achieve? Why just twelve days, and why does it specifically have to be the first twelve days of December?"
Chapter Five
"Listen to this," Pippa declared from the other end of a Zoom call two days later. Fleur's friend was now back in her lovely historic B&B mansion, and being three hours ahead, Pippa's background already showed evening skies while the sun was still a fiery orange outside Fleur's window.
"Julian Alexeyev, son of Russian oil baron Joseph Alexeyev," Pippa went on in her best imitation of a financial analyst's voice, "was the first in five generations to expand the business' interests in a different field. And much unlike the doom and gloom scenario that many of his detractors had predicted, his investment in startup SOULAR had paid billions of dividends. It's largely believed that in the next five years, the Alexeyevs would have left the oil industry for good and consequently rise as one of the driving forces in sustainable energy."