The Ceo's Contracted Mistress
The Ceo’s Contracted Mistress Chapter 16

Bobbie and Grady were sitting in the conference room of Trace’s offices waiting for the Gael Moreno’s lawyers to arrive and having a serious conversation.

“You’re really sticking to your story nothing happened last night?” Grady eyeballed her, his blue eyes teasing and nudged her playfully.

She knew Everly was the one behind the question. “One hundred percent,” she made a face at him. “Ollie insisted since it was her first sleepover with her dad, we all needed to sleep in the same room. I soaked in the tub for a bit while they chatted and discussed which snacks were the best snacks. We watched a movie. Ollie asked me to braid her hair and Olivier and Max played chess on his laptop then it was bedtime. I slept with Ollie, he slept with Max. He warned us before we all fell asleep at the bloody crack of dawn, after he answered a million questions about himself, he would be leaving at six for work and that was that.” She left out the entire two hours of relentless tormenting by their children about why they couldn’t have a baby brother or sister. She was surprised he hadn’t run for the hills.

“I bet Olivier was disappointed. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you all day yesterday.”

“Do you think we should have told him?” Bobbie asked Grady changing the subject. “Seriously. Yesterday was fantastic and I didn’t want to ruin it for the kids but telling him we’re negotiating against his grandfather might have been something we should have divulged.”

“Why?” Grady shrugged as he lined up his pencils on the desk. “His businesses and his grandfather’s businesses have nothing to do with one another. All we need to do is make sure Trace is protected and gets the best deal we can possibly get him against Moreno.”

As if knowing he was being discussed, Trace stepped into the boardroom with a smile as wide as his girth. He was a big burly man with happy blue eyes and a big smile. “Good morning, Grady, Bobbie. Did you have a good weekend?”

“We did. Took the kids to the Space Center. They had fun.”

“Oh wonderful, wonderful. I can’t wait to be able to spend more time with the grandkids.” He moved to look over the city from the windows. “I can’t say I won’t miss this though. I hate I have to sell to Moreno.” The last words were almost a whisper.

“Then don’t,” a man’s voice called from the door.

Bobbie turned to look at the man and immediately decided this must be the son Trace had told them about. He was his father’s double down to the wide middle.

“Soren, don’t start.” Trace turned to face his son, confirming Bobbie’s thoughts.

“What if I said I found another buyer?”

“What? Another buyer Moreno can scare off after a few days. It’s not worth the headache. Its time Soren. Accept it and let’s move on.”

“And if it’s someone I know for certain Moreno can’t chase away?”

“Grady, Bobbie, can you give us a minute? I need to have a chat with my son.” It was clear Trace needed to set his son straight they were at the end of the process and just had to accept this was the hand they were being dealt.

Grady and Bobbie walked in the direction of the small kitchenette at the end of the hall and Bobbie poured herself another coffee. “Poor Trace. It must be hard to give this all up and then to have your family fighting you against it.”

“If his son would run the place, it wouldn’t be an issue but he’s a pastry chef. He doesn’t have the business acumen needed to run a billion-dollar oil business. He’s said so himself on multiple occasions.”

The clicking of Moreno’s lawyers coming down the hall made them both cringe. Grady had been mocking them for a week. They were brothers who were so in sync they almost marched in unison. They had given them nicknames Slime and Slimier. Grady called out to them, “gentlemen, they aren’t ready for us yet. Mr. Waterman is having a conversation with his son.”

The two men stood standing shoulder to shoulder as if annoyed. “Our time is valuable. We are to start at eight sharp and it is eight now.”

Bobbie and Grady stood in the kitchenette away from the hallway almost laughing at the two men.

Other footsteps coming down the hall suddenly caught their ears and the look of surprise on the lawyers on faces almost made Bobbie step into the hall but the voice echoing down had her frozen in her spot.

“Gentlemen, considering how valuable your time is, let’s save my grandfather any additional costs and just send you on your merry way now.”

Bobbie and Grady exchanged a look but neither of them moved.

“What are you doing here? Have you finally given your grandfather what he wants?” One of the lawyers spoke up. “You will be taking over for him?”

The bitter laugh floated around them, “no. I’m here to take from him. Not give to him.”

As Olivier stepped into view accompanied by two of his own lawyers and a nervous looking female, he turned his head and caught sight of Bobbie and Grady standing side by side in stunned silence in the kitchen. He grinned suddenly with a smile so wide it took over his face. Bobbie felt she was looking at her daughter on Christmas morning, “oh, please tell me you are Trace Waterman’s legal team?”

“We are,” Grady finally moved and went to shake Olivier’s hand unable to stop his own grin. “Are you the buyer Soren mentioned?”

“I am. He approached me last week desperate to keep his father’s company from falling into evil hands,” he looked back at the lawyers representing his grandfather. “The thought of sticking it to the old bastard gave me a great deal of pleasure.”

“You have no experience running an oil company Olivier.” The elder brother, Slime, argued.

“You are correct, but do you know who does?” he waved behind him as a woman came walking confidently down the hall. “My cousin.”

“She is an admin assistant.” The younger man, Slimier, protested.

“She has an MBA from Harvard Business and has been my grandfather’s right hand for the last eight years. His misogynistic mindset has relegated her to coffee grunt and photocopy girl. She could run my grandfather’s companies with her eyes closed but he’s too stupidly biased he can’t see the brilliance in front of him. I’ve made her an offer she can’t refuse.” He nodded to her, “Good morning, Sissy. Are you ready to become CEO of grandfather’s biggest rival?”

“I am,” she nodded with no reservation. “Why are we in the hall?”

“I believe Soren is explaining to Trace what is going on,” Bobbie grinned broadly and then looked at the two lawyers. “Shouldn’t you call your boss and let him know he lost?”

“Trace has not seen the offer yet from Mr. Villeneuve. We know Mr. Moreno will match and exceed the offer.” Slime gave her a dirty look, “why don’t you make yourself useful and make coffee?”

She smiled and held up her cup, “I have mine. I’m good.”

Olivier’s chuckle made her grin. The door to the boardroom finally opened and Trace stepped out with Soren. Trace looked confused and Soren was gleeful.

“Dad’s excited to hear your offer, Olivier.”

Bobbie stepped forward, a strong sense of professionalism hitting her in the chest. “Mr. Waterman, before we proceed, I will not be taking place in the conversations. There is a conflict of interest.”

Olivier frowned at her, “conflict how?”

She looked to the Moreno’s lawyers. “Can we talk with Trace without Mr. Moreno’s lawyers present on a personal matter?”

“This is ridiculous!” Slime protested furiously.

Olivier motioned to Trace. “It will take two minutes. I don’t think there is a conflict. We will let you decide.”

As Slime and Slimier immediately began blustering, Grady ran interference and told them they should get their employer on the phone.

“Are you sure you want to do this Olivier?” Trace eyed him curiously. “Sissy is willing to step up and run the company in your stead?”

“Yes, but before we get to the offer,” he perched his a*s on the edge of the boardroom table. “I feel Bobbie is thinking correctly. What we tell you in this room stays in this room, regardless of today’s outcome.”

“Of course, of course. I’ve known you since you were a little boy Olivier. You can tell me anything.”

He cut to the chase, “Bobbie and I had a relationship many years ago. Bernard interfered with his scheming as he does, at the worst possible time sending Bobbie running for the hills and me saying good riddance. He made the stories believable on both fronts, unfortunately.”

Trace made a face, “how has nobody killed the bastard yet.”

“It’s on my to-do list,” Olivier grunted, Bobbie gasped, and Trace nodded appreciatively, “Regardless, by a twist of fate I ran into Bobbie this week at my hotel and noted she had two little ones who look just like me.”

“Oh,” Trace made a face and then clapped his hands to his cheek as understanding set in. His blue eyes wide and incredulous, “oh! You have children together.”

“Yes. I discovered this Friday evening. It seems Bernard made Bobbie think I was a s*x trafficker of all things, so she has been desperately trying to hide from me for the last number of years.”

“A s*x trafficker?”

“Yes,” he shook his head furiously, “Trace the son of a b***h put his hands on her and then told her I had given her to him. Scared the f**k out of her and she ran like she should have.” He gave her a sad smile.

“To what end? What was his goal?”

“Riggs will replace out. So far it seems my grandfather told him to make me offer in my hotel suite, but I had flown home for my sister’s wedding. Instead of me he found Bobbie. Rather than simply reporting back, he decided to cause mayhem.”

“I’m not surprised by his chaos. He’s a dirty son of a b***h,” he shook his head sadly. “So, you two have children together?”

“Yes,” Bobbie was surprised at how candid Olivier was being with Trace. “I promise I didn’t know Olivier was interested in your business otherwise I would have removed myself and sent someone in my place to assist Grady.”

“Nonsense,” Trace gripped her hands. “If you hadn’t come, Olivier wouldn’t have found his children again. You have always been the consummate professional, Bobbie. Unless Olivier has an issue with you being involved, I see no reason you cannot continue to represent me. I trust you Bobbie, implicitly.” Trace reached out and hugged Olivier tightly suddenly overcome with emotion, “you must be so excited.”

“I’m exhausted. The little demons had us up until nearly one in the morning and insisted on us all sleeping in the same room to tell stories until they fell asleep. I got kicked in the balls more than once from my son who flips and flops like a fish.” His broad grin contradicted his bemoaning and he hugged Trace back with fervour. “They are incredible Trace, and I can’t wait to show them off to you.”

“How well do you know each other?” Bobbie stared incredulously at the hugging men.

“I consider Ollie a son almost as much as Soren. He, Riggs, and Soren spent more time in my house than they did their own.” He laughed.

“Ollie?” Bobbie was surprised by the nickname

He shrugged and looked to Trace, “she named our daughter Ollie. My female namesake giggled like a fool for twenty minutes last night when she found out my family call me Ollie.”

“Where was I?” Bobbie grimaced in confusion.

“Bath. I believe you said something about single parenting being over and going to take an uninterrupted bath.” His dimples were on full display as he teased her.

“It wasn’t uninterrupted, both kids felt the need to come pee while I was soaking and, I might add, there are two bathrooms in the hotel suite.” She grumbled and then shook her head. “This is all too much.” She looked at him again, “you don’t look like an Ollie.” There was no way on earth she was calling him Ollie. Her nose twisted with disgust.

He laughed loudly at her grimacing, “Call everyone back in, chérie and we will get things started. No need to remove yourself from the negotiations.”

“Don’t call me chérie in the meetings Olivier,” she shook her head. “I don’t want our relationship to cause a problem for Trace with Gael.”

“Understood Ms. Caron,” he smiled sweetly and motioned for the door.

Bobbie moved to the boardroom door and pulled it open, “gentlemen, ladies,” she smiled brightly, “you are welcome to join us now.” She gave a wink to Grady who immediately knew everything was settled.

“There is actually no need for my grandfather’s legal team to be here now,” Olivier spoke up and looked to Trace meaningfully, “unless of course you want us both to be competing for your firm?”

Trace grinned at Olivier’s brash comments and how the two lawyers paled, “no, you men can leave.”

“Mr. Moreno has indicated he will be here in twenty minutes. We ask for you to delay and he can make you an offer he feels you cannot refuse.”

Trace shrugged, “even if Olivier were to offer me a fraction of what Gael has offered,”

“He won’t,” Grady interrupted, “as we would advise you from a legal team not to be ruled by your emotions Trace.”

Trace grinned and continued, “but if he did, if it meant I didn’t have to sell to Gael, I would sell to Olivier.”

“There you have it,” Olivier opened his hands up in the air as if everything were explained, “there is no need for you to be here. Should my grandfather show up, security can let him know he’s not needed.” He winked at Trace.

Slime clutched his briefcase so tightly, Bobbie wondered how the handle hadn’t snapped off his hands. “Mr. Waterman, you intended to sell the company to Mr. Moreno. There was intent. We will sue.”

“Sue,” Grady spoke up. “No intent was formally signed, and no final bill of sale was ever agreed upon. The last ten days have been your client negating every single aspect of the original offer he made to our client. He himself was the one not adhering to the original intent and as a result the document was never signed, nor notarized. I look forward to seeing you in court and making you look like a fool and for Mr. Moreno to be footing Mr. Waterman’s legal expenses of such a foolhardy trial.”

Olivier whistled lowly under his breath, “it seems Mr. Waterman’s lawyer knows his shit.”

Grady’s facial expression didn’t change from his firm and calm demeanor as he stood beside Trace supportively. He was already considering Olivier as a man he needed to protect Trace from and as a result, he was in full lawyer mode. Bobbie reflected his position and tilted her head when Slimier stepped closer into the office.

“We are not leaving until Mr. Moreno – “

Bobbie looked at Trace’s admin assistant who was standing in the entryway of the door as if unsure of what to do, “Miss Peters, can you please call down to security and ask for an escort for Mr. Moreno’s legal team to be removed from the premises.” She looked to Grady, “I will work on a request for an injunction for trespassing should they step foot on this site again.”

Grady nodded at her and she moved and flipped her laptop open and ignored the hiss of fury from the two men who pivoted on their heels and stomped out of the room.

Grady looked around the room, “perhaps we should go over introductions please?”

One of the lawyers stepped forward. “My name is Emile Boisvert. This is my brother Simon. We handle the legal affairs of Mr. Villeneuve. The lady to my right is Sissy Johnson. The lady to her right is Mr. Villeneuve’s administrative assistant Melisandre Thibault.”

Grady rifled through a handful of papers and then looked up, “Ms. Johnson is the personal assistant to Gael Moreno. Why is she here?”

“Not anymore,” Olivier grinned at his cousin. “My cousin has agreed to run the company on my behalf. She has far more knowledge of running an oil company. She has been underfoot in my grandfather’s companies since a small child and for the last eight years has been privy to every single aspect of running his enterprise. I poached her,” he gave a laugh as if he found the situation hilarious. “She’s also dating Soren, just in case we need to make it clear to anyone in the room.”

“This just gets better and better,” Grady g*****d and rubbed his head. “You do realize Ms. Johnson; Mr. Moreno could argue insider knowledge.”

“He could if ever considered me smart enough to do such a thing,” Sissy didn’t skip a beat. “I don’t even have a signed employment contract with his company. I was never hired. I never had to quit. I get a monthly deposit to my account which is considered part of my inheritance. I always knew I had to show up and pour the old man’s coffee to keep getting my trust fund deposits but at no time was an employee of Moreno.”

“Is that even legal?” Trace pondered the revelation.

“Does it matter?” Sissy shrugged. “My cousin offered me an employment contract this morning with wages, benefits and shares in a company I will be running, should this deal go through.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Grady asked pointedly.

“Then Sissy will continue to work for me in other facets of my business, using the MBA she worked her a*s of to achieve.” Olivier was relaxed as he kicked his long legs out under the table. “Everyone should sit, and we can get this show on the road. I would very much like to have the sale of this done by end of day today so I can spend time with my family.”

Grady gave an impatient shake of his head and introduced himself to the lawyers. “My paralegal Bobbie Caron,” he waved to her. “Mr. Waterman’s admin assistant Miss Gigi Peters.”

Emile looked to Bobbie as everyone sat down and pulled a file from his case. “Ms. Caron, I have the contract offer here.”

Bobbie nodded and took the offer and then looked at him curiously, “Ms. Peters and I will make the copies. I’ll also scan a copy for our records. Excuse me.” She grabbed the folder and rose from her seat to make her way out of the board room to the copier down the hall.

Gigi fanned her face, “I’ve never seen a more attractive group of men in my life all in one room.”

Bobbie forced a smile, never one to enjoy gossip. “They all put their pants on the same way.”

“I wonder if Mr. Villeneuve is married. He said he wanted to spend time with his family, but I don’t see a ring on his finger. I bet the girls in the temp pool will be losing their minds to get to know him better.”

Before Bobbie could answer a man’s voice spoke behind them.

“He is not married but he is engaged,” Olivier gave an impatient glance to the admin assistant before looking to Bobbie and held out a document, “NDA. We need copies of this as well.”

“Of course, Mr. Villeneuve,” she took the paper from his hand.

Olivier looked back to Gigi. “Ms. Peters, I don’t know what Mr. Waterman tolerated in terms of office gossip but I will tell you, I don’t. I demand my employees have the utmost respect for each other, including providing them the privacy they are due, especially in our executive offices. If you can’t bring yourself to be above the need to speculate about the marital statuses of your employers, perhaps you can have a discussion with HR about a position in an alternate department which won’t demand such professionalism of you in the future. If you want Sissy to keep you on as her admin assistant, get it together.” He turned on his heel and marched away.

“Well f**k,” Bobbie whispered as she started the photocopier, “consider us told.”

“He’s scary.” Gigi made big eyes and appeared uncomfortable. “I feel like I massively screwed up.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bobbie patted her shoulder softly. “You’re a great admin assistant and you’re here for a reason. Let’s show them why Trace has you as his right hand.”

Gigi nodded and set her chin with resolve, and they began putting the packets together.

Bobbie forced herself to do her job but in the back of her mind was Olivier’s words he was engaged. He was not backing down from his desire for them to be married. She would need to have a conversation with him without the kids around and let him know, she simply wasn’t ready. While she considered the strong, blunt way he’d dealt with Gigi just now, she had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to be any less forceful with her.