Page 20 of A Christmas Negotiation

She wasnotwrong. In fact, that had been his number one fear—Isabel would get him to do something he shouldn’t if they had to meet in person. Sure, hewantedto see her. He’d be an idiot to not want that. But was it a good idea? No. “Goodbye, Ms. Blackwell. Have a good night.”

Jeremy had called Mr. Summers immediately after, but got nowhere. “There is no wiggle room,” Mr. Summers said. “From where I sit, we have them right where we want them. They will pay or they’ll hand over the store. They’re lying and stalling.”

“Every day they continue to delay is another day you have to pay me. We could expedite the process and get it all wrapped up if you were willing to concede to a payment plan. You’ll still get your money, just on a different timeline.”

“No. Absolutely not. And please don’t ask me again.”

Jeremy had a duty to give Mr. Summers whatever he wanted, no matter how punitive he was being about the whole thing. “Very well then. Have a good night.”

Now back at work, he couldn’t get his head screwed on right. Maybe Isabel was right. Maybe they did need to meet. He couldn’t concede with anything, but he could at least see her. Let her beat him up with her words. It would likely be the only fun to be had with this case.

“Knock, knock.” Jeremy’s father appeared at his office door. “Good morning.”

Simply hearing his father’s voice these days made him cringe, and this reaction was starting to get to him. He didn’t enjoy having this negative relationship. In fact, he hated it. His only real hope was to keep plugging ahead so that he could convince his dad to retire or at least taper down to far fewer hours in the office. Once they could lessen the day-to-day professional grind that was ever-present between them, Jeremy hoped they could return to being what they should be—father and son. “Hey. Good morning.”

His dad took a seat on the leather sofa just inside the door of Jeremy’s office. “I need to steal you for a few minutes. I spoke with Benjamin Summers on my way in.”

Jeremy didn’t need to hear another word to know that this was likely bad. “Why did he call you? I always make myself available to him. Always.”

“He didn’t. I called him.”

Jeremy instantly found his hands balling up into fists. His neck went tight. His jaw, too. “He’s my client. Why would you do that?”

“I’m seeing no movement on this case, Jeremy. I had to know that he was happy.”

“Then ask me directly. I would’ve gotten you up to speed without you making me look bad to a client.” Jeremy leaned forward in his chair and planted his elbow on his desk, closing his eyes and attempting to knead away the tension in his forehead with his hand. But the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally, he pushed back from his desk and stood, marching over to his dad with determination. He wanted him to know that this was serious. He would not let this stand. “In fact, I’d say that what you did was wholly unprofessional. You don’t just make me look bad, you make the entire firm look bad. And there’s absolutely no reason for it other than the fact that you don’t trust me to do what I need to do.”

“I trusted you with the Patterson case. We all know how that ended.”

“I was in the middle of getting a divorce and my soon-to-be ex-wife, who I thought loved me, was dragging my name through the tabloids. If I wasn’t on top of my game at the time, I think it’s understandable.”

“You can’t allow your personal life to get in the way of your job.”

“And I might have let that happen one time, but it’s not the case right now. Summers isn’t budging on anything, and Eden’s simply doesn’t have the capital to pay him off in a single lump-sum cash payment, as he’s demanding.”

“Sometimes, it’s a lawyer’s job to convince a client that it’s in their best interest to move the goalposts.”

“I understand that. And I have tried. It’s only been a few weeks. The trouble is that what I really think he wants is revenge. And I don’t think that’s possible.”

His dad drew a deep breath through his nose, looking right at Jeremy, although in many ways it felt as though he was looking through him. Jeremy never felt that his dad truly saw him. “I just want you to get this done. Get together with Ms. Blackwell and remind her in person that she has no choice but to acquiesce to Summers’s demands. I’m not buying that they don’t have the cash. The Edens’ war chest has to run deep.”

Jeremy nodded. “I’ll get it done. But it’s not because you decided to interfere. I have it under control. I wish you knew that.”

His dad stood, which was a great relief to Jeremy. Hopefully this meant he was leaving. “I don’t care what it takes. Lock yourselves up in a room until there’s only one person left standing.”

Jeremy fought back a grin, which at least helped the tightness in his neck go away. How he would love a negotiation with Isabel that involved them locked away. The tougher she proved herself to be, the more he wanted to show her that he could match her intensity. In every way. “I’ll suggest it.”

“And another thing, you need to be careful with this Blackwell woman. I looked into her history and she’s worked with some very high-level but shady clients. There’s no telling what she’ll pull to make Summers go away. We should be ready to torpedo her in the press if necessary.”

Jeremy took a step forward. “Dad. No.” Even he was surprised at his protective response. He might not know Isabel very well, but he didn’t want his dad to go after her. Not like that. As someone who’d been taken down by the tabloids, Jeremy knew firsthand exactly how brutal it was. He didn’t want that for anyone. Jeremy wasn’t going to fault Isabel for the things she’d had to do professionally. He knew very well how lawyers could get pushed into a corner by a client and have no real choice but to work their way out. It was how you got ahead. It was how you made a name for yourself. “We’re not doing that. It’s unseemly and unnecessary.”

“You’re too soft, Jeremy. Always have been. You let Kelsey walk all over you. You’re letting Summers do it to you, too.”

I loved Kelsey. And I’m trying to make my client happy.“I’ll get it done without torpedoing anyone. I will get both sides to meet somewhere in the middle.”

His dad pursed his lips, a sign that he remained unconvinced. “It’d better be a lot closer to what Summers wants than the middle.”

“It will be.”