Contractual Obligations: Closing The Deal *B2*

Chapter 1

ೋღ♥ღೋ. Chapter 1 ೋღ♥ღೋ

Staring out the window, the city sprawled into the distance. Michael ran his hand through his hair and paced.

This couldn't be happening. He hadn't planned for something like this. How could he? Disgusted, his nostrils flared, wondering how it had gotten this far.

When the news broke there was nothing he could do, and the lack of action turned his stomach. If they could do something, anything, he'd at least feel like it was a fair fight. Only this time he'd have to stand with his hands tied behind his back. Spiraling out of control, Bowman Industries was about to go down.

Kent Davidson's world was crumbling.

His guy swore the books were clean, even though they kept a second set of books. They were careful, overly cautious about paper trails, but the IRS wasn't fooling around. Kent Davidson was being investigated for tax evasion, and he owed millions of dollars. It had been a perfect plan, had worked smoothly the last six years, never a trace, never a question - so why now? What was the leak? How did they find out?

Having to share the truth with his son was the hardest thing he ever had to do. He may be seen as a cold man, but there was nobody in the world he loved more than his son. Now Michael didn't even want to talk to him. It felt like somebody had dug his heart out with a spoon and threw it to the ground, and yet he brought it on himself.

With their assets frozen, the company at risk, and his son's loss of respect, Kent knew there were exactly two things he could do - stay and face the charges or run away and try to live a normal life in another country. The amount of money he owed the government was staggering and could easily break him. As much as he wanted to believe he could take off, the thought of not seeing his son was too much. He'd stay and face the charges, and hope that Michael could salvage the company when it was all said and done.

A good lawyer could fix this, could get him a reduced fee or sentence. When it came down to it, Kent Davidson's life would never be the same and he did it to himself. He was a greedy bastard that let success go to his head. Without love, well...since Michael's mother died, he hadn't experienced true love, and all that was left was work. Sure he remarried, but he never loved any of those women.

The consequences would run deep, and having to give Michael the news was heartbreaking. The look in his face, the respect draining like bathwater in a tub, and the realisation that the entire company was at risk was all too much.

Michael paced, shaking his head, angry that his father had lied to him for years.

How could he throw away the company and everything they worked so hard for, for what, some extra money? When would he learn there was more to life than cash? Now everything they'd worked for, all the hours, the growth, all the employees that would be touched, all frozen in time.

How do you do business as usual when you don't have the money to pay the bills? He growled with anger, not even sure what to do or what this would mean. Would his father serve time or just have a massive bill to pay, and what of Michael's career, his family's company? They were just breaking into the international market - the growth would have been incredible. Only now he didn't know if they'd be left with two nickels to rub together, their company burned to the ground out of his father's greed.

Dropping to his chair, Michael pressed his forehead to the desk. There were no easy answers. Each scenario was worse than the next. He wanted to throw a temper tantrum like a small child, to shove everything off of his desk, but that wouldn't solve anything. He hated feeling out of control. There was no worse feeling in the world.