Hostile Takeover

Chapter Eight

Quinn sat in the conference room at Vidler Legal on Tuesday morning trying desperately not to twitch in her seat. She was practicing sitting very still. Beside her, her lawyer, Byron was scribbling some notes for today's mediation. The door to the room opened swiftly and Quinn turned to see who it was, even though she was trying to practice sitting still. Morgan strode confidently into the room and then her breath caught at the sight of Gray behind her. He looked amazing- well rested and utterly sexy, even if he was still sporting that beard. He was even laughing and smiling with Morgan.

Byron stood as they entered, Gray taking his hand to shake it. Quinn frowned.

"So let's see if we can make a little more progress today," Byron said as he resumed his seat.

Gray nodded at Byron and smiled like he thought it was a good idea. It made Quinn irrationally angry. Byron was her lawyer, Gray was not supposed to be nice to him. Why did he have to be so reasonable with everyone else except for her, his wife? Except she wasn't his wife anymore. Well, she still was, but that was just a technicality.

"I'll begin," Morgan said, opening her folder and finding her place. "Gray was thinking of selling the house and giving Quinn half of the proceeds from the sale. He has a Chinese investor interested. He will also offer spousal support, although this figure won't be as high as it would've been if you'd had children."

Quinn just stared ahead. Everyone was watching her, waiting for her say something, or maybe they were waiting for her to explode, who knew. Either way, she couldn't find the words to answer, the mention of children made her feel something raw and painful. She was twenty-seven, children were the next step, but Morgan just had to remind her that this was off the cards.

"Thanks, Morgan, we'll consider it," Byron answered for her. "If I can add that Quinn was hoping to hold onto her BMW since she has no other form of transportation right now."

"Consider it done," Gray said without hesitation like was prepared to give her anything just to be rid of her from his life.

But suddenly Quinn didn't want the car, she didn't want anything. This was not who she was or what she was about. She had come from middle-class roots, her family had worked for everything they owned and she wasn't about to take something for nothing just because she happened to land one of the richest guys in Australia. She stood abruptly from her seat and slapped her hands on the tabletop as she did.

"It's fine, I don't need the car," she said, unable to meet Gray's eyes. "I don't want spousal support and I don't want half of the house. None of it's mine and I'm not entitled to it."

"Quinn," Byron said. "Yes, you are entitled to it. I really think we should discuss this later in the privacy of my office."

"I don't want to discuss it. I don't want any of it. I have my apartment and I can afford to buy myself a new car. I just have a few more things in the house that I couldn't get out over the weekend and I'm done. So, Gray, just let Byron know what day suits you and I'll come and get my things. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. I have an appointment which I need to leave for since I am now catching the bus."

She dug into her bag and fished out her car keys, tossing them across the desk in what she hoped was the general direction of where Gray was sitting. She left then, not wanting to be in the room any longer. She couldn't stand the smugness written all over Morgan's face, she couldn't stand looking at Gray and she certainly couldn't handle it if she suffered the indignity of bursting into tears in front of them all. But as she stepped out onto the street in front of Vidler Legal, she couldn't help but feel hurt that Gray hadn't come running after her, although why she would even be hoping for that she didn't know. It wasn't like he was about to have an epiphany that she was the love of his life and he couldn't let her go. God, she really needed to get to her next appointment before she had a meltdown in the middle of the street.