Cross Check (Marriage Contract #1)

by Colleen Masters

  Seated at the head of the table is Gregory Price, Loudon’s chief counsel. Mr. Price has always been King Enterprises go-to guy for legal matters, and I’ve gotten to know him well over the years. I’d recognize his stark white hair and short, barrel-chested bearing anywhere. Gregory stands as the two King children and I enter the conference room.

  “Hello, you three,” he says, his usual jocular tone tempered by the occasion, “I’m sorry to drag you into a meeting today of all days. There just really isn’t any time to waste, here.”

  “Where’s everyone else?” Cordelia asks, looking around, “Surely there are other people who need to be here for the reading of the will?”

  “Oh, this isn’t the official reading,” Gregory says, as we take our seats, “I just wanted to speak to the three of you alone first. Get you up to speed with some…changes in Loudon and Priscilla’s wishes.”

  Gregory’s gray eyes swing my way as he says this, lingering on my face as if trying to solve some kind of puzzle.

  “I don’t see why we can't just wait to hear the details,” Jay says testily, leaning his elbows on the long conference table, “I’m sure it’s all pretty standard, yeah?”

  The ten other lawyers on Loudon’s team glance nervously at Mr. Price, who takes a deep breath before responding.

  “Standard is not exactly the word I’d use,” Price finally says, steeling his fingers, “Which is exactly why I thought it best that the three of you have some… advance warning.”

  Jay, Cordelia and I exchange glances, wondering after Price’s meaning as the head lawyer dismisses the rest of the team. Ten powerful law professional shuffle out of the conference room like guilty schoolchildren, unwilling to look at me or the King siblings. Acidic worry starts to churn in my core. What the hell is going on, here?

  When the room has finally been cleared, Mr. Price walks around the table to take a seat closer to the three of us.

  “You all must be so disoriented,” he says sympathetically, giving Cordelia a gentle pat on the hand. “I hope you know how sorry I am for your loss.”

  “We can do without the water works, Greg,” Delia snaps, snatching her hand away, “Just tell us what we need to know.”

  “Very well,” Price breathes, sitting back in the chair, “Though I warn you, not one of you is going to like what you’re about to hear.”

  Christ, what could this bad news possibly be? Did Loudon decide to leave his entire fortune to a Nigerian prince he met online or something?

  “Let me cut right to the chase,” Price goes on, “Since Jay was born, Loudon and Priscilla’s has more or less gone unchanged. If they should perish together, their estate and assets would be split evenly between Cordelia and Jamison. Easy-peasy.”

  “And now?” Jamison asks, raising an eyebrow.

  “Well. After years and years of leaving the will more or less untouched, Loudon decided to make a rather…drastic change just a couple of weeks ago. Actually, this change was on the occasion of you deciding to start working for King Enterprises, Jay.”

  “You’re what?!” Delia exclaims.

  “Must have forgotten to tell you," Jay shrugs, “The doctors won’t let me play hockey anymore, so I’m finally getting myself a big boy job.”

  “Are you ever,” Price breathes, looking back and forth between me and Jay. “The change Loudon wanted to make to his will involves King Enterprises. Specifically, who should take his place as president now that he’s gone. Long story short, Loudon came to the conclusion that the company should not be run by its board of directors, or sold off, or god knows what else. Instead, it should stay firmly in the family. Namely, with Jamison and Leah here running the show.”

  I blink across the table at Price, sure that I’ve heard him wrong.

  “Sorry. What was that?” I ask, heart hammering away in my chest.

  “It was Loudon’s wish that you and Jamison jointly take over his role as president of King Enterprises,” Price repeats.

  “What about me?” Cordelia cries.

  “You’ll still have your share of the estate,” Price tells her, “But the company will go to Jamison and Leah.”

  “Why wouldn’t it go entirely to me?” Jamison scoffs, “Like Dad said, it’s a family company. I should be the one in charge.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I laugh incredulously, “You don’t know the first thing about how to run a company, let alone King Enterprises! I’m the one who’s been working my ass off there for the last six years.”

  “As a glorified assistant,” Jay shoots back, “Not as a leader. I’ve been running the one-man media juggernaut that is the Jamison King brand since college. I think that more than qualifies me.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” I scoff, “Making pouty faces for the camera and fucking puck-bunnies does not mean you have any idea what—”

  “I’m afraid I’m not finished,” Gregory Price says over our bickering voices.

  “There’s more?!” Cordelia whines.

  “Oh yes,” Price sighs, “But for this next bit, I’m going to let Loudon speak for himself.”

  I watch as the lawyer produces a letter from his briefcase and slides it across the table toward me and Jay. Both of our names are written across the envelope, in Loudon King’s distinctive hand. Before I can make a grab for it, Jamison plucks the letter out of its envelope, smoothing it down between us on the conference table. I’m keenly aware of how close our bodies are once again as we lean over the letter and begin to read.

  Dear Jamison and Leah,

  It’s strange to write this letter to you both, knowing that you’ll probably never have reason to read it. If you are perusing this note, it means that I’ve departed this world far sooner than I ever imagined. But it’s better to be prepared for any eventuality, wouldn’t you agree?

  As you both know, Jamison has recently expressed an interest in coming into the King Enterprises fold. I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring Leah for years, and am thrilled that I’ll have a chance to teach my son the ropes as well. This is a big change for the company, to be sure, but I’m certain that in the long run, it will be clear which of you is better suited to the task of running the company when I no longer can.

  But of course, such decisions take time. I intend to remain president of King Enterprises for many more years, at which time I will name one of you my successor. But if you are reading this letter, it means that I have passed away before my retirement, and have not yet determined which one of you is more fit to lead. In the event that this has happened, I have landed on a rather unorthodox solution for the two of you moving forward.

  It is my wish for the two of you to run King Enterprises as co-presidents. As a team. I know that you haven’t spent much time together since you were children, but I think you each bring important skills to the table which the other lacks as of yet. I have faith that you will be effective partners if you put your minds to it. But seeing as you’re also both stubborn as hell, I need a little insurance that you’ll put an honest effort into working together.

  What I propose is this. In addition to becoming partners in business, you must also become partners in life. I want you to inherit my company and your shares of my estate equally, and the best way to ensure that this partnership is protected is for you to get married. That’s right, you didn’t misread. I realize that this is an unconventional arrangement, but I believe it is for the best. This way, your fortunes will be united. You’ll be a much more effective team if you’re working for your shared success, rather than your own opposing interests.

  I’m sure you’ll rebel against this suggestion, so I’m putting it in writing. If you agree to get married, you will run King Enterprises as a team and share Jamison’s half of my estate. Alternatively, if you truly cannot stomach this arrangement, one of you can bow out of the company altogether and leave it to the other. (Of course, Jamison is in no way obligated to share his material inheritance with Leah if you are not to be wed.) If you are unwilling to be married and als
o both unwilling to back out of the company, the fate of King Enterprises will be placed in the hands of my daughter, Cordelia King, and the remaining majority shareholders, who will be free to do with it as they see fit.

  Again, no part of me hopes that this letter will ever have to reach your ears. I’m sure I’ll have more than enough time to vet you both before I retire. But if through some act of God this ultimatum does go into effect… Well. I hope you won’t be too cross with me. Both of you are reasonable enough to understand that any marriage contract is fundamentally a business agreement. I suggest you approach this as you would any other contract.

  Godspeed,

  L.K.

  A deep, unmoving silence falls over the room as Jamison and I finish reading Loudon’s letter. My very blood feels like it’s come to a standstill in my veins.

  “Well?” Cordelia demands, crossing her skinny arms, “What does it say?”

  Wordlessly, Jay slides the letter across the table to his sister. I watch as her eyes go wider and wider with every line she reads.

  “Greg,” Jamison manages to croak, as Cordelia reads the letter a second time, “This has to be some kind of joke. Right?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Mr. Price says, looking tentatively at my blank face.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I reply, my voice oddly calm, “A letter like that isn’t legally binding. Just because Loudon jotted this down on a whim—”

  “But it wasn’t a whim, Leah,” Price cuts me off, “Loudon adjusted the wording of his actual will to reflect these wishes. I implemented the changes myself.”

  “Why the fuck would you let him do this?!” Jamison demands heatedly, “This is absolutely batshit!”

  “Is it, though?” Price asks evenly, “It seemed like a pretty decent interim solution at the time. Quite frankly, it still does.”

  “How in the hell do you figure that?” I shoot back, cold panic starting to seep in through the disbelief.

  “Loudon wanted to leave each of you with your fair share of the company and estate. Becoming partners in that inheritance makes perfect sense.”

  “You’re forgetting the part where we’re supposed to be life partners as well,” I point out, my voice rising by an octave. “You know. Man and wife?”

  “Oh, only legally,” Price says, waving a dismissive hand, “No one’s asking you to fall in love or anything. Like Loudon says in his letter, this is just a business matter.”

  “Like hell it is,” Jamison roars, rising to his feet.

  “This is completely unacceptable,” I agree, standing as well, “There has to be some kind of way to appeal this.”

  “What’re you gonna do, break out the Ouija board?” Price says testily, “What’s done is done! Look, if you really can’t stomach the idea of a getting married, then you just have to decide between yourselves who gets to take over the business. It’s that simple.”

  “Well, that’s easy,” Jamison says, whipping around to face me, “I’ll come on as the new president, and Leah can keep her job as a creative executive. Problem solved.”

  “Excuse me?” I reply, “There is no way in hell I’m letting you waltz in and take over the company I’ve poured my life into all these years. Not when your father’s legacy is at stake.”

  “This company is my birthright,” Jay says fiercely, towering over me, “I’m the only person who’s fit to run it.”

  “Could you be more of an entitled prick?” I snap back, my hands balled into fists at my sides, “You would run King Enterprises straight into the ground. I should be the one to take over. No question about it.”

  “You?!” Jay crows disdainfully, “How are you gonna negotiate with the biggest players in entertainment all on your own? They’ll take one look at you and see a little girl they can take advantage of.”

  “How dare you,” I growl, getting right up in his face—height difference be damned. “I know you’re used to getting your way, Jamison King. But I’m not handing this company over to you just like that. We’ll just have our lawyers scour the will again and find a loophole.”

  “Leah, I’ve always served as both your lawyer,” Price points out, “And I’m telling you, this thing is airtight. The only way forward is for you two to get married, or decide between yourselves who will take over. If you refuse to compromise, well…”

  “Then it all goes…to me?” Cordelia breathes.

  I glance over at Loudon’s daughter, watching as dollar signs dance in her big blue eyes. A wave of nausea courses through me. The only person less suited to run King Enterprises than Jamison is Cordelia. She’d sell off the entire operation and buy herself a private island, no doubt. The only way I can take my rightful place as the leader of this business, make sure that it continues to thrive, is to convince Jamison to back down. Or else…marry him? No. That’s too absurd to even consider.

  “I have an old friend from Harvard who’s done quite well as a lawyer,” I say, drawing myself to my full, if modest, height. “I’ll have her take a look at all of this and get back to you, Mr. Price. Just fax me all the relevant documents.”

  “You’re more than welcome to seek other counsel. But I’m telling you, she’s gonna come back with the same conclusion I did,” Price says.

  “I’ll let her be the judge of that,” I reply. “Jamison, I suggest you think long and hard about what you want to do here. I’m sure if you take your ego out of the picture, you’ll see that stepping aside and taking a more modest role in the company is the best way to go.”

  “Huh,” Jay grins, “Maybe you should take your own advice Brody. Give that ego of yours a rest.”

  Before I can say something I’ll regret, I turn on my heel and march out of the conference room. Price leaps out of his chair as I make my exit, shouting after me.

  “I need an answer in two weeks’ time, both of you! Otherwise, everything will go directly to Cordelia.”

  I can hear my heart pounding in my ears as I tear across the marble foyer, wrench open the heavy front doors, and burst out into the warm June evening. I suck huge, steadying breaths in my lungs as I hurry back toward the groundskeeper’s cottage in my towering heels. Surely, this is just a ridiculous misunderstanding. I can’t actually be expected to marry Jamison King, just for the sake of doing business. What was Loudon thinking, proposing something like this?

  Despite my outrage at this whole situation, I can’t keep my mind from reeling back to just before the news of Loudon’s will was delivered. Upstairs in the study, Jay and I had shared a real moment of connection. Just a second where we felt as close as we did when we were star-crossed teenagers stealing a night in the gazebo. Even closer. That kiss had been intense. Real. Or so I had thought. How did we go from lust to animosity in the course of an hour?

  I guess that’s just Jamison King for you. Love him or hate him—there’s no in-between. Hopefully there’s more wiggle room than that in his father’s damned will.

  Chapter Six

  “I gotta tell you dude, this is pretty grim,” says my friend Alice Phillips on the phone the next morning. Alice, who I met while we were both at Harvard, is a successful lawyer in her own right, and agreed to go over the fine print of Loudon and Priscilla’s will right away.

  “Does that mean you can’t find a loophole either?” I ask, shoving a hand through my hair as I sit in the cottage’s sunny breakfast nook. Gigi, sensing my distress, has been curled up on my lap all morning.

  “Not really,” Alice replies. She was never one for mincing words, “Loudon King really fucked you over with this.”

  “I know he was just trying to make sure we were taken care of,” I groan, letting my head fall back against the window, “I just wish he’d thought of a less… creative way to do it.”

  “You want my advice?” Alice asks.

  “Please,” I reply earnestly.

  “Find a new job,” she tells me, “I mean it.”

  “I can’t just walk away from King Enterprises,” I tell her frankly, “No way. Jamiso
n and Cordelia will ruin the company if they get their hands on it.”

  “First of all, you don’t know that,” Alice replies, “And second of all, who cares? You’re infinitely employable. You can go work your way up to the top of another entertainment empire.”

  “But that’s just the thing, Al. I do care about this business. Probably way too much,” I tell my friend.

  “I’ll say,” she replies. I can practically hear her shaking her head. “Well. If you’re dead set on staying on at King Enterprises, maybe you should just consider marrying the guy?”

  “What?!” I exclaim, sitting up so fast that Gigi flies out of my lap, “Al, you can’t be serious right now.”

  “Why not?” she shoots back, “Since when are you a romantic when it comes to marriage? You’ve always said yourself that it’s an empty institution.”

  “I may have said that in college,” I remind her, “What the hell did I know about marriage then, huh?”

  “About as much as you do now. You’re still chronically single, aren’t you?”

  “I prefer the term ‘career-minded’,” I tell her coolly. “Marriage just isn’t for me.”

  “Then what’s the harm in having a fake one?”

  “No. That’s crazy,” I cut her off, though of course the wheels of my brain start spinning. “Look, thank you for going over the will. I just…I need some time to think.”

  “No worries,” she replies, “And hey, I’ll keep looking over this thing for you. Maybe I can find you a way out of it.”

  “Thanks,” I tell her, “I really appreciate it, lady.”