He Laughed While I Was Hit novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Her Price
"You have a price," Aurelio said. "Name it. I will not argue."
The boardroom had gone quiet again.
Fourteen directors turned in their chairs, and the two managers at the far end leaned forward.
I let go of Fiorella's hand and stood at the head of the table, where the old man had stood to offer me a check.
"I have three," I said. "They're not for me alone."
"Say them."
"One. Fiorella takes her husband's seat on this board, and Rocco's shares go into a trust for Elio that his mother runs. Nobody else touches it."
Fiorella made a small sound behind me.
"I don't want a seat," she said.
"You don't have to want it. You have to hold it." I did not turn around. "Nobody puts you in a house with a man again and tells you it's love."
Aurelio's jaw worked.
"She will have it," he said. "And the house on the water, and a guard on the boy's school gate that I pay myself."
"Two. My name goes on every plant, every line and every carton that runs my process, in letters people can read. Not in a footnote."
"Done."
"The process stays mine. The company is Solheim Process, it's mine alone, and it licenses to yours on terms I write. The clause that lets me end it any day for any reason stays in every copy."
"Britta," the red-tie director said, carefully. "That is a great deal of power to leave in one person's hands."
"It's the same power I had three years ago," I said. "The only difference is that now everyone in this room knows I'll use it."
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