He Married His Saboteur Then Exposed Him novel · Chapter 2 of 16

Chapter 2: Terms

Kevin's lawyer slides the contract across a table at the Maverick lot. Lucas reads the acting ban and the three-year term, and signs because Mateo's surgery is scheduled for Friday.

The Maverick lot had a gate with a guard who knew Kevin's car by sound.

They'd driven through without stopping.

Lucas had been on this lot twice before, both times for auditions he didn't get.

Now he was walking past the soundstages at nine in the morning with Kevin Maverick a step behind him.

Stage 4 had the doors open. Somebody was building a street.

A guy in a headset looked up and saw Kevin and looked away fast.

The building at the end had a brass plate and a receptionist who stood when Kevin came in.

"Mr. Maverick."

"We're using the small room."

"Yes, sir."

The small room had a table, four chairs, and a window that looked at a parking structure.

There was already a man sitting at the table with a folder open in front of him.

Gray hair. Gray suit. A pen laid parallel to the folder's edge.

"This is Mr. Halloway," Kevin said. "He does the contracts."

The lawyer stood and shook Lucas's hand. His palm was dry and cool.

"Mr. Reed."

"Lucas."

"Mr. Reed," the lawyer said, and sat back down.

Kevin took the chair at the head of the table.

Lucas sat across from the lawyer with his jacket still on.

The lawyer turned the folder around and slid it across.

It was eighteen pages. Lucas counted the tabs.

"Read it," Kevin said.

"I'm going to."

"Out loud."

Lucas looked up.

"Out loud," Kevin said again. "I want to hear you say it."

Lucas pulled the folder closer and turned to the first tab.

"Agreement," he read. "Between Kevin Andrew Maverick and Lucas James Reed."

"Page two."

Lucas turned the page.

"Term. Three years from the date of signing."

"Next."

Lucas turned the page. His thumb left a mark on the corner.

"Consideration. The sum of three hundred and forty thousand dollars, paid to the hospital of record on or before the date of the procedure."

He stopped.

Mateo's procedure was Friday. Three days.

"Keep going."

Lucas kept going.

"Section four. Conduct. The parties will reside at the same address for the duration of the term."

"Next."

"Section five." Lucas's voice flattened out on its own. "During the term, Lucas James Reed will not accept, negotiate, or perform any role in any motion picture, television program, or stage production."

He read it again, silently, to make sure.

It said the same thing.

"Not one role," Lucas said.

"Not one."

"For three years."

"Yes."

"You're buying my career and putting it in a drawer."

"I'm buying three years of your time," Kevin said. "The career is what you're paying with."

The lawyer's pen hadn't moved. He was watching the middle of the table.

Lucas turned to the next tab.

"Section six. Nothing in this agreement obligates either party to intimacy."

Kevin didn't blink.

"That's in there for your lawyer, if you ever get one."

"I don't have a lawyer."

"You should get one. You won't."

Lucas read the rest.

Section seven said the payments were non-refundable.

Section eight said a breach of section five would require repayment in full within thirty days.

Section nine said the agreement dissolved at the end of the term with no further obligation.

Section ten said the parties would make no public statement about the arrangement.

He read all ten sections out loud. It took twenty minutes.

The lawyer never said a word.

When Lucas finished, he closed the folder and put both hands on top of it.

Three hundred and forty thousand dollars.

He thought about the cardiologist saying the word soon.

He thought about Mateo asking him last week if the surgery was expensive.

He'd said no. He'd said insurance covers it.

Mateo had believed him, because Mateo was nineteen and had never once caught Lucas in a lie.

"Where's the pen," Lucas said.

The lawyer slid it across.

Lucas signed page eighteen. Then the two copies under it.

His signature came out smaller than usual.

Kevin took the pen and signed all three without reading a word.

He had a big, flat, fast signature. It took him four seconds.

The lawyer gathered the copies and left the room without being told.

The door clicked.

Lucas sat with his jacket on and his hands on the table.

"The transfer goes today," Kevin said.

"Today."

"By noon. I'll send you the confirmation."

Lucas nodded at the table.

"I want to see it."

"You'll see it."

Kevin stood and picked up his jacket off the back of the chair.

He put it on and fixed the collar and looked down at Lucas still sitting there.

"You'll move in Sunday," Kevin said.

"Sunday."

"After the surgery. I'll send a car."

"I have a truck."

"Sell it."

Lucas stood up. The chair scraped.

"I'm keeping my apartment."

"You're not."

"I'm keeping it."

Kevin walked to the door and put his hand on the handle and didn't open it.

He turned around.

"You signed, Lucas. Page eighteen. It's done."

"I know what I signed."

"Do you."

Lucas picked up his copy of the folder and held it against his chest.

"I signed so my brother gets to turn twenty."

Kevin looked at him for a second longer than he needed to.

Then he opened the door.

The sound of the lot came in. A truck backing up. Somebody yelling about a light.

Lucas walked out past him into the hallway.

Kevin followed and fell in beside him, shoulder to shoulder, down the corridor past the receptionist.

She smiled at Kevin. She didn't look at Lucas.

At the front door Kevin stopped and held it open with one arm.

Lucas stepped out into the sun.

"One more thing," Kevin said.

Lucas turned.

Kevin stood in the doorway of his own building with the light behind him.

"You'll never work in this town again unless I say so."

← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend