Page 11 of Wicked Stranger
“I hired a guy, Brad Kinney, who was an amazing artist. He brought in new clients, was a dream to work with, and soon, business was booming again.” Raina said with a hard edge to his voice. “Because things were going so well, my job on the business end and trying to keep up with my own clients became too hard, so I made him a partner.”
“Oh, no.” Wicked sighed as if already knowing the issue.
“Yeah, he took over more of the business end.” Raina finally looked up at Wicked. “You know I sucked at that part anyway and was more than happy to hand it over. I trusted him. He gave me no reason not to trust him. He became a good friend.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Wicked cocked her eyebrow at Raina.
That question had Zane leaning away from the wall, a deep growl rumbling in his chest.
“No.” Raina snorted, shaking her head. “Not that good of a friend.”
“Just checking.” Wicked said, then glanced at Zane with a puzzled look before looking at Thorne. “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing.” Thorne cleared his throat and then nodded for Raina to continue.
“Anyway, not even a year after he took over the business, Brad came to me saying we were out of money and that bills were months behind. I couldn’t believe it because, during our monthly meetings, he never said a word. Told me and showed me all the budgets, etc. Everything looked good.” Raina shook her head in disgust. “He said that he had a person who had agreed to be a silent partner and that he would take care of everything for a fifty percent share of the business.”
“But that would give you less shares.” Wicked frowned angrily. “Please tell me you said no.”
“It was either that or lose everything,” Raina said, swiping angrily at a tear. “Which I did anyway.”
“Why in the world didn’t you call me?” Wicked tossed up her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because this wasn’t your problem anymore,” Raina said, and Zane knew she was struggling to keep it together. “It was mine. Not seeing any way out, I agreed as long as I was able to have a lawyer look over the contract this silent partner had sent us.”
“And did you?” Wicked asked with a frown.
“Yes,” Raina whispered with a nod. “A lawyer that Brad recommended.”
“Brad isn’t a good guy in this story, is he?” Bruce, who had been surprisingly silent, spoke up.
“You could say that,” Raina replied just as her phone lit up in her back pocket. “After going over the contract with the lawyer, I signed.”
“And?” Wicked hissed, her eyes narrowed as if knowing what was to come.
“And…I went into work the next day to find all my stuff removed, most of it piled up at the front door. I was handed the contract and told to read it by Brad and the lawyer who happened to be present.” Raina said, rubbing her eyes. “It was not the same contract I had signed the day before, but it was my signature. This contract signed everything over to Brad and contractually obligated me to work for the silent partner, not named, for the period of ten years.”
“What?!” Wicked slammed her hands on the table and stood up, shaking her head. “No! There is no way that this bullshit contract is legal.”
Zane watched Raina closely and noticed a sad smile appear as her shoulders slumped in defeat. “That’s what I thought, but that lawyer and another one I personally contacted told me that it is in fact, legal. Unless I want to go to court, there is absolutely nothing I can do.”
“Then we will go to fucking court.” Wicked said with an affirmative nod.
“Wicked, I don’t have the means to fight this in court,” Raina said, her voice cracking with emotion. “And even if I did, I was told that this silent partner has money to burn and could financially ruin me for the rest of my life. The advice I was given was to cut my losses and do my ten years to pay back what is owed by me to the silent partner. There is no way I am giving anyone ten years of my life no matter what or how much I am making, so I ran.”
“Who is this silent partner asshole. I’ll zap his ass back to the ice age.” Wicked said as she started to pace back and forth.
“I don’t know,” Raina said, then sighed. “What I do know is that he is powerful and gets what he wants, obviously.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Zane finally spoke, staring at Raina, who glanced his way. “And if you want to know who he is, then answer your phone. I’ll be more than happy to introduce myself to him.”
Zane had a feeling there was plenty of corruption going on with this deal, and a good lawyer could sort it out, which could take years. He wasn’t patient for that bullshit. He would rather take care of it himself after he found out who this bastard was, and that’s exactly what he planned on doing.
CHAPTER9
Raina felt a little better letting all of that out, but that feeling didn’t last long after hearing Zane’s words. “I’m sure that’s not him calling me. If it’s anyone, it’s Brad trying to get me to answer using other numbers.”
“Then I’ll talk to Brad,” Zane replied, his tone to the point. “Either way, whoever is harassing you will stop.”