Chapter 88: Terms of the Deal

“My boss said chances to watch Mr. Watson eat humble pie are rare,” Riley said cheerfully. “Miss one and you’ll regret it. So I came.”

Julian only shook his head.

Liam’s gaze, gentle as ever, settled on Cora. A single night without seeing her had somehow felt long.

Julian noticed—and disliked—how openly Liam looked. “Do you know my wife, Mr. Mayer?”

Cora blinked. It was the first time Julian had acknowledged her status in front of outsiders. He usually kept that private.

Liam, too, paused a beat, then smiled like it was news to him. “Your wife? No wonder. She’s the image of someone I once knew.”

So he wanted to start there. Fine. Julian had fired the opening shot; Liam didn’t intend to dodge. He’d already learned last night that this marriage was a transaction for the child, nothing more—that Cora had even tried to run. If fate had sent him a living echo of Qara, he wasn’t letting go.

Everyone in the room understood the subtext except the one person it was about.

“Sit here,” Julian told Cora.

She took the seat at his side.

Liam folded his hands. “Mr. Watson—your thoughts on my proposal?”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “You must be joking. Watson Group’s base isn’t here in Lindon, and you want to partner on a domestic play. Sounds like a raw deal for the Mayers.”

“I can afford it,” Liam said mildly.

“In that case, I’d be rude to refuse.” Julian’s smile was light.

At dawn his grandmother had called with a single instruction: make nice with Liam Mayer. This was the cleanest bridge into domestic energy they were ever likely to get. Liam was the man of the hour, whispered to have heavyweight backing. Plenty wanted a seat on his rocket; almost none could get in the same room.

And yet the outreach had gone to Watson Group.

The Watsons spanned a dozen sectors, but domestic energy had always been their blank space—by rule, not by lack of ambition. Liam’s olive branch was precisely that: energy. It would plug a strategic hole for the Watsons and let the Mayers tap the Watsons’ footprint across the Middle East and Africa.

Power meeting power. Bold, risky—and political. If it soured, it could ripple far beyond a balance sheet.

Julian was interested for every business reason—and for one personal one: what did Liam want with Cora?

Across the table, Liam looked equally certain. He knew Julian had long eyed an opening at home and lacked a door. Now Liam was the door. With his grandfather still in office, refusal would be…unwise.

The words stayed polite; the undercurrent had teeth. Riley caught every shade. Cora sat there like a straight-A student dropped into grad school by mistake.

“Let’s talk terms,” Julian said. “You don’t hand the Watsons a slice like this for free.”

Liam’s glance flicked—unmistakably—to Cora. “You’re right. I do have one condition.”

Julian’s expression cooled. Cora still didn’t track it. She could run a department blindfolded; high-stakes negotiation was new terrain.

Riley had heard enough. She tugged Cora’s sleeve. “Come entertain me in the hall.”

Cora looked to Julian. At his nod, she rose, gave Liam a polite smile, and followed Riley out.

They’d barely cleared the threshold when Riley said, “Be honest—do you know Liam?”

Cora frowned. “Of course not. We’ve only bumped into each other a few times.”

“Funny, because he looks at you like you’re a plot twist he’s been expecting.” Riley lowered her voice. “Heads-up: keep yours on straight. Anyway, my mission’s done. Mayer and Watson are really doing this. My boss will be hugging Julian’s thigh for resources soon, so I’m getting on your good side early.” She winked and click-clacked away.

Watching her, Cora realized Riley wasn’t bad at all—just too dazzling for people to see past the surface. What does her boss look like, anyway? she wondered. How ‘calm’ can a man stay with that walking past his desk all day?

Inside, the pleasantries were over.

“What is it you want?” Julian asked.

“For your wife to lead the project,” Liam said. No softening. “Equity split and the rest are negotiable.”

“She’s a junior assistant,” Julian said flatly. “She can’t shoulder something this size.”

So you were aiming at her. The thought scraped like metal.

“It’s fine,” Liam replied. “My team can carry the build. We need Watson’s channels in the Middle East and Africa—and Mrs. Watson as point. Unless you’re afraid I’ll steal her?”

Julian laughed outright. “If Mrs. Watson has caught your eye, that only proves my taste, Mr. Mayer.”

He laced his fingers over his knee and met Liam’s gaze without blinking.

The deal mattered. It was the cleanest path for the Watsons to enter a field they could no longer ignore. Empires didn’t tolerate uncontrolled variables; better to choose your patron than be chosen by force.

But giving Liam a sanctioned line to Cora?

Every instinct in Julian rebelled.

He would take the partnership—and make Liam pay dearly for the privilege. And he would find a way to keep Cora out of Liam’s reach.