The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

Lark was sitting in her office Monday morning, her father and Bobbie both looking at her expectantly while she kept her hands folded on her desk trying to quell the rage broiling her skin like it was aflame.

"This is a joke?"

"It is no joke," her father gave a loud sigh.

"Fifty million dollars?"

"He thinks he can get it. The minute he found out Max Villeneuve was the one who beat his face in, he immediately saw dollar signs. He's alleging your actions at the firm were over the top and you lured him to the house knowing he would follow so Max would pound him into the dirt."

She tried to pretend her father's muttered "should have killed him" didn't escape his lips as she focused on Bobbie's words. "He's using this jacked up ambulance chaser of a lawyer?"

"Yes."

"Can we counter sue?"

"What are you thinking?" Her father hiked his pantleg up and watched her, his nostrils flared with his own barely controlled temper.

"What if he set me up?" Lark asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've been thinking since he called me Saturday about the things he said to me. He was talking about spousal support."

"What?" Grady's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "He's not entitled."

"He's not a good lawyer Dad. Most of his cases I helped him with and provided him direction. He's a lawyer because his grandfather was a lawyer and he wanted to impress him but he's not good at it. He won a couple of litigations recently because I helped. There was a meeting about two months ago where the partners met with me privately to discuss my career path. They reassured me I was on track to partner and let me know they were aware I was a team player helping out my colleagues and offering insights and opinions. They said they could see my methods in a lot of Doug's work. At the time I thought they were complimenting me but in hindsight I think they were telling me they knew he was a s**t lawyer." "Did they meet with him privately to discuss his career trajectory?"

"No. He told me he was excited for me, and I believed him. I didn't think he was jealous of it. My success was his success but," she took a breath, "he started his affair right after this. I also got thinking of the flowers."

"The flowers?"

"Yes. The flowers. Dad, he has sent me flowers before and every single time I have made it a point to go thank him for them. I can't help but wonder if he was hoping I would catch them."

"Go on," Bobbie waved at her. "Keep the thought process going."

"Okay. He has sent me flowers three previous times at work, even before we were living together. Each time he would send me flowers, I would go to his office immediately and say thank you, even if there was a client in his space. I would simply pop my head in and say thank you. He also left work before me because he had a meeting, but he texted me when he got there to complain he hadn't needed to leave early because his meeting cancelled and said he would be in his office reviewing his new case." "Did he ask you to go see him?"

"No but he made sure to let me know his meeting was cancelled. The flowers were there when I arrived. I specifically noted the delivery notice on the paper said to be delivered before eight am because I thought it so sweet he would plan the start of my day so kindly."

"You think he did this?"

"I think he wanted me to find out he was f*****g her."

"To what end?" Bobbie pushed her. "What would be the goal?"

"I don't know."

"Humiliation," Grady said quietly his jaw set. "The only time someone wants you to catch them like this is because they want to humiliate you. You're better than him on so many levels and he was tired of it." His fingers twitched on his ankle," what if the guys weren't teasing him but what if it was them making fun of him, teasing him, about you being stuck with Doug for the rest of your life."

She made a face and shook her head. "I don't know, Dad. I wasn't great at socializing with everyone on a day-to-day basis. I went for drinks a couple times a month and did the obligatory meets with clients, but I've never been a social butterfly. I can't picture one of the guys from the firm telling Doug I was settling for him. We weren't buddies so they wouldn't have been propping me up."

"I'm going to dig."

"Dig," she agreed with his comment. A single knock on her door announced her new assistant from her mother's company. "I'm sorry to interrupt. Grady, you asked me to let you know when Mr. Villeneuve arrived."

She looked to her dad curiously, "Max is here?"

"It concerns him, Lark. We need his approval in dealing with his portion of the lawsuit." Grady waved at Cherise to let the man in, as he rose from his seat.

Max walked into the room and Lark immediately felt like all the air was sucked out. Holy s**t he was gorgeous when he was dressed as CEO and in person. His body was in a perfectly fit suit, complete with tie and pocket square and shoes so polished they gleamed. He sported black rimmed glasses, and his hair was gelled and slicked back. Freshly shaven, Lark was certain she could smell him from where she sat and struggled not to inhale loudly simply to get a better whiff.

He leaned over and kissed his mother's cheek, "bonjour maman." He squeezed Grady's shoulder and accepted the hug from the man. He then rounded the desk and leaned down to kiss Lark's cheek, "chère you look beautiful this morning. I like this color blue on you." He tapped the shoulder of her navy-blue silk shirt.

"Thank you." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she tore her eyes away from his exquisite ass as he turned away. She caught her father's raised eyebrow and looked to her hands.

He pulled a chair next to his mother and sat down. "Tell me what was so urgent I needed to come here straight from my therapy session."

"Doug hired a lawyer who is known in Houston to take on high publicity cases. He knows my firm represents you legally and we were notified this morning he intends to sue you for assault and battery." "What does he want?"

"Fifty million. He wants forty from you and ten from Lark. He is alleging you conspired together to get him to follow her here so you could lay a beating."

Max pulled his head back and then laughed bitterly and shot his mother a look, "I told you we should have let Riggs deal with it instead of Ollie."

"Max," Bobbie frowned. "We are not discussing murdering a person."

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. "What is the plan, Grady? Do you suggest we sit down and counteroffer?" "Lark thinks we should countersue but this works for her more than it will you. You are the one who beat him into the ground. f**k, I wish it would have been me," Grady hopped off the chair he'd sat back down in and moved to the window to look out at the traffic below. "He couldn't have sued me for so much money and I could have done as much damage as you."

"Uh, Dad!" Lark blinked at him, "not funny."

"I'm not joking. The guy purposefully and willfully put you in a situation where you were humiliated and embarrassed and cost you your job. He's also so far beneath you. He was riding on your coattails, and we all saw it. Your mother and I hypothesised you stayed with him because he made you feel brilliant, which you are, but being around him would have emphasized it at every turn."

"Dad." She rolled her eyes.

"He's dumb, Lark."

"Well not so dumb he didn't play his cards right. He is going to drag this out and milk it for all he's worth." "What if we give him the money?" Max asked carelessly.

"Fifty million dollars?" Lark's eyes bugged from her head.

"Counter with ten, he'll come back with thirty, we'll settle at twenty-five. Personally, I'm good with paying

him for the smackdown and for f*****g up so epically it drove my girl back home and into my arms. Money well spent."

"I am not your girl nor am I in your arms."

"Yet." He winked at her.

She threw her hands up in frustration, "we are not settling this like this. You can't give him a cent."

"I'll pay it, but he'll never get the chance to spend it." Max leaned back.

"Again, you can't kill him," Lark glared at him furiously.

"I wasn't going to kill him." Max didn't look away from her angry stare, "I'll get one of Ollie's tech friends get me my money back.'

"He'll know."

"But he won't be able to prove it."

"No." Lark shook her head vehemently. "You can't fork over that much money."

"Again, it was money well spent."

"Max!"

"Lark!" he mocked her outrage. "Come on. Can you think of a better way?"

"Yes. We counter sue and ruin him more than he already is."

"Boring," he sang it out as if he were a child.

"Are you two done?" Bobbie smacked her against her thighs.

"Tell him he's being insane. He can't pay the man off." Lark pleaded.

"He did beat his face in and break his jaw, his nose and an orbital bone." Bobbie sighed.

"And three ribs," Max added with a cocky smile. "I'd pay twice what he was asking to do it again. I wonder

if he'd let me. Let me f**k him up completely and I'll give him a hundred million."

Bobbie gave an exasperated groan, "Max."

"It's only a thought." He shared a wicked grin with Grady. "I'll even let you take a few swings."

"He cheated on me. He didn't shoot my dog or murder my best friend. This is overkill. He's coming after you because I stupidly told him you were rich. This is my fault."

"Nah, he knew, Lark. He knew before he even got on the ambulance to Houston who was in the vehicle with him because I know Ollie probably told him he f****d with the wrong family, and he did his research the minute he was conscious again. He lied to you Saturday night. We all know it. He knew who you are friends with. The question is, do you want to keep engaging with him or do you want us to simply make him go away." At her opened mouth, "with cash. I'm not suggesting we kill him, despite how much I would

love to.'

"Let's compromise," Grady stopped the argument. "Let's go to Houston. We'll have a sit down with Doug and his lawyer and try to negotiate a settlement which is far less than fifty million. We can counter with the dirt I dig up from the firm and we'll get some information on whether this was truly a set up. Then we'll present it at the meeting."

"Grady," Bobbie shook her head. "It's not a good idea for you to go back to Houston."

"What? Why?" Lark stared at her father.

"The lawyer your ex hired is Sawyer. My old best friend. He likes a good show. He's going to give us one." And with that, Lark's heart sunk even further.