Unbound, Boundless Series, Book 2

Chapter Eight

Midday on Tuesday, I received a call from the front desk. A messenger was there to drop off a delivery. I took inhaled deeply and prayed Matt hadn't sent the smartphone I'd dropped off yesterday morning like a bad game of tag. I signed for the package and walked back to my office. A thick manila envelope, too light to contain the small, rectangular device.

I opened the envelope and retrieved papers with blue backing, signaling a legal document. I scanned the cover letter, noting they came from Kevin Zipperer's law firm. I read the letter once and like the trustee letter sent by Ben's attorney, I reread the letter to ensure I had fully understood what I'd read. After I read through the document, which confirmed the cover letter's summary, I shook my head and called Carson.

"Hey, Carson. Can you have Turner call me on my cell or at work? I need his legal expertise because things just got weirder with Matt and Pentagon. Love you." I left the message and hoped Turner could explain what my brain couldn't register.

Turner called me within an hour. I explained the papers I had in hand, and he asked me to fax them to his office. He offered to call me once he was done reviewing the documents. I was nervous and anxious, waiting to hear Turner's analysis of Zipper's letter and documents.

When my smartphone rang, a gut-wrenching hour later, I answered it on the first ring. Turner greeted me with his smooth southern drawl.

"Hi, Turner. Please tell me I misread the papers."

"No darlin', you didn't misread anything. It was clear. And I spoke to Kevin myself to confirm the veracity of the offer." I slumped in my office chair, feeling my insides churn.

"The letter and documents are plain as day, Matt has signed over his entire shares of Pentagon to you. You own the houses, the cars, his bank accounts, as well as his investment portfolio, which is pretty vast. The only asset he's keeping is his medical practice and business, which is to protect his other partners outside of Pentagon. The only way you can give it back to him is if you marry him within thirty days of signing a prenup, which must be signed by Friday of this week. You must remain married for at least five years and hold yourselves out as a married couple with all the things crazy heterosexuals do in a marriage or the assets and liabilities revert to you. You'll be responsible for all the tax costs and penalties. There are added damages if you don't comply with the bylaws of the Pentagon board of directors. Congratulations, darlin'. You're a billionairess."

My heart plummeted and my stomach lurched, making me nauseated. I took a sip from my water bottle. A deep breath calmed my boiling blood.

"This is ludicrous, Turner. There's no way I can keep this money and responsibility. As easily as he gave it to me, then I can give it back to him. I'll pay you to work on a way to sign everything back over to him," I had decided.

"Well, it doesn't quite work that way. His gift is in contemplation of marriage, which is the wording on the legal forms. It's kind of like him giving you the Hope diamond as an engagement ring. If you give it back to him without it being a gift as a spouse, per se, it can create a, pardon my French darling, a whole shit load of taxation and legal problems for both of you; mostly for you." Turner let that sink in.

"Then there's the transfer of rights to the corporation, which has been limited to designees with the power of attorney, spouses, and children of the main board members, who cannot give those rights away to others not designated by the original board member. He designated you to have ownership, but retained final veto power for your decisions and votes made while holding the Pentagon stocks. If you choose not to marry him and keep the fortune, he still has the right to decide how the fortune is managed and how you vote on Board decisions. It stipulates here that you'd have to continue living in Boston to oversee the stocks—not like you were planning to leave us anyway, darlin', right?" Turner chuckled and I mimicked him, widening my eyes at Matt attempting to foil my relocation.