Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 176: Kicked Up a Notch

Unlike at Crazy Code where the opposing legal team was stopped in the lobby, they made it all the way up to the top floor where the administrative offices were located. Alec was at his desk, reading over the stack of papers presented to him. He looked up when I entered the room. In fact, I’d wager every eye in the office was focused on me.

"Teela, there is a court order here to turn over King to these men," Alec informed me.

"You can’t be here," the same tall man told me. "The restraining order excludes you from being within a thousand feet of King Heavenly."

"Call the police then," I said. "In the meantime, King isn’t going anywhere. Joshua has no authority to act on behalf of King. His brother Ben is his legal guardian until such time as King can speak for himself."

"We contend the authority is void."

"Well, until you can prove it in a court of law, we will not allow you to take him."

The man looked around me. "And how do you propose to stop us?"

"What is your name?"

"You can call me Mr. Paul."

His emphasis on the word mister intrigued me.

"Mr. King has a security detail."

Mr. Paul’s eyes narrowed. "And who will protect you, Ms. Crest?"

Alec stood. "I will."

"Against all of us?"

There were eight men in the room. At least half looked like muscle hired to intimidate us.

Alec smiled. "With pleasure."

"That won’t be necessary, darling," I snapped my fingers, and the little empty space left in the room quickly filled. "Your father sent us a little show of support."

"Ah, well, then I should go back to work." Alec swiped the papers from his desk and into the trash. "If Dad and you are involved, I won’t need these anymore. Gentlemen, please leave my office and my building. You are not welcome here."

"I’ll call the police," Mr. Paul threatened, a nerve ticking in his jaw.

"I’d like to see you try," I said, full well knowing every phone associated with the legal service had been disabled. It didn’t really matter. When I’d informed Eugene about the attack, he’d let me know he had the police and judges in his back pocket. There was no way any of this would stand. All we had to do was protect King. All legal recourse was cut off from Josh and Dot.

Of course, Mr. Paul tried and failed to make an outgoing call. He motioned for one of his men to try. The man proved equally incapable.

"You can’t do this," Mr. Paul said. "It’s illegal."

"And using coercion and the legal system to try to intimidate us into giving you control of very sick wealthy man and all his assets isn’t?"

"Dr. Heavenly has every right to protect his brother."

"Except he isn’t protecting his brother. Dr. Pacer and Dr. Heavenly are directly responsible for the condition of King Heavenly, and I have the proof."

A call came in from Stiff. I smiled as I took it. I hoped it pissed Mr. Paul off that I could receive calls, and he couldn’t.

Stiff didn’t bother with a greeting. "Teela, there’s a cyberattack against Crazy Code. CK and I are on it, but these guys are good. We could use some backup."

No more time to toy with this jerk. "Men, please escort these people out of the building. See to it they do not return."

Mr. Paul said, "You can’t just throw us out. We are officers of the court. You are compelled to listen."

"I did listen, and now I’m done. You can leave now." I crossed the room to Alec and kissed his cheek. "Sorry, hun, but I need your computer more than you do right now. Scooch."

Instead of giving way, Alec pulled me down onto his lap. "My computer, my rules."

I wiggled into a comfortable position on his lap as I took over his laptop and quickly joined the battle to protect Crazy Code from the onslaught. "Earbuds," I mumbled.

Alec pulled out his earbuds and synced them to my phone before putting them in my ears. Good. Now, I had hands-free access to CK and Stiff while we worked. Each of us did our part to create a firewall so solid that we would be challenged to bring it down ourselves.

The battle raged long enough that Alec eventually excused himself and called for a second laptop so he could work at the coffee table while I remained large and in charge at the executive desk.

I was sweating and reaching for a glass of water that Alec had left me when Ben joined me, looking over my shoulder. I’m sure what he was seeing didn’t mean a lot to Ben, but the code on the monitor was the same as soldiers on a battlefield for me.

"How’s it going?" Ben asked.

"These kids are pissing me off. Younger, more creative, faster than me. I’m going to lose my crown any day now."

"You can’t be the best forever, Tee, but you’ve got this for right now, right? I don’t need to have Min kick someone’s ass, do I?"

"I’ve got this. We’ve got this."

CK had called in some of the fanbase. We were a team of six fighting against at least a dozen assailants, but we were better. I was better. I had to be to protect my people. I had to protect Bea’s legacy.

Stiff said, "Teela, Jake has Dot. They are on their way to you now."

"Good. I’m tired of this game."

I put the final piece of code in place to block a worm headed in through our mail system, then redirected it to Heavenly Enterprises.

"Stiff, remember the gift we planted with Heavenly? It’s time to set it off. Make sure Bob Jones feels the pain, too. Maybe the enemy will leave us alone if they are busy with our counterattack."

"Will do. Take off. We’ve got this for now. I’ll call if we need you."

"Are you sure?"

"Deal with Dot. She can likely end this with a phone call."

I nodded and slumped back in the chair. "I’d pay a million dollars for a strawberry banana smoothie and a spoonful of peanut butter."

Alec called out for his assistant to come to my rescue.

"Jake is coming with Dot. Is it okay to talk to her here, or would you rather I take her elsewhere? Maybe you have a conference room free?" I asked Alec.

"This room is fine. I’d like to hear what she has to say," Alec said.

"Me too," Ben said.

"Alright, but we take our lead from Jake. He learned interrogation skills from the experts."

Alec joined me. He rubbed the tension from my shoulders. "You okay, baby? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Alec dropped a kiss on top of my head.

Ben made a call. "Min, get your butt up here. Alec and Teela are showing off their love for each other. We should show them how it is done."

"Oh, I’d love to see that," I said.

Min was so ice cold most of the time that it was hard to picture him as warm and fuzzy.

Ben said, "But snookum, it’s really gross to watch these heteros showing off."

Whatever Min said in response made Ben pout.

"Fine," Ben said. "Jake is bringing that Pacer woman here. Do you want to hear what she has to say?"

Five minutes later, Min joined us. Ten minutes later, Alec’s assistant returned with my smoothie, a carafe of coffee, and a selection of juices. Another employee brought in sandwiches and salads. I grabbed one of each, determined to eat before I faced my adversary.

Three bites in, my meal was over.

Jake led in Dot Pacer. It was apparent from the zip ties around her wrists, the mussed hair, and raccoon eyes that Dot didn’t come willingly. The way Jake pushed her down into a chair showed he didn’t care.

Dot spat at Jake and bounced back up, only to be pushed back down and held there.

"Stay or I’ll tie you down," Jake demanded.

"I want my lawyer!" Dot said.

"I tossed your lawyer out this morning," I said. "He’s busy looking for his missing bank accounts now."

Jake patted Dot’s cheek. "Besides, we aren’t the police. You’ve got no right to counsel. The only right you have is to talk and live or don’t and suffer."

"I’m not scared of you. You’re just that bitch’s lackey. She’ll dump you as soon as she’s used you up. All Heavenly women are alike."

Ben raised his hand. "I’ve seen what Jake can do. I’m scared of him, and I have Min to protect me. You’ve got no one."

"Is that what this is about?" I asked.

"I don’t have to tell you shit!" Dot spit in my direction even though I was well out of range.

"You’re right. I can’t make you tell me anything, Dot, so let me tell you something. King is out of your control now. We aren’t giving him back."

"But I can," Jake said.