The absurdity of that statement almost knocked her off her feet. It took a minute for her brain to register what he’d said to respond in any coherent way. She shook her head from side to side. “Oh no. No, no, no . . . NO, Garrett! Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
They stood staring at each other both waiting for the other to blink. He didn’t. She did.
Imani pressed her lips together as if to keep some form of control. “I can't go on like this with you. You’ve got to let me go. Marriage is supposed to be about love not . . . this . . . this thing we’re doing.”
Garrett rounded his desk and stood directly in front of her. He was too close. For a moment, she thought he would touch her. He wore her favorite cologne, and it floated through the air tickling her senses. Imani had to remind herself that Garret wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with. After everything that happened between them how he could have this kind of effect on her should be reason enough to have her committed.
She cleared her throat and took a step backward then focused her attention on the paperweight on his desk.
“If after one month of living with the baby and me, if you still want a divorce, I’ll give it to you without any hassles. I’ll only demand one thing, - joint custody.”
“Why would you want joint custody of a child you’re not sure is yours?”
“It might be. And, if it is, I don’t want to be a part-time father.”
His words hurt. How could he believe for one moment that this child wasn’t his? “We don’t have to wait. We could take the paternity test today. And, when it determines you are the father, Garret, I’m willing to give you joint-custody now.”
“But, I’m not willing to give you a divorce now.”
“Garrett this makes no sense. This baby isn’t due for another four months! Your plan won’t help us. Our problems are just too large to fix.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Are you afraid that you might still have feelings for me? Is that why you won’t agree?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I just want to get on with my life. You and I have wasted enough time.”
Hurt, his voice came out harder than he intended. “Those are my terms. Take them or leave them. Otherwise, I’ll have you in court for the next couple of years.” Garrett turned his back on her and went to sit back down in his chair. “I have the resources. You know I can do it.”
“Why? Why are you doing this?”
He wasn’t about to tell her the full truth, but he would share part of it. “I know what it’s like to grow up without a father. I don’t want that for this child. I would think you wouldn’t want it either.”
Imani thought she imagined it when the floor trembled underneath her feet, then stopped. She chalked it up to hormones especially since she and Garrett were on the seventeenth floor.
He frowned. “Did you feel that?”
She looked around the room and whispered. “I guess I didn’t imagine it.” They stared at the bobble head on his desk as it began to move up and down.
The floor vibrated again, and a weird noise like the sound of metal bending occurred just before everything started to shake uncontrollably.
Imani could barely stand up on her feet. Somehow, Garrett managed to get to her before she fell on the floor but even he was having trouble keeping them upright.
CRACK! A loud noise almost scared Imani out of her skin. It sounded like an explosion. The lights flickered on and off until finally the room was cloaked in semi-darkness; only the evening light from the outside windows showed through.
Glass shattered. Everything rattled and shook from off of the walls and onto the floor. Imani held on to Garrett for dear life. “What’s happening?”
Loud screams from outside his office found its way inside with them. They meandered their way out into the hallway only to find panic and chaos. People were running every which way.
Garrett managed to get ahold of one of his frantic managers as they were running past him. “What’s going on?”
Wide-eyed and terrified, the man responded. “It’s an earthquake!” He took off running for the stairs.
Imani turned to Garrett. “Oh, my God. We’re on the seventeenth floor!”
Other Books by LaShawn Vasser
A PERFECT STORM
THIS IS BOOK TWO OF TWO
A death and the potential loss of Manchetti Enterprises brought powerhouse attorney, Braylee Hinsdale together with Alexandro Manchetti. She managed the impossible - saved his business and his sanity. In turn, he was able to pierce through her tough armor and gently remove an intractable mask concealing deeply hidden wounds. While their attraction was immediate, each fought to protect their fragile hearts from hurt and harm; but instead found strength and love.
Just as Alexandro and Braylee seemed on the path to happily ever after, they found themselves in the middle of a storm. A powerful storm. A Perfect Storm. And, it had the name Gina Lee Xiou written all over it. Who was she? A lover from his past? What did she want? More importantly, could she blow up their lives with just a few words? And, would she dare? Find out in A Perfect Storm.
A STORM IS COMING
THIS IS BOOK ONE OF TWO
A Storm Is Coming is about a beautiful and tough as nails corporate attorney, Braylee Hinsdale,
