“That’s exactly right. You found a good girl. Kate was gushing about Nea, and I think you can be happy with her. Just don’t let Shay fuck with your head again.” Eli is right, as he usually is, but I don’t tell him that, or I’ll never hear the fucking end of it.
“Thanks, man. It means a lot that you both like Nea because I think I’ve fallen hard,” I admit to my best friend. He’s known me for far too long, and I know he’ll see the change in me.
“Oh, I know that; so does Kate. That’s why she made me call you today,” he tells me with a chuckle. “Be strong, man. Call me when you’re done.” Once he hangs up, I can’t help but smile. He’s been a good friend, level-headed compared to me. And Kate’s been a godsend.
Shay suddenly glides through the house as if she owns it. The hate I have for her is stronger than I could ever have anticipated. I’ve always been an angry person, always focused on myself, on my pain and my heartache, but Nea changed that for me. She made me see more than I could ever have imagined. But now that Shay is back, I feel like that young, inexperienced boy again.
It doesn’t help that she’s older than me. It also doesn’t help that she was the one who wanted the marriage, the name, and the fame when all I needed was someone who would take me as I am. Who accepted my brooding personality and lightened my world with color.
“Seems like not much has changed,” Shay says as her lawyers follow her through the house. They settle at the dining room table with their briefcases and files. Moments later, Morgan, my lawyer, saunters in looking confident with a grin as he shakes my hand.
“Nice to see you again, Julian. Sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.” His voice is low, a whisper, so Shay doesn’t hear him. “If she makes any more demands, we’ll shoot her down.”
I nod, but I don’t feel as confident as he seems. Shay may be a gold-digging bitch, but she’s a clever one.
Morgan and I head for the table, I settle at the head, with Morgan beside me, and Shay with both her lawyers on the opposite end. It’s not the biggest of tables, but it offers space between us. I don’t ever want to be near her again.
“What is this about?”
“I want money, Julian. And since we’re married, I’d like to take the opportunity to remind you that I’m entitled to it.” She taps a long, red fingernail on the smooth wooden top, and I recall the day she slapped me after I told her I never loved her. We had a fight, I was drunk, and when she turned around and her hand crashed against my face, I felt the sharp talon cut into my skin.
I never once hurt her; I never retaliated because I believed I was the bastard, and she was putting up with me. Now I know better. She’s the viper, and I’m here wanting her out of my life.
“How much do you want? How much will it cost me to have you sign the legal paperwork and get out of my life?”
“Does your confidence brim from that pretty girl I saw walking out of your house earlier?” Shay’s mention of Nea makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. My body tenses when I realize she saw the girl who’s taken over my life. And my heart.
“This has nothing to do with anyone else. This is between you and me, Shay, and you know it. Stop making excuses and stop dancing around the subject. I want you gone. I no longer want to have anything to do with you or that bullshit of an excuse you gave me for not wanting to sign in the first place. We’re done.”
“And you know, as much as I’d love to give you what you want, I feel it’s necessary for me to note that if you’re cheating on me, I’ll get a lot more than I’m asking for.”
My hands fist under the table. The tension in my muscles only tighten further, and the need to break something has a grip on me. I wanted to get this done and see her out of my house for good, but I have a feeling it’s going to take longer than I thought.
“Give me a price and I’ll pay it,” I tell her. “I want you out of my life, and I’m willing to meet your monetary demands.”
“Mr. Lewis will handle the signing of the paperwork,” one of the lawyers who entered with Shay tells me. He points to the one in a dark shirt and suit and a silver tie.
Mr. Lewis speaks up then. “Mrs. Elliot would—”
“She’s not Mrs. Fucking Elliot,” I bite out, pinning the asshole lawyer with a glare I’m sure he can feel right down to his bones.
“My client would like five hundred thousand dollars, paid into her account within twenty-four hours. She’s agreed to finalize the divorce papers within the time frame, if you agree.” Shay knows as well as I do the sum she’s asking for is nothing. I have that in small change.
“What else does she want because that makes no sense?” I keep my gaze on him. I don’t turn to her because if I do, I may lose all self-control, and I could easily find my hands around her neck.
Through every word and each nuance, my full attention is not here. I’m torn between being at this table and with Nea. I sent her home because I didn’t want her to be the target of Shay’s rage and jealousy. It was better that way, but it doesn’t stop the fact that I feel like a complete and utter asshole for doing it.
Having Nea hate me is better than having her be ridiculed for her choice in men by my soon-to-be ex-wife.
