Joel looked at her from sympathetic eyes. “He also had a message for you which I don’t suggest you take any notice of. It’s plain all out blackmail as far as I’m concerned.”
May as well hit me while I’m down. Go for it. “Just tell me what it is, Joel.”
“He mentioned something about your cousin and his case hitting the press. Said it would be a shame because it would impact all of you.” Joel looked at her and she blushed, ashamed she’d ever fallen for the smooth talking chef and ended up marrying him. “Guy sounds like a slime ball to me, Lena. Personally, I think you’ll be better off without him if this is how he makes friends.”
The asshole. That was low, even for him. She swallowed and pushed down the churning in her gut. Simon and his family didn’t need the grief. His poor wife and kids were doing it tough without him at home and seeing their photos plastered all over the news wouldn’t help anyone. Cole really had shown how low he was prepared to go. This tipped her hand. If there was any thoughts of fighting him in court for the restaurant and Kyle, it drifted away in a puff of smoke in the moment he mentioned Simon.
He’d known he had her at the mention of her cousin. “Let me see that.” She held out her hand.
He handed over a list of requests from her husband, and the look of sympathy on Joel’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Lena. He knew how hard she’d worked for everything. A friend of her father’s since law school, Joel was the obvious person for her to turn to whenever she needed legal help.
Lena tried to focus with the unshed tears blurring her vision. She grabbed a tissue from the flower-decorated box on the corner of Joel’s desk and dabbed at her eyes before she looked at the page again. He wanted, no he demanded, she touch nothing downstairs in the restaurant. Everything had to stay exactly as it was, especially the award she had worked so hard for. He was allowing her to take utensils from their kitchen upstairs as well as her personal belongings, but that was all.
He’s even listed my personal things. “Sure I’m allowed to take my clothes?” The sarcastic laugh did nothing to improve her mood.
“I know you’re bitter, Lena, and with every reason too. I personally think he’s being a dick considering if it wasn’t for you, none of this would exist but he refuses to budge.” Joel handed her another sheet of paper. “Here’s what he came back with, with regards to the financials.”
She scanned the page, focusing on the bottom line. “Are you kidding me? I can have my car and the money in my personal savings account, the money I was putting away for Kyle to go to university?” Bet that was hard for him to swallow, letting that go.
“He’s offered to take on the debt from the bank if you walk away. But as I said, he wants this signed and you out by Friday. Your choice, but I don’t think you’ll want to drag your son through court. It’ll get as messy as it could being you are rather high profile. The way he’s reacted to this, I wouldn’t put it past him to drag something out of nothing and make you look bad. Of course I’ll represent you and I know we would have a good case of getting half of the business, but you might then have to sell it to pay him out. And of course he would get part custody.”
Lena rested her head in her hands, swallowing down the fear rising in her throat. Her ears rang with the hollow sound of panic. She wouldn’t do that to Kyle. Not a hope in hell.
“He also wants you to not have anything else to do with the restaurant from this point on.”
Cut me off at my ankles, why don’t you? Her hands were shaking as she reached for a pen, her mind already made up. Anything to save Kyle. Fingers crossed for karma to pay a visit anytime soon. Oh, to be a fly on the wall if it happens.
“Are you sure about this?” Joel put his glasses back on and sifted through the paperwork for the agreement Cole’s lawyer had sent over. He took it out and slid it across the desk to her.
“I’ve been at the bottom before. So long as I have my son, I can do it again. Let’s hope karma is on my side this year.” With a flourish of the black ball point pen, Lena signed away the life she had worked so hard to build, but told herself she would do anything for family and the bastard knew it.
There was no way she could force herself to go back to the restaurant. Cole would be working with the staff prepping for tonight and she didn’t want to have to walk past him until she could gather her wits. She decided to stop at a small café overlooking the harbor she loved and drink coffee mulling things over. Today was Wednesday; she had to be gone from her home by Friday.
“Grazie.” She thanked the young girl who delivered her cup of espresso. This was Lena fourteen years ago when she arrived in Sydney. Youthful, full of energy and optimism. Let’s hope she has better luck than me then. She took a sip, the strong dark brew kicking her taste buds awake. She’d stayed in the bedroom after she heard Cole leave this morning, wanting to sleep away the pain and therefore was running behind schedule when she finally got up. Without her early morning coffee standing at the kitchen counter overlooking the hustle and bustle below, she wasn’t up to full steam yet. The knocks from her lawyer added to the lethargy dragging her down.
Only one thing
