Page 44 of Soaring Free
“Good morning, Savannah, Theo. Well, I suppose it’s almost noon at this point. How are we doing today?” Pippa’s assistant follows her in the room and to my surprise, as does my own assistant, Cian. He’s carrying a tray of coffees and hands them out, each of us finding our preferred drink in front of us.
“I’m okay, all things considered.” Savannah gives Cian a brief hug as he hands her the iced latte. “This was very kind of you. Thank you, Cian.”
“Of course, Savannah. Please let me know if any of you need anything else today.” I nod at him and he quietly exits the room, softly closing the door behind him. He doesn’t usually hand-deliver coffee to the courthouse, but he is all too aware of the drama Savannah has been dealing with.
Pippa reviews a few details of what to expect today, specifically some bullshit filling Shane is trying to get away with to exclude the penthouse—again—from the divorce proceedings. Dumb fuck. He knows that’s going to get thrown out, but I think he’s just trying to make things as challenging as possible for Savannah right now. We also heard that he’s under pressure from the other named partners to wrap up this divorce as soon as possible. There seems to be some concern about bad press, which feels like I should hire a fan to spread that fire wide and far. But based on his previous behavior, we don’t really know what to expect from him or his legal team today. As Pippa’s assistant tosses our coffee cups and we make our way to the courtroom, I pull gently on Savannah’s arm to have her wait back with me a moment before we head up. She sags slightly against the wall, as though she needs the wall to physically stand up.
I lower my head so I can speak quietly to just her. “Head up, face frosty, and if necessary, claws ready, Kitten. You are a queen, and who do queens bow for?”
She turns her head to look me in the eye and takes a deep breath before responding, “No one. A queen bows for no one.” Her voice is quiet, but steady. The corners of her lips tip up in the world’s smallest smile, but I’ll take it. “And still not a damn cat.”
I hum in approval. “That’s right. Pippa’s got you and I’m right here, at your side or wherever else you want me.”
“With me. I want you with me,” she says barely above a whisper.
“Good, because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.” It kills me not to physically comfort her more, but I softly squeeze her forearm and tilt my head toward the door before opening it with flourish for her to walk through. “After you, my queen.” I wink and she shakes her head at me, but that doesn’t stop her from reaching out, placing her hand over my hand holding the door open, and squeezing it firmly while giving me a look I can’tquite decipher. But I don’t have time to decode that—we have an appointment with an asshole.
Pippa leads us into the courtroom and we enter it with my hand on Savannah’s lower back, much to the dismay of her ex. Shane sneers at us as we walk in but I just smile at the idiot. I escort Savannah to her attorney table, intending to sit in the benches behind the rail, but as I turn to move back, she grabs my hand and shakes her head.
“Okay, Sav, I’ve got you.” I look to my sister and she nods in approval to me joining them at the table, but I sit on the other side of Savannah so she is seated between us.
“He can’t even keep his hands off my wife long enough for her to face me on her own. Do you see this bullshit?” Shane says quietly to his legal team—but loud enough that we can hear him, and I know that was on purpose. Asshole. Savannah hears him but doesn’t look at him—I’m sure that was his intention—and instead totally ignores him, just like I told her to, as she sits with her head held high. Pippa hums in approval, and moments later, we all rise as the judge enters the courtroom.
The first part of the hearing is predictable, and Shane’s bullshit filling about excluding the penthouse is dismissed, and the judge even admonished him for trying to pull that a second time. Oh, how I love to see Shane chastised in court; new hobby unlocked. As the judge calls the counselors to the bench to discuss something, Savannah leans toward me.
“What do you think he’s going to do? I really don’t like that we have no idea what he is going to pull next, and he told me he wouldn’t hesitate to release those pictures. Oh no, do you think Shane has them with him now? Do you think he’s going to introduce the photos into evidence?”
“Savannah, take a breath. It’s okay. I don’t know the details, but I know he won’t be submitting those photos today or any time in the future either,” I whisper back to her.
She leans back, eyebrows raised. “How can you be so sure?”
I lean closer to her ear so no one else can hear my answer. “All I know is that it’sbeen handled.”
Her shoulders visibly lower and she exhales deeply. “I don’t think I want to know how or why that’s the case. But wait, if Shane doesn’t have the boudoir photos anymore, why is he looking so smug like the cat that got the canary right now?”
I fight the smile and keep my face neutral. “You know he doesn’t have the photos, and I know he doesn’t have the photos, but there is a very good chance Shane is unaware of the fact that he no longer has the photos.”
“But how?”
“Liam said it was handled.”
She huffs but relaxes just a little more. “Of course he did.”
The attorneys return to their respective tables, but before Shane’s attorney Kyle can make whatever motion he was about to make, the courtroom doors open and I look to see not one, but two of the other named partners from Brown, Lewis, and Williams. While Shane may be a named partner, he still has bosses and isn’t totally in charge of the firm, and it’s a well-known fact that he is not the managing named partner. Kyle and Shane, along with their entire legal team, notice the additions to the courtroom’s gallery and it’s like the wind is taken right out of Shane’s sails. His previously smug disposition now more closely resembles a pissed-off child who isn’t getting their way.
Shane whispers furiously with his attorney, while Pippa’s face is poised and respectful, but her eyes are downright gleeful at the drama unfolding, bouncing between the opposing counsel and an unamused judge whose patience looks like its waning by the second. Savannah looks to me as though I can explain what’s going on, but I just give her a small shrug.
“Your honor, after further review, I would like to request a brief recess to discuss a previously presented settlement offer with the opposing counsel,” Shane’s attorney Kyle addresses the court and my head snaps to him at that statement. They wouldn’t request a recess just to present another offer that Savannah already declined, but the only offer Pippa ever brought to the table was exceptionally generous in Savannah’s favor, with the intent it was a place to start negotiations.
The judge looks bored at Kyle’s statement, but nods at the request. “We will take a fifteen-minute recess. Counselors, make it an effective one, will you?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” both Pippa and Kyle say in unison.
It turns out the rumors about Shane being under significant pressure to wrap up the divorce quickly were incredibly accurate, if not understated. So accurate that when court resumed after the fifteen-minute recess, Shane accepted the settlement Pippa had presented earlier in the month that gave Savannah half of their marital assets accumulated prior to their thirteenth wedding anniversary—and sixty percent of the revenue from the now-upcoming sale of the penthouse in Nashville.
“So that’s it? It’s just … over?” Savannah asks Pippa and me as we stand outside the courthouse. Her eyes are wide with shock at how quickly the tide changed in the courtroom once Shane’s managing partners showed up.
“Basically. With the judge’s ruling today, everything should be settled and finalized in six weeks or less. Until then, I would advise you still go through our offices for any communication with your ex. Also, notify us immediately if he even steps an inch out of line, and I will haul his ass back into court faster than he can ever imagine,” Pippa explains. “And as soon as the divorce decree is final, you’re free to live your life,” Pippa gives me a pointed look, “and pursue whatever and whomever you wish.”
