Page 4 of The Wife Deception
Is it done?
Me:
Yes.
"Where's your car?" Nolan thrust his hands inside his pockets as we stood below the steps.
"I used an Uber to get here."
He frowned as though I had given the wrong answer. I panicked. The words came out of my mouth without me thinking through them. Would Aelin useUber? Did she have a car? Probably? But would she even use it in New York?
"My car is at the shop. Bang it up a few days ago." I added a shrug for maximum effect.
Nolan frowned. "I hope no one was hurt."
"Oh, it wasn't my fault. The other person should have seen I was texting."
His look of disgust was enough for me to know I had pulled it off. "Come with me then," he said. I was already protesting, but he ignored me as he instructed his assistants and Kelly to get a ride sharing service. Then he ushered me into the back seat of aJaguar XJ.
"To the townhouse Jones," Nolan said to the man in the driver's seat as I sank into the cream leather seat. The balding man glanced at me through the rearview mirror, and when Nolan caught him, he turned his eyes back to the road.
"Meet my new wife, Jones."
"Sorry sir, I mean congratulations."
"Thank you. Her name is Aelin. Aelin this is Bradley Jones. My driver."
"Hi Bradley." I turned to Nolan. "Townhouse?"
"My place. Your place now too, I guess." He was on his phone typing some never-ending message. His casual posture made me want to reach over the armrest between us and yank it out of his hands.
"You should have told me, dear husband, that I would be going to your place after this."
"I am telling you now," he said without looking up from his phone.
Dick. We rode in silence until we reached the 'townhouse'. I expected a sad, gray apartment typical of tasteless rich people, but the well-decorated, colorful townhouse pleasantly surprised me. It was nice and luxurious without being too ostentatious. The type of place I would see myself living in, in fact. It was a blend of mid-century and classic New York style that made it look timeless.
"Nice place," I said to him. "Are you going to tell me why I am here?"
Nolan ventured in, leaving me in the hall. He came back a few minutes later with a stack of papers and grabbed my hand. My heart thudded at his hands coming into contact with mine. A simple contact should not make me feel like this. Get it together, Aire.
He led me to the dining room and threw the papers on the table.
"What's the meaning of this?"
I stared at the papers. They were familiar.Fuck. I'm caught.
I picked up the papers off the glass table with nervous hands and read them. I've never experienced such relief. They were not what I thought they were at first. The contract I signed with my grandfather. No. This was something else. Something business related.
"Care to tell me what I am looking at, dear husband?"
Nolan was standing on the other side of the dinner table staring at me with fury lit eyes. "Why the fuck did you change the prenup?"
I flipped through the papers, wondering what could be amiss. He looked like he was about to wring my neck and I couldn't understand what I did wrong. I barely read the damn thing. Why would I when I knew this marriage was a farce? Hell, the man I was marrying clearly hated me. My lawyer wasn't even mine and he sure as hell wasn't looking after my best interests. So whatever is amiss in this thing isn't in my favor.
"What's wrong with it?"
He snatched the papers back and flipped to a page in the middle, and pointed at a single line. "In case of progeny resulting out of the marriage and both parents are to meet their demise, Kenneth Burgess has the right to claim guardianship of said progeny." He jabbed at theline again before throwing the document on the table.
