Page 21 of What Happens This Christmas
BOGGED DOWN WITH A MILLION MEMORIES
Nick
There was nothing I had more disdain for than sitting in a lawyer’s office, so when Mel had insisted I come down to go over the divorce paperwork, a shudder ran through my body.
It was the same shudder I felt when his assistant had asked me to wait in the conference room for a few minutes while Mel finished up a call.
If I didn’t believe that this was for the best, then I wouldn’t have been here. But if our trip to Huntington taught me anything, it was that I had been dumb as fuck to hold out any hope this Christmas because my marriage was as good as dead. Forget six feet under. It was deeper than that.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my wife, and if I could’ve had it my way, things wouldn’t be like this, but…Candy was…who she was. Not that I wanted to change her. I just wished things between us were different. Like they had been in the old days. When things like holiday cards and elaborate Christmas trees and decor hadn’t mattered as much.
Before I could go down memory lane, though, my lawyer extraordinaire decided to grace me with his presence. “Nick Crane, nice to see you.” He ambled in, holding a manila folder. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Mel Weeks had more than fifteen years on me, but he was a good guy, the best actually. He’d been by my side through it all—the death of my parents, the days when I had made it big and earned my first billion, my wedding to Candy, and everything in between. He was almost more than a lawyer to me. Almost, because at the end of the day, I paid him. “Don’t bullshit me, Mel.”
He smirked and slipped his glasses on his face after opening the folder. “Right. Well, let’s get down to it.”
I nodded.
“Your prenup is ironclad. I should know because I drew it up. I think I have a good purview of your finances. And Candy’s. This here is everything. It’s your petition for divorce.” He pulled out a thick stack of papers stapled in one corner and slapped them on the table in front of me. “Look it over and sign on the dotted line when you’re ready.”
All those years came down to a stack of papers. It felt like some sick joke. One signature, and we would be done for. “That easy?” Suddenly the papers felt far heavier in my hands, my mind bogged down with a million memories.
Mel angled his head, regarding me closely. “Nothing in life is ever that easy, so this might as well be.”
I said nothing. Really, there was nothing to say.
“I’m here for you, Nick. I’ll take care of this like I have everything else you’ve ever needed.”
My stomach rolled over on itself.Don’t remind me.I flipped through the pages, and my eyes caught a few lines here and there. It was horribly boring stuff, and I really didn’t care to check up on Mel. I paid him handsomely for a reason—he was damn good at what he did. I knew he would never screw me over. Candy, however, he had no such loyalty to. “I don’t want to fight Candy on anything. Let her have whatever she wants,” I said, causing his expression to turn wrinkled, but I didn’t care. Likewith everything, I wanted what I wanted, and I may not have been able to have Candy at the end of the day, but I sure as shit would have my say in this. “The penthouse, for example. Give it to her. I know she’ll want it.”
“But, Nick—”
I shot a hand up, my eyes catching sight of the time on my watch. This meeting was definitely over. I had to commend him for thinking I gave a crap about what he had to contribute to this specific topic. It was foolish. “I mean it, Mel.” He was my lawyer. A friend, maybe, but there were lines.
He shook his head and pushed his glasses that were sliding off his face up the bridge of his nose. “My job is to protect you.”
“And do what I want,” I reminded him, my expression serious.
“You’ll regret acting hastily.”
“I won’t. You better hear me on this, Mel,” I warned, reminding him exactly who I was.
Throwing his hands up in the air, he leaned back. “Okay, okay. If that’s what you want.”
No question about it. I nodded. “Then I think we’re done here. When you have the final version with the division of property edits, courier it to me for signature. I came down here today, but I have no interest in coming back to your office.”
Mel nodded and stood up as I did. He organized all the papers into his folder again and tapped it on the mahogany table. “Of course.”
Two words that signaled someone’s willingness to do as I’d said. It was pure fucking music to my ears.
Chapter 12
drip with its victim’s blood
CANDY
I folded my arms and angled my head, observing the sight in front of me in a way that was reminiscent of my first time experiencing the magnificence of an operatic performance.
