Page 15 of Shadowing Bright
“An hour and a half?I had my house waiting.Well, my first house; it was small, but it was mine.I was comfortable there until I got myself stable.”
He snorted fire again.
She looked at him.“Stop that.”
His gaze got sly.“Make me.All you have to do is pull some of my rage into you.”
“No.And that is how I eat, by the way.I pull the extra emotion in and use it.I am ten years away from you now, and I am not going to lock myself into another ten.”
“Why not?”
“There is no benefit other than social confinement.I still have time to find a guy and have a family.The Depfords won’t help, so this time, I will have to find one on my own, and I need to start looking now.”
“Why?”
“I am thirty-three.I want to raise a family, play with my kids while I am young enough to chase them.I have homes in a number of good areas now, with schools and high schools available.”She looked at him.“I am stuck in limbo with you.The divorce is me leaving limbo.”
“I will fight you on it.”
“You can’t.You abandoned me.”She spoke seriously.
He froze.“I sent money.”
“I don’t know where it went, but it didn’t come to me, and if my family got it, feel free to sue them.You can’t provide one call, one text, a letter, an email.Nothing.That is the definition of abandonment.You were gone, and there was no contact.There is also the other aspect of what constitutes a marriage, and we never did that either.I know you were too young back then, but I wasn’t, and I have needs that have never been met.Frustrating as hell.”
His eyes flared black.
“Oh, stow it.”
He blinked rapidly.“What?”
“I said stow it.I waited.I waited, and now I want out.My lawyer is pushing through the paperwork, and I have talked to the mayor about it.He isn’t going to let outside parties get in the way.”
“He seemed perfectly charming when I spoke to him yesterday.”
“He is perfectly charming.Was his assistant there?”
“No, he said something about her mentioning her bat, so we had a private audience.”
She grinned.“Nice.Leo’s a sport.”
There was a soft knock.“Miss Vaia?I am here to take you to your MRI.”
“Oh.Great.”
The male orderly smiled.“I will have to lift you.Is that all right?”
“Yup.”She adjusted her bed to sitting.
Azreen scowled.“I will lift you.”
The all-plastic chair was pushed into the room, and the brakes were engaged.
The orderly smiled and explained precisely how to lift her up and out of the bed, including her putting her arm around Azreen’s neck on her good side.
Her leg and side twinged, but he moved her fairly smoothly around the bed and onto the chair with the leg extended.
“How long will she be?”
