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“Not really sure there’s a way to be prepared for divorcing the woman you love.” I looked around the house. Could I even stay here if she decided she wanted out? Every room smelled like her, held touches of her modern, elegant, minimalist decorating. She was in every square foot of this house. “There’s always the chance that she’ll decide to stay.”
“Axel, she still has an apartment near the rink. Pays a hefty rent on that sucker, too.”
“I know.” I rubbed the skin between my eyes. “I’m not saying she doesn’t have a safety net. After what’s happened to her in the past, I can’t fault her that.”
“There’s more.”
My stomach dropped, but I somehow found my voice. “Okay?”
“She changed her name on her driver’s license, social security, and credit cards, you know that, but her 401K, her investments, her car, and passport are still only in Pierce.”
I blinked, then shook my head. “That’s impossible. Not the accounts, but the passport. We’ve traveled internationally. We were just in Canada three weeks ago for a game.” I put the bottle down on the counter with a click as my thoughts took off at light speed.
“The accounts...well, that shows that she was willing to do the day-to-day change, but her long-term planning remained in her maiden name. And the passport could be the same thing.”
“Right.” My voice slipped into a lower, quieter octave.
“Look, Axel. It’s my job as your attorney to keep you protected on all fronts. I think about these things so you don’t have to. If you guys stay married, then great, I’ll shred these papers happily. But if you go through with your initial agreement and need to file, I have the documents ready. That’s all I wanted to tell you. No matter what your choice is, I have you covered.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Right. Thanks, Will.”
“No problem. Good luck this week. I’m looking forward to the Boston game.”
We hung up, and I stared at the open pantry door. The shelves were full of foods we both loved. Everything in the kitchen was. My health foods and her chocolate. My blender and her coffee pot. We’d combined everything on the surface, but what about deeper?
I was in love with Langley. I had been since she’d shown up to work with Lukas last year and had given me an earful of snark and an eyeful of incredible beauty. Never once in that quick visit had I thought she’d actually be mine. And now she was, all because I’d exploited her need for me on the Reapers.
I’d always been in this deeper than she was, but lately, I’d felt like she was coming around to my end of the pool, where she didn’t need to touch the ground to feel safe. Was it all in my head?
My cards were on the table with her, but did I really know hers?
A sick, anxious feeling settled in my stomach and I threw back the rest of the beer. Desperate. I felt desperate. I was wildly in love with a woman who didn’t trust anyone but herself, and I’d done everything to show her she could trust me but was it enough? What the fuck was I going to do to keep her here? To keep her married to me?
The front door opened, and I startled.
“I’m home!” Langley’s voice echoed up the entryway.
I threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin and headed for her. “How’s Connell?”
She grinned when she saw me coming, looking over her shoulder as she hung her coat in the hall closet. “Hi, you. He’s regretting pissing off Regina in travel, that’s for sure.”
“What? That little redhead with the freckles?” I put a face to the name of the woman who made all our travel arrangements.
“Yep.” She slipped off her heels and sighed in pleasure when her bare feet hit the ground. Her suit was perfect for business but still feminine, just like she was. “I called her once the TSA mess was solved, and I guess he must have done something last week because when I told her we needed commercial tickets, she put him in coach.”
My eyes widened.
“Like, last row coach, where the seats don’t lean back. All six-foot-four of him.” She nodded, shrugging off her suit coat, leaving her in a red silk blouse and black skirt. “He was definitely not laughing by the time we landed.”
“Maybe it will teach him to leave the staff alone?” I questioned. The guy was devious. Didn’t hurt anyone physically, but damn, did he find everything funny. “He hasn’t messed with you, right?”
She laughed, coming over to me and winding her arms around my neck. “Me? He knows better. What he calls a prank, I call front page of the sports section.”
Her touch soothed the nerves that Will had brought to life, but that sick, desperate feeling still rode at me hard.
