Page 18 of Carnal Wagers

Email from: Law Offices of Duke & Doley

Email to: Alizé De Villier

CC: Cillian O’Leary

Subject: Re: Spousal donations

Dear Mrs. Alizé De Villier,

We regret to inform you that unless the entire donation is sent within the month, as agreed upon nearly six years ago, our client will be forced to pursue legal action for breach of contract. You will promptly receive a similar letter by courier. We urge you to reconcile your differences and abide by the terms of your agreement for the continued well-being of your arrangement and the sake of you and your family’s business reputation.

Respectfully,

John Hanklin, Esq

Law Offices of Duke & Doley

Unknown

Have you received them yet?

Cillian

Who is this?

Unknown

Sign the divorce papers, Cillian!!!

I want my life back.

Every month, you’ll receive divorce papers.

At each of your homes. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Your businesses. ALL OF THEM.

Your lawyer’s office.

Your lawyer’s home.

Your brothers’ homes.

Every single month, you will get more until you sign, or they bury and suffocate you!

I’m not giving up.

(Phone number blocked)

Chapter 5

Alizé – twenty-nine / Cillian – thirty-four

Year Six of Marriage

The car hummed to a stop outside the meeting point, set as this quarter’s drop point in Dorchester, Boston. It was a one-story building with chipped, painted bricks, wet-stained cracks down the walls, and flyers pasted to grime-covered windows. I actioned the slide of my gun. The familiar click and snap were as humdrum as the act itself, just another necessity in life.

“Let me make myself clear, Liam.” I tucked the firearm into my waistband as our two men up front got out and scanned the area. “If you come with, I want you quiet. You can’t handle that, you park your arse right here, and you don’t move.”