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I planned to start with $150K and go from there until I reach Nicolo’s final offer, but seeing as she’s not interested, and the fact that she’s Caroline, of all people, changed my course of action.
After all, this is the “I’m going to marry rich” Caroline, the “I’ll take you on a states tour in my Porsche one day” Caroline.
“He can keep his blood-stained money.”
“Since when do you care what money is coated with? This is your livelihood, Caroline, so take it and you can even demand more, depending on how much damage he inflicted on you.”
She smiles a little. “I thought you were his attorney, but here you are offering me advice. Sure you don’t want to change sides?”
“Quit joking.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Take the money.”
“No.”
“Since when is that word in your vocabulary when it comes to money?”
“Since I grew a backbone.” She stares in the direction of my floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the skyline.
As tiny droplets of rain hit the glass and countless others follow, Caroline’s low voice carries with the sound like a haunting melody. “I was married when I first met Mateo. My first husband was everything I’d ever wished for. A frat boy with Mommy and Daddy’s oil fortune. He gave me my fairy-tale dream. A big house, luxurious cars, and trips to exotic places. Oh, and a few black eyes. But hey, some fairy tales need to have an abusive Prince Uncharming with fertility issues, right? He crushed my dream to conceive children of our own, and I still stayed. But then he cheated on me. I grew a backbone between that and hearing that he’d been telling people I was the infertile one.
“Mateo came into the picture when my loser of an ex-husband chose his girlfriend as his next affair. In pure mafia fashion, Mateo kidnapped them, strapped both her and Steven to chairs with duct tape, brought me over, and told me, ‘Want some old-fashioned revenge?’ And then we fucked in front of them. It was the best sex of my life, which is probably a poor reason to stay with Mateo now that I think about it. We got married soon after I divorced Steven and I thought I was turning over a new leaf.”
“But?” I ask in a soft voice.
Her eyes fill with tears and she blinks them away. “But he’s no different than Steven and all the other men. He got bored, and bored men cheat. I walked in on him wrapped up with his side piece in a hotel room.”
“Did you sign a prenup?”
“No. Nicolo threatened me to do it, but Mateo was vehemently against it.”
“Did Mateo own things after the marriage?”
“Yeah. A resort and some real estate.”
“You can own some of that if you can prove emotional and maybe physical distress. If you were trying for a baby, that can be added to play on the judge’s favor. You have to emphasize that you stayed with your infertile, abusive and cheating ex-husband and thought you’d get a new chance with Mateo, but he didn’t keep his part of the bargain. There’s an eighty percent chance you’ll win half of his assets owned after the marriage.”
She snorts out laughing and I pause.
“What?”
“You really haven’t changed. People usually try to comfort me and offer fake apologies in these situations, not suggest I sue for a mafia boss’s assets.”
“Only half, not all, and it’s not all of his assets. You have no right to his inheritance. Besides, I’m not good at comforting. It’ll just come off as uncoordinated and awkward and will serve no purpose. My advice, however, can be useful.”
“Are you sure you should be offering me that advice? Nicolo will off you if he finds out.”
“He doesn’t need to find out. Any lawyer, including the one you fired, would give you this advice. Besides, how did you know Nicolo hired me and not Mateo?”
“Nicolo calls all the shots in that godforsaken family. The only reason he’s allowing the divorce and not sending one of his goons to off me is because he doesn’t want to lose Mateo.”
“Why?”
“Mateo is the rook in his chessboard, and apparently, that’s important according to my soon-to-be ex-husband.”
“I meant, why would he need to allow the divorce? Isn’t this yours and Mateo’s idea?”
“Mateo doesn’t want a divorce, which is why he’s in jail after beating the hell out of my date last night. I hope he stays there for a few days.”
“I wouldn’t hold out much hope. He’s probably out as we speak.” Especially if Kingsley is his attorney. He’d get him out on bail in no time.
