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"I wish someone had said as much to me before I married him," Rowan muttered.
"Had I known you, I would have."
She believed him. "But Cyrus and I met in the States and that's where we got married." After a whirlwind courtship, that looking back on, had all sorts of red flags.
But her family had been all in on the idea of her marrying an Andino and Rowan had been completely taken in by Cyrus's charm and good looks. He'd known just what to say and how to act. Of course, at the time she'd had no idea he'd been getting coaching from her own father.
"Tell me about your prenuptial agreement."
"Are you saying you haven't managed to get yourself a copy?"
"I admit I never even tried. It was of little interest to me. You, the most intriguing woman I'd met, were married to my detestable half-brother."
Rowan hadn't been the only one avoiding Lysander since that dance. He'd done a good job of avoiding her as well. The feelings she had around him confused her and only later had she realized they were attracted to each other. By then, she'd been grateful for his discretion. Unlike her ex, Rowan had considered her wedding vows inviolate.
"Why do you want to hear about it now?"
"Because you assume that learning you have had sex with me will end Cyrus's interest in you. Forgive me, but my brother clearly didn't appreciate what he had in you when you were married, why so adamant now to get you back?"
"And you think something in the prenuptial agreement explains it?"
"Yes."
"Okay. You can read it. I'll send over a copy after I get home."
"Why not move back to the States?" he asked. "You went back to get the divorce?"
"I'm thirty years old," she told him. "I built a life for myself here in Athens. I have a job, even if it's one neither my family, nor Cyrus ever considered much of."
"You work as a career counselor for women going back into the workforce after a prolonged absence."
"Yes, and I find it very rewarding. I believe in what my organization does. I like my coworkers. My boss doesn't hover. My apartment isn't big, but it has a great view, and I can walk to work and all the shops from there. I have friends that are closer than my brother and sister are to me. This is where my life is, and Cyrus isn't chasing me out of Athens."
Besides, moving back to the US wasn't going to make it harder for Cyrus to pursue her. He had a private jet and spent at least one week a month in New York on business.
No, she had to get him (and her father) to understand without a doubt that she had moved on and wasn't ever going to be amenable to reconciliation. If she still loved Cyrus, that would make her decision harder, but once he'd stopped playing the part of perfect man for her, she'd discovered they had almost nothing in common and certainly nothing of substance.
"Cyrus wants me back because he doesn't like losing. Full stop."
"Tell me, was there a clause in the prenup that ensured you retained ownership of all gifts given to you over the course of your marriage?"
"There might have been. I only read the document once. I didn't ask for it to be enforced in the divorce."
"But it was?" Lysander asked.
"Yes. The judge decreed that all stipulations and clauses would be adhered to the letter."
"As I thought. It is likely that Cyrus put things in your name as a tax shelter, or even to hide their existence. Now you have ownership and I am guessing it impacts his business in a seriously negative way if he doesn't get control of those assets back. Did you get shares in his company as part of the divorce settlement."
That shecouldanswer. "Yes. I got ten percent of his company and he got ten percent of my father's company, but now that the divorce is finalized, us getting remarried isn't going to change that."
"It could."
"If he convinced me to sign them over."
"Both your father and Cyrus have reason to want that outcome."
"Then you think if I sign the shares back over to Cyrus, he'll stop trying to pursue me?" She'd wanted to donate them to her organization as an ongoing source of income, but if it meant getting Cyrus out of her life entirely, she'd give them back in a hot minute.
