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“Then I suggest you leave right now,” Nicky advised. “And the words you should’ve said are uglier.” Her lips curled in a sneer as the anger over his betrayal hit her fast and hard. “Because you made this ugly the minute you decided to cheat on our marriage. Or maybe that should’ve been even uglier.” She advanced toward him, driven by the rage, humiliation, and hurt surging through her. “Because while you watched me suffer through miscarriage after miscarriage, you were starting a family with someone else.”
“Nicky, that wasn’t planned!” Eric’s eyes widened, and he held his hands up in front of him, taking a step back.
“Where are you going to live?” Nicky asked as a terrible thought struck her.
“I bought another house where Sophie and Gray live.” Eric eyed her warily.
“Gray?” Just when Nicky didn’t think he could squeeze more blood from her bleeding heart, he did. “You named your son Gray!”
“We both chose that name, and after your first miscarriage—“ Eric stopped talking and swallowed as he glanced at her clenched fists.
“You thought what?” Nicky breathed furiously. “I wasn’t going to ever use the name, so you and your mistress may as well use it like a pair of cast-off shoes.”
“Be fair, Nicky!” Eric warned her. “Remember, I’ve been very lenient with my demands for the divorce.”
“Oh wow!” Nicky’s voice resonated with sarcasm. “You’re the one that cheated and had a secret family for seven years, butyou’vegot demands,“ she pointed out. “I’ll bet if I check on who paid for the house your second family is living in, I own half of it.” She knew she was being petty, but she couldn’t help it. Her mind was reeling and in a total state of confusion. At that moment, she was powered by her anger, hurt, and shock. “The car you drive.” She pulled a face. “I bought that too. It’s also in my name because your credit is shot because of all your bad business startups.”
“There’s no need to rub your success in my face, Nicky!” Eric’s eyes lit with anger once again. “At least I wasn’t the one that failed at the one thing we wanted most in our lives.” He looked at her smugly as his words made her flinch like he’d slapped her. “Having a family.”
“Get out!” Nicky said through gritted teeth. “I’ll have my attorney look over the divorce papers first thing in the morning and send any amendments through, as well as any audits I may need.”
“I told you I’ve given you everything in the divorce.” Eric’s eyes widened at the word audit, which sent alarm bells ringing in her head. “There’s no need for audits, Nicky. Please, I just want us to have an amicable divorce.”
“Oh!” Nicky’s voice took on an I-understand-now tone, and she saw him look at her warily for a few seconds. “How silly of me to get upset.” She relaxed her features, and she saw him visibly relax. “I’m sorry for being such a... what did you say?” She frowned as if trying to remember what he’d called her earlier. “Oh, yes, a jealous shrew.” She rolled her eyes mockingly. “You know what?” She had wide eyes. “I’ll see my attorney first thing in the morning, sign off on the divorce, and then we can all have Sunday lunch and be good friends.”
His brow furrowed as he stared at her intently, trying to figure out if she was being serious.
“Are you being serious?” Eric asked, looking at her with uncertainty.
“NO!” Nicky fumed, her chest rising and falling as she felt her anger wanting to spew out like a fire-breathing dragon and burn him to cinders. “If you wanted an amicable divorce, you never should’ve cheated on me in the first place, let alone have a second secret family that I’ve probably been supporting while I also funded your new business.”
“Nick, don’t start a war over this, please,” Eric warned her.
“You started it seven years ago,” Nicky pointed out. “Now, please leave my house.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow about picking up the rest of my things.” Eric had the audacity to say as he turned to get his suitcases.
“No, you won’t.” Nicky walked with him to the front door and held out her hand. “I want your house keys.”
“How will I get back in to collect the rest of my stuff?” Eric asked her in disbelief.
“I have my people call yours.” Nicky finally got to say the line she’d always wanted to say but didn’t expect to say to her husband. “Keys, please, and just be thankful I’m letting you take the car.”
Eric’s eyes widened even more as he quickly pulled the house keys and gate remote from his key ring and handed them to her. He was halfway through the door when he stopped and turned toward her. Nicky saw a flicker of remorse flash in his eyes for the first time that evening.
“Nick...” Eric started to say, but she held her hand up, silencing him.
“Whatever you have to say, pass it on to my attorney,” Nicky told him, slamming and locking the front door once he’d stepped through it.
She knew it was childish, but it felt good to slam the door in his face, and she couldn’t help thinking how final it was as she closed the door on yet another chapter of her life. After which, she leaned her forehead against the front door, twisted so her back was against it, and slid to the floor. Hugging her knees to her chest, she burst into tears when a wet nose was pushed between her arms. Nicky wrapped her arms around Belvedere and sobbed into the night.
Pent-up emotions, frustrations, and stress from the past five years of her life burst like an overflowing dam as the house around her drifted into darkness. Through her oophorectomy four years ago and her father’s death three years ago, just before Eric started his new business, Nicky had held herself together. But she no longer had anything to hold onto, and she’d run out of emotional duct tape as she curled into a ball next to the front door, sobbing into the soft fur of her faithful companion.
CHAPTER 2
Sixmonthslater
Nicky stood on the balcony of her Coconut Grove home overlooking Biscayne Bay. She leaned on the railing, closed her eyes, and drew a deep breath, letting her mind wander back to the day she’d found the house.
