She glared at him and jumped up off of her chair. "How dare you throw me out into the street!" she shouted. "I'll take you to court and I will get everything you have! All of it! I'll tell them how beastly you've been to me and then I'll get every red cent you have and this house, and the cars and boats and everything else with it! All of it! It's all going to be mine if you try to kick me out, and then you know what, jackass? I'll kick you out onto the street!" she laughed wickedly at him.
Roman just shook his head at her. "You're really not the sharpest nail in the box, are you, Denise?" he asked calmly.
She shot daggers at him with her eyes. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.
He took a deep breath and sighed. "Do you remember that really big stack of papers that you signed before we got married?"
She looked at him blankly and he knew then that she didn't remember it. "It was a prenuptial agreement. You signed a legal document stating that you would not get anything if we ever divorced for any reason. Nothing. You get nothing at all, and you signed your name to the legal document that states that."
Denise shook her head and screamed at him at the top of her lungs.
He didn't flinch at all. "So tomorrow, you and your bitch mother get the hell out of this house and then I don't want to see you again until we go to court for the divorce. I'm done here, Denise, and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner."
She shrieked and threw a pillow at him. He only turned and walked out of the door, closing it behind him.
The next morning he left the house early and called his attorney on the way to his office. He told him he needed to get a divorce started and his attorney said that he would get the paperwork underway and call him back when it was finished.
When he walked into his office, he called both Allen and Janine in to have coffee with him.
They sat down and looked at him expectantly. It was unlike him to call them both in for a meeting unless something really big was happening.
"I want to thank you both, first for everything you've done for me; the two of you really kept this place going while I was in the hospital and out for recovery, and that loyalty means a lot to me." He handed each of them an envelope with a sizeable bonus in it.
"Second, you've both done everything you could to help me with the situations that have arisen both in my personal life and here with the business, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. There are going to be more changes coming up in the immediate future."
They looked at him watchfully, waiting to hear what was going to happen.
"I'm getting a divorce. I contacted my attorney this morning and it will be official as soon as he can get the paperwork done. She signed a prenuptial agreement before we were married, so no matter what she says, she gets nothing." He took a deep breath and sighed.
Both Janine and Allen stared at him in shock. Neither one of them ever thought that Roman would be getting a divorce, no matter what his bitch of a wife put him through.
Roman looked at Janine. "If she calls, there's nothing I have to say to her, and nothing she needs to say to me that's important enough for her to get through this office line to me."
Janine grinned at him. "Got it!" she said happily.
He continued. "If she comes into the office, I want her arrested. She has no business in here."
Janine looked like it was Christmas morning and she had gotten everything on her list.
Roman looked at Allen who wasn't doing anything to hide his smile either.
"As far as the Senator goes, please call him immediately and tell him what's happening. Assure him that Denise will not be contacting him ever again, and if she does, she has absolutely no affiliation with us. Make that clear to him." Roman sat back in his chair and looked at them both.
"I'm really glad we are such a good team,” he said in a tired voice. He excused them and Allen left right away to go call the Senator. It wasn't thirty minutes before Allen was back in Roman's office with an ear to ear grin on his face.
Roman asked him to sit down.
Allen could not have been more pleased. "I called the Senator and told him what's going on. He was surprised at first, and he said he felt like it wasn't really his business what was going on, but when I told him that Denise would no longer be affiliated with us whatsoever, he got so excited. He wants to meet us down at the boat today with a check for the whole purchase. In fact, he asked if we could join him there for lunch."
Roman's eyebrows raised up in surprise. "Wow, you weren't waiting around for that at all! Well, let's book a lunch date with him. We have a lot of business on the books right now, but nothing at all as important or as significant as the Senator. If he wants us there for lunch, we'll be there."
Allen saluted him and ran off to make the arrangements. Roman's morning looked like it was turning around already, and he felt better, too; like he had been tethered to an old decaying dock and had finally broken free and was headed for a new horizon.
Lunchtime came quickly and Allen and Roman rode together to go meet the Senator. Edward and Carmen were waiting for them on the dock with Captain Heatherwick, and were delighted to see them.
Edward extended his hand to Roman. "I'm so sorry about your current personal situation,” he said kindly.
Roman shook his head. "I appreciate that. I should have done it a long time ago."
Edward nodded. "Well then, I hope it all works out for the best for you." Roman could see that he meant it.
"Well, you didn't come here to talk about me; let's all head over to the real reason that we are here!" Roman said with a smile, and every one of his associates smiled back at him and they all headed onto the yacht.
Janine had worked out a catered lunch, and they all sat in the dining room eating Thai food and talking about the boat and other various things. Jonathon and Edward found themselves sharing stories about old sea-faring days and entertaining the group, and their lunch stretched late into the afternoon. Janine and Allen cleared it away and Edward and Carmen presented Roman with a check for the full sum of the cost of the yacht.
The couple invited all who were aboard to come back and visit them, mentioning that they would all be asked back regularly, and everyone was pleased to hear it.
Allen and Janine went back to the office to close up for the day while Roman went to the bank to deposit the Senator's check.
He got a call when he left the bank and saw that it was from Janine.
"Are you busy?" she asked happily.
Roman thought he heard something different and strange in her voice. "No, I'm free; what's going on? Is everything alright?"
"It is now." Janine said. "'The Wife'... wait, I'm going to start calling her 'The Ex'. Anyway, while us cats were away on the yacht this afternoon, the little 'Ex Mouse' came to play. She broke into the office, and I can prove she broke in because the first thing I did this morning after our meeting was have the locks changed at the office. When we got back from our meeting this afternoon, Allen and I discovered her rifling through every single paper in your office. All of your file drawers were dumped all over the floor, from the cabinets, from your desk, and even from my desk."
Roman stopped his car and pulled over. "You're kidding! What in the world was she doing? Has she lost her mind?"
Janine began to chuckle. "No, Roman, she hasn't lost her mind. She said she was looking for her prenuptial agreement. She was going to destroy it, I think. I have no idea why she thought you'd keep something like that here. Isn't one copy in the safe at home and the other copy with your attorney?"
Roman shook his head and covered his face with his hands. "Yes, that's where they are. She doesn't know about the safe at home."
Janine laughed right out loud then. "She doesn't? This might be one of the best days of my life! Anyway, we came in and found her rifling through everything and I called the police and had her arrested."
Roman sat straight up and stared out of his windshield without seeing anything in front of hi
m. "You what?!" he asked in surprise.
"I had her arrested for breaking and entering and destruction of private property." Janine was sounding extremely smug.
He sat there in his car in utter amazement. "You're kidding. Wow. I can't even imagine that."
Janine was thrilled. "You should have seen them cuff her and read her rights to her, and then put her in the back of the police car. I got photos on my cell phone and put it up on my Facebook page and Twitter account already."
Roman gasped and coughed simultaneously. "You're kidding! You didn't do that!" he almost sounded as if he was scolding her, but then she knew he wasn't.
"I most certainly did. There goes her ride to the top of the social climbing ladder." Janine chuckled again.
Roman shook his head in disbelief and then finally let loose a laugh and a sigh of humor. "Well, are you two going to be at the office much longer?"
"No, Allen already went home. I just started picking things up. It looks like a hurricane came through here; but don't worry, I got photos of it before I started cleaning it up. Evidence, you know. Hey Roman," Janine said, sounding slightly concerned,
"you might want to go to the house and make sure everything is alright there. I have arranged to have the locks changed tonight at five. That gave her the day to move out. If she needs anything after five tonight, she can call me for it and I'll take care of it."
Roman felt a heaviness in the pit of his stomach, wondering what she might have done to the house. He took a deep breath and told himself it couldn't be too bad, whatever it was.
"I'll call you when I get to the house and let you know what kind of condition it's in. Don't worry about the mess in the office, we can clean it up tomorrow." She said goodbye and he drove toward his house, wondering what he would find when he got there. The house was quiet and dark, and he wasn't sure what to expect, but he didn't see anyone in it, and at first everything at the front of the house looked fine.
He walked back to his office and discovered that she had ransacked it, looking for the prenuptial agreement as well. He sighed, looking at the mess scattered all over the floor. Then he headed to the library and saw that she'd gone through the desk and files in there as well, but of course, he knew she hadn't come up with anything. He checked the rest of the house and found that it was all in order, just as it should have been.
He hesitated outside of the room Agnes was staying in, knocked on the door and hearing no answer, he went in. It was empty of everything that had been hers and a few things that had been in the room before she had moved in. It was encouraging to see the room empty. Next, he strolled down the hall to Denise's room and opened the door.
Her things were gone, but the room was a demolished mess. Windows were broken, walls had holes in them, and one of the closet doors had a hole in it. She had left the water running in the tub and sink; probably to try to flood the place, he thought, but she hadn't bothered to plug the drains, so the water was just running and wasting away.
He shut it off and looked around the room. He decided he would have an insurance agent come to check on it in the morning. He went to his room last. He had locked it when he left that morning, sure that it was in his best interest to do so, and he found that his room was untouched, which was a huge relief to him because he was exhausted from the long couple of days he’d had.
Roman headed to bed, hoping to sleep deep enough to forget everything that had happened, at least for the night, and that's just what he did.
The next day dawned bright and early, and Roman headed in to the office. He called the insurance adjustor to go to the house and to come by the office, and that was handled.
The insurance company mentioned that they may try to subrogate and go after her to recoup their losses, if it was at all possible.
His attorney called him and told him that his divorce could be final in as little as 45 days if she signed the agreements right away. He crossed his fingers for that, and his attorney suggested that perhaps if Roman offered her a single monetary settlement, she may be more inclined to sign them, as her prenuptial had prevented her from receiving any alimony.
Roman considered it an investment in his future to get her out of his life as quickly and cleanly as possible. He told his attorney to offer her one million for the divorce, and the attorney said he would let him know right away what her response was.
Janine had never looked so happy at work and Allen was still floating on cloud nine from his sale. Captain Heatherwick was off looking at new yachts, and Roman had finally begun to feel like his life was headed in the right direction.
He wanted to spend some time with Cami and Emma more than anything else, and so he called Janine into his office and asked her for a favor. She was more than happy to help him, and was instrumental in making it all work.
Roman called Cami and asked her if he could take her out for dinner and a conversation. She agreed and he asked if Janine could babysit for them, and Cami agreed to that as well.
"Please make sure Emma has a lot of breast milk ready for Janine. I don't want her to run out,” he mentioned in concern.
Cami assured him that there would be more than enough for Janine to take care of Emma. Roman told her he would pick her up around five that afternoon, and he left to take care of his arrangements for the night.
The Final Chapter
Roman pulled his car up at Cami's house and went to the door. She opened it up with a big smile and his daughter playing happily in her arms. Roman took his daughter and held her close to him, breathing in her sweet baby scent and kissing her soft cheeks.
He played with her for a little while, and then her Auntie Janine showed up, and Roman smiled thankfully at her and took Cami out to his car with him.
She got in and was quiet for a few minutes and then her curiosity got the better of her. "Where is it that we are going?" she asked. "You seem so full of mystery tonight!"
He only smiled at her and said, "I'm keeping my word to you."
She shook her head at him. "I don't know what you are talking about, but I trust you implicitly, and I'll say this, too. I've never seen you as happy as you are right now, so whatever it is that you have up your sleeve is fine with me. I don't care what it is, if it makes you this happy, it's fine with me." She grinned at him and he took her hand in his and lifted her fingers to his mouth, kissing them softly before letting go of her hand.
The touch of his lips on her fingers made her catch her breath, but she told herself she had to focus on being friends with him. She could not ever afford herself the luxury of feeling what he really made her feel, because he was married and that was just the way that it was.
They curved down a long and winding private road with enormous trees lining both sides of it, and finally came to a stop at a boat house and a huge cabin. He helped her out of the car and they walked around the boat house and there before them, was the yacht that had carried them down to Mexico and back.
Cami gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my gosh! I didn't think I was ever really going to see it again! How in the world is it here?" She looked at Roman.
"You know the owner? They are letting you use it?" she asked with exhilaration.
He chuckled and took her by the hand, leading her to the boat. He helped her on deck and then he walked over to the main cabin door and unlocked it.
"I do know the owner." he said. "I know him very well, and I think you do too."
He turned on the lights and there in the main dining area, was the table all set up with taper candles and vases of red roses everywhere. The staff was lined up, resplendent in their uniforms, smiling. Then they dispersed themselves unobtrusively and returned to their duties.
Roman walked over to the stereo and turned it on, and soft romantic violin music began to play over the speakers. Then he walked to the table and lit the candles all over it, and all over the other areas of the dining room until it was aglow in candlelight, and then he turned the lights off and walked over to Cami, takin
g her hands in his.
She hesitated, looking around her and paused where she stood. "Roman, this looks amazing... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful in my life, but we said we were going to be friends. We said we were going to try as hard as we could to just be friends. This is incredible, but this doesn't feel like friends to me." She spoke softly, looking up at him with sad eyes through her thick lashes.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her. "Well, my life has taken a few turns this last week. Denise has moved out and we are in the middle of a divorce. It will be official in about five weeks, maybe less if my attorney makes himself worth the money I pay him."
Cami stared at him with wide eyes full of surprise. "You're kidding!" she said in shock. "That's... that's unbelievable! What happened?"
The Baby Shower Page 112