by Lee, Nadia
In any event, he beat her to the punch. “How are you feeling?” Gavin’s eyes searched her face, then dropped to her belly. “No ill effects, nausea, feeling sick?”
She shook her head. “I’m pregnant, not diseased.”
She went ahead before he could throw any more questions about her condition. Why should she bear his sudden solicitousness? It’d only make the inevitable more painful.
Unfortunately, they ended up sharing an elevator. She stood to one side, staying as far away from the two men as possible.
“There’s nothing wrong with civility, you know,” Gavin said.
“Like standing me up on a special anniversary dinner without calling?” She raised her index finger. “I know. Family emergency, halfway across the country. Because Catherine needed you.”
“I won’t argue with you in an elevator.”
“Too bad. I don’t need Samantha to win this one,” she said sweetly.
Craig coughed discreetly; Gavin shot her a dark glare.
The elevator opened with a soft ping, and she stepped out as quickly as possible and marched straight for the receptionist’s desk.
Amandine didn’t have to say a word. The receptionist recognized them immediately and led them to a conference room in the center of the floor. Leather-bound books crammed built-in bookshelves, and figurines and objets d’art took up space in recessed nooks. Warm and inviting, the room looked like something out of a home decoration magazine rather than a lawyer’s office.
“Glad everyone’s here on time,” Samantha said as she walked inside with an accordion folder and a purse. Almost the same age as Craig, she was a tall woman, almost six feet with her pumps. Short dirty blond hair framed an angular face with wide-set brown eyes and plump lips that seemed more appropriate for a pin-up girl than a lawyer. She wore a slim and well-fitted black skirt suit that showed off toned legs.
The receptionist brought drinks for everyone and left.
Gavin and Craig sat closest to the door, with Samantha and Amandine on the other side. The oak table between them felt like a DMZ.
“Before we start, I want to make it clear I’m interested in reconciliation,” Gavin said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to divorce, especially when we don’t have any hard feelings toward each other.”
Samantha pursed her mouth and studied her French manicured nails before saying, “You need more than ‘no hard feelings’ for a marriage to work.”
No kidding.
“We made a baby together,” Gavin said. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”
“Does it to you?” Amandine asked.
Before he could respond, Samantha put a hand on Amandine’s wrist and said, “What would my client get out of agreeing to a reconciliation?”
“Avoiding personal defeat.” Gavin leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers. “A divorce is a failure.”
Amandine bit her lower lip. The muscles around her neck tightened. Still no mention of love. Just not having any hard feelings and avoiding defeat. Failure.
But then success—at any cost—was the main driver for Gavin. He’d made twenty billion from risky bets, each leveraged at least hundred times. At first Amandine hadn’t understood how he could do that without getting an incurable ulcer. But now she knew; he was convinced that he could never fail, never make a mistake large enough that he couldn’t somehow recoup the loss in another way. The idea that his marriage would end like this was unacceptable to his psyche.
“How long would this attempt at reconciliation last?” Samantha asked.
“A year,” Craig responded.
Amandine’s jaw dropped. “That’s absurd.”
Samantha squeezed Amandine’s wrist.
Gavin smiled. “I deserve at least that much since we’ve been married for three years.”
Amandine pulled away from Samantha’s hold. “Three weeks is plenty. One week per year.”
“Each year is worth at least a month, and there’s the jet.” Gavin leaned forward. “Four months.”
“Three, and you can keep the damn jet. Since I haven’t flown it, you might be able to return it and get your money back.” Amandine gave him a thin smile.
“Don’t be unreasonable, Mrs. Lloyd,” Craig said.
“Don’t call me Mrs. Lloyd, for god’s sake,” Amandine snapped at the lawyer and turned her gaze to Gavin. “If you can’t change my mind after three months, you aren’t going to change it by hanging around a month longer. I’m not some blue chip you can hold onto, hoping I’ll rise in value.”
Samantha coughed into her hand. “She has a point.”
Gavin shot her a dirty look. “Everyone out except Amandine.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk to her alone,” Craig began. “Legal—”
“Quiet, Craig. I’ll let you know when I want your opinion,” Gavin said, not even bothering to look at his lawyer.
“I’m not letting you talk to my client without me present,” Samantha said.
“I can’t leave if she” —Craig gestured at Samantha— “is staying.”
Gavin’s jaw flexed. “I’m paying you to be helpful, and it’d be helpful if you shut up.”
Amandine sighed. “Gavin, stop and say what you want. I’m not going to ask Samantha to leave just to make you feel comfortable.”
Gavin narrowed his eyes. “Fine.” He tapped the table once. “For the four months—and no, the duration is not negotiable—you are to be a loving, agreeable wife.”
She squinted at him. “You want a Stepford Wife?”
“I didn’t say brain-dead and mindless,” he said testily. “Just agreeable.”
“Oh excuuuuse me.” Amandine waved her hand. “Do go on.”
“I will also want sex.”
She choked. “Sex is not the cause of our problem.”
“But it can help solve it.”
“Forget it.”
His eyes grew hard. “Don’t push me on this point. You won’t win.”
She clenched her hands and forced her jaw to relax so she could get her question out. “What position and how many times a month?”
“It’ll be my job to ensure you’re interested. You just need to be receptive to my advances.”
“Like a prostitute?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had to pay for sex.” His gaze was steady, and his voice was firm and clear as he said, “I’ve always been faithful to you.”
Amandine swallowed. “We aren’t here because I thought you were cheating on me.”
She was certain he’d never slept with anybody else since they became an item. Two-timing was never an issue. Emotional unavailability was.
“I just wanted you to know that.” Gavin’s voice was terse.
“Well, that’s touching, but my client needs more than just avoiding a failure if she were to agree to this outlandish proposition,” Samantha said.
“If we reconcile, she will have unlimited access to my assets,” Gavin said.
Before he could say more, Craig leaned forward. “If not, she’ll get what she’s legally entitled to. It’s no loss to her.”
“Really? I’m to give up four months of my life for something I’m already entitled to?” Amandine said. “You think I’m stupid?”
Gavin raised a hand. “I’ll pay for all your medical bills. It’s not cheap to have a baby in this country. Plus I’ll set up a sizable trust fund for the child. No strings attached. He can pursue whatever his heart desires without ever having to worry about money.”
“Oh.” Amandine blinked. Mired in her immediate worries, she hadn’t thought about how she’d pay for hospital bills or the child’s future. She thought about her brother Pete, and how highly he valued making as much money as possible. If he hadn’t been so obsessed with becoming rich, he might have pursued something he liked more.
Her stung pride goaded her into saying, “I have money, too.”
Gavin snorted. “The ten thousand from your mother’s life insurance? You can�
�t even buy a closet with that, much less maintain the kind of life you’re accustomed to.”
“You have no idea what kind of life I want.” It never included a fortune in clothes she’d never choose for herself just to fit in with his family and friends, or a man who was hardly ever home.
“Enlighten me.”
“If I have to stay with you for four months, I want everything you just offered plus I expect you to give up all parental rights to the baby if things don’t work out.” Amandine put a hand over her belly. “Since you’re so confident about the outcome, surely you can gamble that much.”
“Hold on a minute!” Craig leaned forward over the table. “The child deserves to know his father.”
“I never said he couldn’t come near the kid. Just that I want full—and sole—custody.”
“Fine,” Gavin said, the word clipped and final. “Have it your way.”
“Great,” Samantha interjected. “Draft a document with all these items and send it to my office for review, will you?”
“Expect it in the next two hours.” Gavin rose and started to leave with his lawyer. Then he paused at the door and lowered his voice. “You just raised the stakes to the point where I’d lose more than I could afford.”
Her mouth dry, Amandine watched him walk away, his limbs loose and relaxed. Had she pushed him too far? He might as well have said, “I’m going to nuke your world, baby.”
“You okay?” Samantha asked.
“Yes. I’m fine,” Amandine lied.
Did it matter how Gavin felt about the reconciliation conditions? He wasn’t the only one who was risking more than he could afford. If she let him charm her for four months, got into a situation where she fell even more deeply in love with him but still couldn’t stay, then she’d be the real loser.
* * *
“That went well,” Craig said in the elevator.
“Nothing I hadn’t expected,” Gavin said flatly.
“Why do you want to salvage the marriage so much? Your wife seems eager to leave with the baby. You could’ve gotten rid of her without paying a penny. She would’ve taken the deal if she could keep the kid,” Craig said. When Gavin shot him a hard look, he raised a hand, palm out. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I just want to understand where you’re coming from so I can help you better.”
Gavin considered. Amandine was kind, sweet and patient. Most importantly she was loyal, and loyalty was everything. “She’s a good wife,” he told Craig. “Do I need any other reason?”
Craig’s brow creased but he didn’t ask any more questions, which was a relief. It wasn’t his job to understand. It was his job to make sure Gavin got what he wanted.
Gavin had hoped Amandine wouldn’t insist on sole custody of the child, but if he hadn’t agreed to it, she would’ve walked.
Why couldn’t he himself, as a man, be enough?
Gavin hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told her the stakes were too high for him. People thought he was reckless with his trades, leveraged to the point of suicide. But he never bet more than he could afford on any trade.
Amandine wanted to be convinced to stay married to him? She’d get some convincing. For the next four months he’d devote his full attention to the matter, until she couldn’t remember why she’d wanted a divorce in the first place.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his body tight like a boxer before the bell. He’d win, by fair means or foul.
But first, he needed to make a call. He dialed as soon as he was in the privacy of his car.
“Uncle Tony.”
“Hey there, favorite nephew!” came a booming voice.
Gavin chuckled. “You say that to all of us.”
“Not all of you.” The voice became cool. “Not anymore.”
He winced. “Well…Jacob screwed up.”
“Should’ve thought about his mother before marrying that stripper. Poor Stella. Catherine too, of course.”
“Yeah.” They shared a moment of silence. “Listen, I need a favor.”
“I’m listening.”
“I heard you were going to stay at the family vacation home in Thailand this month. Is that true?”
“Yup. We’re on the Betsy Doll. Her maiden voyage. We’re already in Asia.”
Aw, shit. He’d forgotten about his uncle’s new yacht. There was nothing Uncle Tony loved more than cruising in style. “Do you mind delaying your arrival by…say, about six weeks or so? I’m thinking about staying at the vacation home with Amandine.”
“The place is plenty big enough. I don’t see why we can’t share.”
“She and I have some delicate issues to work through. She might not feel comfortable with relatives around.”
“You in trouble with your wife?”
“Sort of.”
“A jet couldn’t get you out of jail for free?”
“How do you know about the jet?”
“Some of us bet on what you’d give to top the pink Mercedes, so we checked with Hilary.”
Though she usually kept her mouth shut, Gavin’s trusty executive admin probably saw no reason to keep that information secret from his family once the anniversary was over. “Who won?”
“No one. None of us came even close.” He laughed. “I’m just glad you weren’t around when I was young. Martha loves pricey toys.”
“I can imagine.” Tony had married a woman who loved to spend money as much as he did.
“Anyway, how come you’re in trouble with Amandine? A jet isn’t enough to make up for whatever you did wrong?”
“I gave it to her before the…incident.”
“Bad timing.”
“Uh-huh,” Gavin said noncommittally. Amandine would’ve been even more furious if he’d given it to her after. The situation needed a delicate touch…which reminded him, he needed to tell Hilary to forget about the yacht. “I wouldn’t normally ask this of you, but there’s no way I can rent out an entire resort on just one day’s notice. And a resort full of other guests won’t work.”
“Too many people, too little privacy.”
“I’m glad you understand. Even if I could somehow manage to book an entire resort to myself, it would mean some families would have their vacations ruined.” A total dick move he didn’t intend to make. He might have achieved “more” status in life—more money or whatever—but that didn’t mean he had a license to be an asshole.
“Gotcha. Well, I suppose we could stop by some other places for a while. I hear the Maldives are nice this time of year.”
“They are. Thanks, Uncle Tony. I owe you one.”
“No problem. Just remember—getting out of trouble with women is all about the approach. Taking Amandine to a private tropical paradise? Great first move. You’re a smart kid, Gavin. I’m sure you’ll be able to work it out.”
* * *
Amandine sighed when she was alone in the room with Samantha. “Four months of pointless attempts. He won’t be able to change anything.” It’d be just like before. Him working, her staying home, and more crews and people hovering over her in case she needed anything. “Did you notice how he didn’t have his wedding band?”
“Yes, I did,” Samantha said. “But he seemed…sincere.”
“He threatened to take the baby last week. I’m sure the sincerity he felt at that time carried over.”
“Well.” Samantha leaned closer. “Listen, things look bad now because you didn’t immediately get the divorce you wanted, but consider a few things. One, your husband didn’t cheat on you, he didn’t beat you or verbally abuse you, he doesn’t drink or do drugs, and he’s always been very generous. Two, with the kind of resources and connections he has, he can make the divorce proceedings extremely unpleasant, costly and time consuming. But instead of fighting you, he’s trying to reconcile. Rejecting his offer outright may work against you, so I want you to think about it. It’s only for four months. If he’s as busy as you say, he’s probably not going to do anything except send you more presents, which yo
u can keep as per your prenup. After the four months are up, we’ll have solid proof that he’s too busy and unavailable for what any wife would reasonably expect in marriage—even after he promised to convince you otherwise—and we can go from there.”
“I can’t believe I have to have a reason to divorce him.” The fact that he didn’t love her wasn’t something she could say. It was too humiliating.
“You don’t. But are you willing to go through the stress of an expensive and messy divorce while you’re pregnant?”
Amandine put both her hands over her belly protectively.
Gavin would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted. She couldn’t hope to match what he could unleash against her.
“Gavin was also right about the money. Ten thousand isn’t a lot, especially with a baby on the way. Your child deserves the best opportunities in life, right? I don’t think you should turn down anything Gavin offers just out of spite. We should aim high, and I’m going to see if there’s any way we can squeeze some more from him.”
Amandine rested her face in a hand. “You’re right. I’m not thinking about this very logically. Okay, let’s go ahead and agree to this…farce. I guess I can put up with anything for four months.”
“Great. Okay, so… First thing is, you should move back home. ASAP,” Samantha said. “That way, he can’t say you didn’t cooperate fully.”
She sighed. “Everything has to be done properly, doesn’t it?”
“It does. And we can say that the clock started the minute you moved back home.”
* * *
Amandine stopped by Brooke’s apartment to pick up her things. Brooke searched her face and said, “So how did it go?”
“Not exactly the way I expected.” She told her best friend about Gavin’s attempt at reconciliation.
“At least he didn’t threaten to take the baby outright,” Brooke said. “Although that just proves he’s not a total monster, not necessarily a good husband.”
Amandine sighed, dumped her toiletries and toothbrush into a small bag and went to the living room.
“That’s all you’re taking?” Brooke asked.
“If I need anything else, Gavin’s going to have to buy it. He probably won’t want me wearing any of my ‘hobo outfits’ around his friends and family. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to be with him for that long.”