“Remember what I said earlier about you disobeying me?” Danica grabbed Alicia’s ass as she inhaled the leather of the seat beneath her face. “Come on, Alicia, did you think I forgot?”
On the contrary. She had been counting on Danica remembering.
The first cry of the night was the weakest of them all. Alicia still needed a little time to assimilate into the role she so desperately wanted to fill.
Danica presented her with the first of many folders carefully put together for her reading ease. At least she had the decency to do it in the privacy of their hotel room. Alicia had a feeling Danica would not be so gracious in the immediate future.
“Don’t sign anything now,” Danica said, pouring her another glass of wine. “Take your time going through it. I’ll arrange for you to have one of the best lawyers in the business.” Her smirk was more relaxing than the wine. “I know he is, becausemylawyer hates him.”
Alicia attempted to read the legal jargon splattered across the page. Colored stickies highlighted the most important parts.
She expected all of it, but knowing it was about to become a reality? That it was something she would never be able to walk away from and still be the same woman in the end? That was frightening.
“It’s all right,” Danica said, sensing her trepidation. “Remember that I love you. We’re doing this because we love each other. Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Alicia flipped over the first page. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Acting like I have anything to worry about.”
“So you trust me?”
“I should be asking you that.” Alicia showed her one of the terms on the second page. “After all, you’re the one with everything to lose from this arrangement.”
“Your love is the only thing I mind losing.”
Alicia grinned. “Then it’s settled. I’m cleaning you out ten years from now.”
“A whole ten years. That’s more than most get.” Danica kissed her forehead. Then her ear. Then her shoulder. With any luck, Alicia would make it through another page before she was asked to get on her knees. She hoped it wouldn’t take that long.
“I am satisfied,” Alicia’s lawyer said. “My client is also satisfied.”
“Then it’s settled,” Danica’s lawyer replied. “I daresay, this is the easiest time I’ve had with you.” That was directed at Alicia’s lawyer.
“Because your client wants to shoot herself in the foot. Who am I to say no?”
Danica had already signed the primary document. She flashed a wicked grin at her fiancée across the table.
You’re an idiot. Alicia carefully signed the document as if her penmanship would be judged.I love you, and I know you’re doing this for me, but you’re an idiot.
She touched the collar around her throat. Did it clash with her orange sundress?
“Is that tender?” the doctor asked as he pressed Alicia’s stomach. “Tell me yes,” he mouthed.
“Yes. It’s very tender, doctor.” Alicia sat up. “I haven’t had a period in six weeks. Have I told you that yet?”
“Yes, Ms. Colbert, I believe you have.” Danica’s favorite doctor, who could be paid to say anything on any form, smiled at her. “I’ll have to run a blood test, but by all accounts, I think I’ll beable to tell you the results that you and Ms. Moreau want so much.”
“How lovely!” Alicia swung her legs over the table. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”
The situation was unfortunately simple: Alicia couldn’t be seen in any high-profile places, so when she went to New York, she flew commercial and kept her shopping to the boutiques the middle class considered upscale.
To Alicia, the dresses she thumbed through on the racks were made of the finest quality and romantic.Set aside those romantic notions. Okay, maybe a little romance. Was it a terrible thing to giggle as she pulled a discount Dior dress off the rack? The bargain!
“That one would look so beautiful on you,” the salesperson said behind her. “Would you like to try it on?”
Alicia held up the strapless cocktail dress to the mirror. “I think so.”
As she slipped into a fitting room, she received a text from her mother.“Are you still visiting tonight?”
Of course Alicia was. She wouldn’t go to New York and not visit her parents on Long Island, right? Besides, this was her last chance to see her family before everything officially changed. For all of them.
