Chapter Fourteen
Nolan
Jerilyn blasts through the front door of Mike’s office with two minutes to spare.
Honestly? I’d expected her not to show up at all, or to call at the last minute with some sort of bullshit excuse and demanding a deadline extension.
OfcourseLucas starts filming her as soon as she arrives.
Damnit, I love that kid.
She spots us sitting in Mike’s office and literally runs in. That’s the fastest I think I’ve ever seen her move. “Take it down.Now.”
“Hello to you, too,” I snark.
Mike holds up the papers and a pen. “Not so fast, Ms. Shasta. Sign first.”
His admin assistant is already in the office with us, because she’s a notary and witnessed my signature on the papers only a moment ago.
Jerilyn’s sending me and Mike death glares as she snatches the pen and papers from Mike’s hand and starts to read through them.
“Clock’s ticking, Jerilyn,” I say. “Longer you take, the longer the video stays up.”
“How do I know you won’t repost that after I sign?” Her tone drips with venom.
I shrug. “You don’t. But, unlike you, I don’t make a habit of fucking people over. That video ismyinsurance you’ll behave yourself and not try to fuck with my daughter, or my friends and family. When Katie turns eighteen, that video can disappear for good.”
Notice I didn’t say “will.” Because I have learned my lesson well and truly. Between Bill’s bullshit, and now this?
Yeah, I’m holding on to that video.
“I tried to get him to press charges or sue you,” Mike said. “He’s being a lot nicer than I want him to be. I’d advise you to sign, before he takes my advice and makes this even more adversarial.”
“Why can’t I let my attorney see this first?”
“Oh, you absolutely can,” Mike says as he holds up another paper. “But while he’s wasting a couple of days looking at them, because I called his office and found out he’s on vacation in Costa Rica, I’m going to walk across the street right now to the government complex and file this motion with the clerk’s office, which will then make that piece of paper you’re about to sign obsolete.”
Mike stands, and from the dark glare on his face, and his tone of voice, I can tell he’s in full-on battle mode, too. “Judges don’t like it when parents threaten to make false allegations of sexual abuse in a custody situation. In fact, they tend to take it very seriously and usually impose some sort of sanctions against the parent who tries it.”
She glares at me. “I fucking hate you. Biggest mistake of my life was marrying you. I knew you’d be a pain in my ass. Justknewit. I felt sorry for you. Last time I do that.”
I shrug again, letting the verbal barbs roll off me instead of digging in like they would in the past. “I’ve let you walk all over me long enough. It stops today. No one’s forcing you to sign anything. Sign it or don’t, but there are consequences to actions, and it’s long since time you started facing consequences for your bullshit. I stopped caring what you think of me when you threatened me and my family.”
Jerilyn scoffs. “Yourfamily? Are youserious? You’re mooching off your friends, who are apparently idiots.”
“They’ve been in my life longer than you,” I say, bristling. “And yeah,family. Just because you were raised by a couple of narcissistic psychopaths and it made you incapable of having trust in anyone, or holding a satisfying emotional relationship, doesn’t mean there aren’t good, kind people out there.”
It’s not clear to me if she doesn’t realize or just doesn’t care that Lucas is filming this from where he’s now standing in the corner of the office, in plain sight, with his phone up.
“IknewI should’ve got an abortion,” she spits at me.
I don’t give her the satisfaction of reacting. Instead, I glare at her in return. Now I’ve got another piece of evidence I can use against her if she ever tries to show her ass again. “Best favor you ever didme, beyond having Katie, was to give me a divorce.” I nod toward the papers in her hands. “You signing them? Or is Mike going to file the motion? Thought you were worried about your image?”
I watch the way her fist clenches around the pen and wonder if she’s thinking about trying to stab me with it. Because she damn sure looks pissed off enough to try.
Let her try. I’ll put her ass in jail. I seriously donotcare anymore.
No, seriously, I don’t. Because she lost what infinitesimal sympathy still remained in me for her when she threatened Lucas, Caine, and Arlo.
