“Yes,” she answered with zero hesitation.
“That means no more spousal support,” he said.
Jesus. Phil was probably going to cut her off because she was getting fake married for her job that she was about to be fired from. At this point, she really needed him to kick it up a notch with the data analysis.
“Phil, do we have to talk about money right now?”
He slumped on a stool. “Is Markus a decent person? I think you should introduce me to someone who is going to live with my kids. I can’t believe you ran off to marry someone without even talking to me.”
“Phil, really?”
“Yeah, I’m worried. I still care about you… a lot. And the kids.”
Gabby couldn’t with this. She’d been trying to have a conversation with the man for fifteen years, and this was the time he chose to show up. She needed him so many other times, when she had post-partum and was trying to figure out how to breastfeed, but Kyle wouldn’t latch, when the kids were little and she was trying to get back to work. She could forgive him, but she couldn’t forget.
“Markus is a great guy. Very upstanding and reliable. And I don’t think you want to start this game. I’ve seen some of the women you’ve been with since we divorced. They don’t look like PTA members.”
Phil ignored her. “What does he do for a living?”
Here they went again. “He’s an inventor. Of children’s toys.”
Phil made a noise of discontent in the back of his throat. “Is that even a job?”
She stared down her nose at him like he had farted. It was easier than answering a question about Markus’s job. “Phil, it’s not like you get a vote in who I marry. This was a spontaneous decision. You weren’t the first person I thought to call. But you’re informed now.”
“I don’t think that’s proper notice.”
Gabby hadn’t read her divorce decree recently, no, make that ever—that’s what she overpaid a lawyer for. She certainly wasn’t aware of the legal requirements, but she didn’t think they were as serious as Phil was making them out to be.
“Phil. You left me. You moved out. Did you think I was going to stay single?”
“I didn’t think you’d get married this fast.” The railroad tracks formed between his eyes. “It’s too fast, Gabby, and it’s not like you. It took you a year to pick a paint color for the kitchen.”
Damn it. All she’d wanted was a little office romance.
“And if you’re signing up the kids for a weird religion, or whatever Inner-G is, then I think I get a vote in that.”
“Phil—” She bit her tongue. She wanted to tell him to take a long walk off a short pier, but not until after he helped her with the financial analysis. “I need you to take a step back.”
“A step back?” He raised his voice just enough to make her pulse jump. “Gabby, we were married. We have kids together. I still…”
Was he going to say he still loved her? If she asked, Geeves would probably drive Phil to the airport right now.
Gabby boxed up her emotions to refrain from screaming. This fool had endangered her whole mission with his meddling, not to mention her relationship with Markus. Actually, he might have wrecked that, or at least significantly contributed to its likely downfall.
“Gabby, I just want to say that I lo—”
“It’s Gia.” Gabby didn’t let him finish that sentence. “And I really need to know what you found out from your Cayman Island buddy.”
Like she’d flipped a switch, he changed his expression. “I think Brad might be fucking with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s too weird. I can’t even say it out loud.”
“Say it.”
“No. I need to double-check it. It’s too dumb.”
