I think about my mother’s advice. Stop being nice. Treat him like the enemy he’s chosen to be.
“I want the house.”
His eyebrows rise. “The prenup specifically excludes it. It’s considered an asset that predated the marriage.”
“I don’t care. I want it for the girls. They grew up there, and I don’t want him to sell it out from under them.”
“Legally, you’re swimming against the current on that specific point, unless…” Mako looks thoughtful as he flips through the photos and receipts, bank records and tax filings. His smile widens, sharpening into something predatory. “Perhaps you can convince him to offer it to you of his own accord, so this doesn’t have to go to court. While I’m usually not one to sidestep a courtroom bloodbath, I find that most people will bite on a settlement if you dangle the right bait. You might have to get your hands a bit dirty to put this worm on the hook, though.”
“I don’t mind. He’s already fighting dirty.”
“Excellent.” Mako gets down to business, walking me through a plan to confront Richard with the evidence and use it to blackmail him into signing my “disappointingly reasonable” settlement proposal.
It takes about twenty minutes to hash out the details and another ten for his paralegal to prepare the paperwork. He walks me out to where Ian is waiting in the lobby and shakes both our hands.
“One piece of advice?” he adds, addressing me. “When you present this, don’t go alone. Men like your husband are bullies, and bullies back down when they’re outnumbered.”
“I won’t be alone, don’t worry,” I assure him.
Ian nods. “She has a pack now.”
Chapter 36
Julia
“Are you ready?” Ian asks before we get out of the Jeep. He’s been incredible through all of this. Patient when I needed to process, fierce when I needed defending, and trusting enough to let me handle this my own way even though every protective instinct in his body is probably screaming at him to stand between me and my soon-to-be ex-husband.
“I’m beyond ready to put this allbehind me.”
He opens my door—I definitely need help getting in and out of the car these days—and we walk up the driveway together. I left the original evidence at the lawyer’s office for safekeeping, but I have copies of all the documents in a folder, along with the settlement paperwork that Mako helped me prepare.
“This is more than enough to bury him,”he’d said.“The question is only how deep.”
I hope I won’t have to. I hope Richard will see reason, sign the papers, and let me go. But I’m prepared for whatever is coming as I ring the doorbell to my own house.
Richard answers it, and his smile when he looks me up and down, taking in the shape of my very pregnant body, is the same one he used to give me across the breakfast table, smug and condescending.
“Finally decided to come crawling back?”
“I’m here with some paperwork.” I keep my voice steady. “Can I come in?”
“Certainly.” His gaze shifts to Ian, and his expression curdles. “Not you. I have a rule about no dogs in the house,” he sneers.
Ian doesn’t react to the slur, but I feel him tense beside me. “I’m here for her safety, that’s all. I’m not going to interfere.”
Richard sighs, ignoring him and directing his words to me. “You can’t be serious, Julia. Surely wecan have an adult conversation without your guard dog drooling in the corner.”
His pupils are hard and glittering, and I know he’s not going to back down on this. He wants a win so he can start this conversation with the upper hand, but he has no idea what’s coming for him. I turn to Ian, touching his arm. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
His golden eyes search my face. Then his hand brushes my wrist, feeling until his fingers bump against the small emergency button hidden in my sleeve, checking to make sure it’s still there.
“I’ll be here if you need me,” he says quietly. “Right outside.”
“Thank you.”
He holds my gaze for another moment, then steps back. Not far, just to the edge of the porch. Richard watches this exchange with barely concealed disgust, then opens the door wider and jerks his head for me to come in.
I spent twenty years walking through this doorway, telling myself I should feel grateful to live somewhere so beautiful. Now, as I step inside, I can acknowledge that it’s a nice house, but it no longer has the same power over me. Even though nothing has changed since I left, I don’t recognize it as my home anymore.
