Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“You’re sure?”
“I’m terrified,” she admitted. “But, I’m sure. This is worth fighting for, Colby. You and Luca and the life we’re building together. It’s worth everything.”
I kissed her then, pouring all my love and gratitude and determination into the contact. When we broke apart, I could see the fear still lingering in her eyes, but it was overshadowed by something stronger.
“We’re going to win this,” I said.
“Yes, we are.”
The next few days passed in a blur of activity. We met with a realtor and looked at houses that could actually contain our growing family. We opened joint investment accounts and made plans that extended months and years into the future. We acted like the married couple we’d become, making decisions together and building something that looked permanent and real.
Because it was permanent and real, regardless of what any judge might say.
But underneath all the practical preparations, I couldn’t shake the fear that we were about to lose everything we’d worked so hard to build. Lyla had been planning this attack for weeks, maybe months. She had evidence and recordings and lawyers who specialized in tearing apart families.
All we had was the truth and each other.
I just hoped it would be enough.
The night before the hearing, I lay awake staring at the ceiling while Gianna slept curled against my side. Her breathing was even and peaceful, but I could feel the tension in her body even in sleep. Tomorrow we would walk into that courtroom and defend our marriage, our family, our right to be together.
Tomorrow we would find out if love really could conquer all, or if sometimes it just wasn’t enough.
I tightened my arms around Gianna and tried to memorize the feeling of her warm body against mine, just in case it was one of the last times I’d get to hold her like this.
Just in case we lost everything.
CHAPTER 10
Gianna
Istood in my flower shop at dawn, mechanically arranging white lilies for an anniversary celebration, my hands moving through familiar motions while my mind raced through everything that could go wrong today. Soon, Colby and I would walk into a courtroom and defend our marriage against Lyla’s accusations of fraud. Today, a judge would decide whether our love was real enough to survive legal scrutiny.
The irony wasn’t lost on me that I was creating flowers for a couple celebrating fifty years together while preparing to fight for the right to stay married after just three months.
My phone buzzed with a text from Summer:
Coffee and moral support? I’m outside.
I unlocked the door to find her holding two steaming cups and wearing the determined expression of someone prepared to talk sense into a friend.
“You look terrible,” she said, stepping inside and locking the door behind her, the statement becoming her norm.
“Thanks. Just what every woman wants to hear on the day her marriage might be declared fraudulent.”
Summer handed me the coffee and studied my face with concern. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Maybe two hours.” I accepted the warmth of the cup gratefully, inhaling the rich aroma. “Every time I closed my eyes, I kept thinking about all the ways this could go wrong.”
“And all the ways it could go right?”
I managed a weak smile. “You’re relentlessly optimistic.”
“Someone has to be. You’re catastrophizing enough for both of us.” She perched on my work stool, the same spot where she’d given me advice so many times over the past months. “Talk to me. What’s really scaring you?”
I set down my coffee and returned to the lilies, needing something to do with my hands. “Everything. The recording Lyla has of us talking about the arrangement—”
“The what?” Her eyes widened.
I rolled mine in response. “Oh yeah, that’s how she bolstered her fraudulent accusation. The day she came to talk to Colby, she stopped by the house and planted a listening device.”
“That snake!”
“Among other things I’d like to call her. When Colby told me I felt so violated. She’s been listening to us for weeks. It’s unnerving. But because she had a key to the house and had permission to use it, Colby can’t do anything about it.”
“Oh, wow . . . I don’t know what to say.”
I sighed. “So coupled with her lovely recording of Colby and I discussing private stuff, she’s calling into question the timeline that makes it look like we only got married for the custody case. The fact that we can’t deny it started as a fake marriage because it did.”
“But it’s not fake now.”
“How do we prove that? How do we convince a judge that somewhere between the courthouse ceremony and today, we fell in love for real?” I trimmed a stem with more force than necessary. “What if the judge thinks we’re just better actors now?”
Summer was quiet for a moment, watching me work. “Do you remember what you told me about why you agreed to marry Colby in the first place?”