Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
As soon as that problem was dealt with, I’d attached a photo of my marriage certificate in an email to my solicitor, Andrea.
I’d been texting Kelly back and forth and I didn’t know if she was pretending to be excited about the prospect of having London come live with us or if she truly was happy about it. They barely knew each other. If it wasn’t for Kelly, I’d probably have no reservations about this deal I’d made with London. I could live with wanting a woman I couldn’t have. With lying to the authorities.
But having Kelly be part of this ever-growing complication that was my failed marriage to her mother left my stomach in constant knots.
London had told me she’d be at my place at seven.
I was delaying going home, but I knew I needed to make a move.
My phone rang, vibrating on my desk, and I turned to answer it. It was Andrea.
“So … your new wife. That been going on long?” Andrea asked without preamble, her suspicion obvious.
“We’ve been seeing each other in secret. Small-town life, you know. Didn’t want anyone to be in our business.” The lie fell surprisingly easily from my tongue. “But with everything going on, we didn’t see any point in delaying the inevitable.”
“How romantic,” Andrea mocked. “Fine, fine. As long as you understand the severity of what you’ve done. Anyway … you are officially out from under Jill. Her solicitor has been notified, and you can cancel her so-called salary effective immediately. Of course, you still need to pay child support, but once we get sole custody, we can cancel those payments too.”
“She’ll hold tight to Kelly just for that alone.”
“Then you better hurry up with that evidence. Anything from your PI?”
I’d texted Rick, the private investigator I’d hired, that morning, but he said Jill hadn’t left the house since he’d shown up. He had snapped photos of a couple of shifty-looking guys coming to and from the house. That had made my gut clench with impotent anger.
“Nothing significant yet.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll have something soon. But the fact that you’re now married could help our case. As long as your new bride doesn’t have any skeletons in the closet.”
“Her parents work at a prestigious New York hospital as a top neurosurgeon and cardiothoracic surgeon. She grew up on the West Side and went to an elite private school. She graduated from a top culinary school, worked as a sous chef in a starred restaurant in Manhattan, and now works as the chef at a B and B here on the island. She bakes pastries and cakes and sells them in an honesty box, donating half of the proceeds to our local charity.”
“Perfect.” I heard Andrea’s smile. “That’s perfect, Murray. She looks very good on paper.”
And even better in real life.
Fuck, marrying London might have been the most masochistic thing I’d done since I’d married Jill. Just for entirely different reasons.
“Anyway, thanks for sorting that all out, Andrea. I’ll let you know as soon as I have any news from the PI so you can apply for that emergency order.”
We hung up and I left the office, locking it behind me even though it was very unlikely there would be a break-in, and headed for home. It was the first time since Jill had left that I went home with a feeling of trepidation hanging over me.
10. London
It was way past seven.
According to my phone, it was eight twenty. I’d texted Murray right before seven, lying about needing some extra time to make sure I had everything.
I’d just needed a little more time to myself to process.
Spending the afternoon apart from Murray so I could pack had given me time to reflect on the magnitude of our actions. Nee and Ramsay’s response hadn’t helped my worries.
Maybe Murray and I had just done the stupidest thing in the world.
But I guess people did stupid things when they felt as desperate as we did.
When I left Nick, he’d already erased so many of my belongings. I’d had a huge record collection back in New York because I loved listening to music on an actual record player. Something I apparently had in common with Murray.
Since I couldn’t have my records and I couldn’t afford the kind of decent record player and sound system Murray obviously had, I’d bought a Bluetooth speaker that connected to my phone because I streamed all my music now. It seemed the safest way not to lose all the music I collected.
While I might not have records, I had a few knickknacks and books that I’d bought over the last six months since Taran had moved out.
My chest squeezed as I gazed into the house that had become my refuge these past sixteen months. Where I trauma-bonded with Taran and felt less alone. We’d also had our fair share of horror here last year when we were held at gunpoint in the living room and a man bled out on the carpet, which had obviously been replaced since.