(Silver Spoons Inc. 4)
coming soon!
Andrew
Over the last few months, I had watched each of my bosses fall and love and start families of their own, something I wanted more than I wanted air. With one bad marriage behind me, I was terrified to try again until Dalton texted the wrong number and gave me the courage to reach for what I wanted. Now, if I could save him from a madman, I might have the chance at the happy ever after I'd been dreaming about.
Dalton
One wrong number and my life was changed forever. Andrew came into my life and opened my eyes to the possibility that there was more out there than dancing on a stage. I wasn't ashamed of the fact that I was an exotic dancer. I worked hard, I wasn't breaking any laws, and I made decent money. It was just too bad someone else wanted to make money off of me and didn't ask me first. If I can't escape, the life I'd started to dream about was going to disappear, just like me.
http://www.stormyglenn.com/millionairevoirdire.htm
Story
Excerpt
"Damn it, Madeline, I said
no." I thrust my hand through my sandy blond hair, ruffling the ends until
they stood on end. "I already sent you your alimony check for this month.
I am not sending another one."
I shouldn't have had to send a check in
the first place. Madeline has been the one to betray our marriage vows, not me.
But one sympathetic judge who bought her crocodile tears and I was stuck
sending my ex-wife a fifteen-thousand dollar check every thirty days for the
next eighteen months.
"I don't need much, Andrew. Twenty-thousand
should do it. I know you have it."
Of course, I fucking had it. I worked
for three billionaires who paid their employees very well. That didn't mean I
was going to send my ex-wife one more red cent than I had to.
"I've already sent you your alimony
check this month, Madeline," I explained again. The woman seriously needed
to learn to live within her means. "If you've spent that—"
"Oh, it's not that at all, darling.
A bunch of us are headed down to Aruba for the weekend and I need a few things
for the trip."
"Maybe you should ask Darren. You
remember him, don't you? The guy you were fucking in our bed while we were
married? If you don't, I'd be happy to send you the pictures my private
investigator took of the two of you. They are very...enlightening."
Too bad I hadn't gotten those pictures
until after the divorce decree had been signed and filed with the courts. I
doubted we'd be having this conversation if I had. They were very graphic—and
extremely kinky—pictures. I never would have pictured my ex-wife being into
bondage.
"Really, Andrew." Madeline
huffed. "It's just twenty-thousand dollars. It's not like you need the
money. You make that up in just a few hours working for your bosses."
"That's not the point, Madeline."
"How about fifteen thousand then?"
"Madeline—"
"I need to get my hair done, Andrew,
and I need to pick up a few things for my trip. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't
important."
I shook my head in disbelief. What I and
Madeline considered important were two vastly different things. I wished I'd
seen the money-grubbing side of my ex-wife before I married her. Maybe I
wouldn't be in this mess.
"Madeline, I am not sending you any
additional money. If you can't live off of what I send you every month, I
suggest you get a job." She hadn't had one the entire time we'd been
married unless shopping and sleeping around were considered a business, and
then she'd be the CEO.
"Andrew, I need that money!"
"Not my problem, Madeline." It
hadn't been my problem since the moment the ink was dry on our divorce papers.
"I think from now on, all communication between us should go through our
lawyers."
I chuckled as heard Madeline's loud
shriek as I hung up on her. "Damn, that felt good."
Of course, the phone immediately started
ringing. I glanced at the screen and then blocked Madeline's number. She could
keep calling all day long. That did not mean I had to accept the call.
I picked up the phone again and dialed my
divorce attorney. I was an attorney himself, but it was never a good idea for
someone to represent themselves. Besides, I had an exclusive contract with
Silver Spoons Inc., and taking care of personal cases wasn't part of my job
description.
I also didn't do divorce cases. I hated
them. I hated being divorced, but I hated being married to Madeline even more.
The novelty of being married to such a beautiful woman had worn off in the
first six months of our five-year marriage.
Hell, we hadn't even been sleeping
together the last three years of our marriage, and we hadn't lived together the
last year.
Truthfully, I was just thankful it was
over, divorce nor not. This would be a lesson I would never forget learning.
Someone once said that money corrupted even the most innocent of souls, and I
believed it. It destroyed marriages.
"Arnold, this is Andrew
Lancaster," I said once my attorney picked up his direct line. For what I
was paying him, he'd better pick up. "I just got off the phone with Madeline.
She was trying to get me to send her twenty-thousand dollars. She said she
needed to pick up a few things for her trip to Aruba she's taking with her
friends."
"Did you get it on tape?"
I rolled my eyes. I might not be a
divorce attorney, but I wasn't stupid. "Of course I did." I sat down
in front of my laptop and opened up my email. "I'm sending you the audio
file right now."
"I'll add them to the others."
There were a lot of them.
"I told her that any further
communication between us needed to go through you and then I blocked her
number."
"That's probably a good idea,"
Arnold replied. "You know this is going to get nasty before it's over,
don't you?"
My shoulders slumped as the weight of
the months since my divorce was final pushed down on me. "Yes, I know. If
I thought she'd go away if I just gave her a payout, I'd do it, but she won't.
She's going to keep coming back until she bleeds me dry."
That seemed to be all Madeline cared
about. Money. She certainly hadn't cared about me.
"Which is why we need these
recordings. Between the pictures the private investigator you hired took, the
audiotapes of her demanding more money, and her documented spending habits,
we're going to be able to go before the judge pretty soon and get her off your
back."
I certainly hoped so. I was so ready for
this to be over.
"If you need any more from the Zhukov brothers, let me know. They said they'd help
me any way they could."
"We're good right now, but if that
changes, I'll let you know."
"Thank you, Arnold."
"Call me if Madeline tries to
contact you again."
"I will." I wanted everything
documented. The next time I went before a judge over my divorce, I wasn't going
to let them be hoodwinked by some crocodile tears and a pretty smile. I'd have
evidence to back up my insistence that Madeline was an unfaithful, money grubby
bitch.
I hung up the phone and then pushed my
hand through my hair again. At this rate, I'd be bald by the end of the week. The
stress was unbelievable.
I had way too much to do to deal with
this right now. All three of my bosses had gotten married over the last year
and one of them now had a kid. Between changing wills and creating trust funds,
I'd been up to my ears in paperwork and court filings for months.
I just wanted a break for a little
while.
A couple of hours.
Was that too much to ask?
I frowned when the messaging app on my
phone beeped. I expected to see Madeline's number when I looked down at the
screen.
I didn't recognize this number.
"Hello,
gorgeous lady. How have you been? When did you move to New York?"
What the hell?
