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“For you?”
“My cousin, Cameron, and his wife, Aislynn. They have no children and no shared assets, so you can use a basic divorce decree, as long as Cameron walks away with nothing.”
There was a pause during which I wondered if Laidan would ask the questions she was obviously thinking, but I should’ve known better. She had been trained by the best, and Ronan would never ask anything that wasn’t necessary. “I’ll have them for you in twenty minutes.”
After hanging up, Mari held the phone out to me. “I need a shower, and then we’re going to start making things right.”
Twenty minutes later, Mari was clean, and the divorce papers were in hand. Thirty minutes later, we were back in the basement.
Nate and Dominic had given Cameron a cursory first aid check for the worst of the damage, but beyond that and the cage he’d been shoved into, he was otherwise exactly as we’d left him.
He lifted dull eyes up to Mari as she nodded for Nate to open the door. Dominic stood close, ready to end Cameron if he went for our woman.
“Back again so soon?” Cameron taunted, but he’d already lost his spark. Hard to stay confident when you’re bleeding out on your knees in a dog cage.
Mari smiled. “I decided I want one more thing from you before I’m done for the night.”
She tossed the manila envelope by his knees, but he didn’t pick it up. “What’s this?”
“Divorce papers.”
His eyes shifted subtly, but I saw the menace in them. “I won’t sign them.”
Mari shrugged. “Either you sign them of your own free will or I force you to, but either way, I’m giving Aislynn what she wants.”
Cameron cocked his head. “She asked for this?”
“She wants to be free of you.”
His hand slid carefully to the envelope, and he stared down at it. The papers crinkled. His hands clenched. I darted forward, but Mari was faster, plucking his hand from the envelope and anchoring it to the floor with her knife before he could do the damage he so obviously wanted.
Cameron clenched his teeth, hissing through them, but that was the only sound.
Mari leaned closer, putting pressure on the knife. “Sign the papers, or I start cutting off body parts.”
“How will I sign if you take my fingers?”
“You only need one hand to write, and we’re all here as witnesses. I’ll make it work.”
The knife wiggled farther into his hand, and Cameron sneered at her. “Why not just forge my signature? You wouldn’t even have to fight me on it.”
“Making you sign it is part of the fun. You think that Ash is yours, just another piece of property to add to your extensive list. So, I’m going to make you sign over everything you’ve earned to her.” He flushed with anger as Mari’s smile grew. “She’ll get every car, every house, every red, bloodied cent you’ve ever made. She’ll be free to leave the country, to disappear off the face of the map. To remarry and shower her new husband with all the riches her former one gave her. You’ll give her the freedom she’s always wanted, exactly as a good starter husband should, and you’ll do it right in front of me.”
By the time she was done, her cousin vibrated with anger, and Mari obviously enjoyed getting to poke at him. “Sign, Cameron.”
“I’m going to make you regret this.”
This time, when Mari laughed, it was light and carefree. “You have no power to do anything but take what I give you. Now, sign.”
He took the pen she held out carefully, signing so hard he nearly ripped the paper. After checking that he had every signature and initial required, Cameron shoved the papers away.
Mari grabbed them, stopping only to hand them back to me before standing. Dominic stepped closer, waiting for Cameron to retaliate, but he didn’t. He just watched her with hatred until she was nearly to the door.
“She’ll never be free of me, you know. Not where it counts.”
Mari looked over her shoulder as Nate locked her cousin back up. “Maybe not, but this is a good start.”
Then we left him there to rot, alone in the mess he’d made.
