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“I’m just working on a theory. It might turn out to be a batshit crazy one. But I wanted to see if it would be alright by you if I dug into Perry’s business dealings to see if there are any red flags.”
“I really don’t think you’re going to find anything. Perry was always so… uptight. I think too much so to be connected to some shady operation. But, yeah, if you think there might be something to it, it doesn’t hurt to look. But… why?”
“The divorce,” I said, massaging her feet to try to ease the harshness of my words. “Regardless of your prenup, all divorces go through the discovery process.”
“Yeah. I heard my lawyer say that.”
“Discovery is when both your financial records are dug into. And the thing is, if Perry is doing some illegal shit, and he wasn’t smart enough to hire someone to wash it really well, the lawyers are going to come across the evidence of that. And that could ruin him.”
“But… but I don’t want anything. Not even what I’m entitled to.”
“Which, unfortunately, doesn’t matter. The policies are what they are. And once he learned that, he likely wanted to walk back the divorce, to get you to hear him out.”
“By chasing me.”
“Yeah, but then he blew a reconciliation by being too much of a control freak to try to speak to you like a normal person. So, if you won’t get back to him, the only way to avoid discovery…”
“Is for me to be dead.”
“Yep. Then he walks away with everything… And no one ever knows what he’s been up to.”
“That… that is insane. But also… I see your logic.”
“What are your gut feelings right now?” I asked, pressing a thumb deep into her arch, making a little whimper escape her. “Hurt?”
“No. Yes. Sort of. But don’t stop.”
I was a man who aimed to please.
“I think it may be far-fetched. But since bad things keep happening, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to see if there is any evidence backing it up. But with a caveat.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want you spending a ton of money on figuring this out.”
“Babe, if this cost every dime to my name, but it meant you’d be safe, I would happily spend it. As it is, though, most of this won’t cost me anything. I have the club to do a lot of the digging. If I need Junior for something here or there, it wouldn’t amount to much.
“And maybe you’re right and I’m being paranoid, but I want to check. I don’t want to shake off the suspicion only to have something happen to you because I didn’t trust my gut.”
“Better to know, and possibly strike it off the list, than to keep questioning.”
“That’s my thinking too. It goes without saying that I really don’t want you staying here right now.”
“I was already planning on coming back to the clubhouse with you.”
Hope swelled at that.
“Good. I didn’t want to have to argue with you on that.”
“If there is even a small chance of there being someone out to get me, I’d feel safer with you.”
There it was again, the swelling that made my chest pinch.
“Happy to be a safe space for you.”
“But I need something from you.”
“What’s that?”
