She turned her head a fraction, “I don’t like her. I can’t help it.”
“I don’t like her either. We’re in the same boat, sweetheart.”
“Denise Perez. Sign here please?” She signed on the paper in confusion, “You’ve been served.” Beni’s voice interrupted Phineas’ conversation with Juniper.
“Served? For what?” Denise looked up and then saw Beni and Adil standing there. “What are you talking about?” she frantically pulled open the envelope.
Beni snorted at her trembling fingers, “he could have divorced you at any time, but he really didn’t want to give you the villa in Spain. It was left to him by his maternal grandmother and the thought of you spraying your perfume all over it made him wait until the perfect moment.”
“What is going on, Denise?” Denise’s mother frowned. She looked at Beni and Adil, “I know you two. Where from?”
Beni’s voice was clear as he bluntly stated, “I represent the interests of Phineas Perez. Denise, you were caught having intercourse with Kyst Kennedy. We have it on video. We also still have evidence. We have it all. Your prenup is null and void. You will leave this marriage with exactly what you went into it with, minus the one-million-dollar payout and the car you were provided. Everything else is off the table. There is no room for negotiation. If you choose to contest the prenup or the divorce, I promise you, on behalf of my best friend, I will play the video of you in court, in front of a judge and as many witnesses as I can get in the room. Try me, Denise.”
“You cheated on Phineas?”
“It’s lies, Mom. They have no proof of such things because it never happened.”
“Bitch,” Phineas gritted out as he watched her bluster. He rested his cheek to Juniper’s, “she’s in for a rude awakening.”
“Maybe, Denise,” Beni spoke up, “don’t spray so much perfume when you cheat on your next husband. You transferred it to your lover’s clothing, and his wife smelled it on him. She let us put cameras up in her own home, in their shared communal areas of their home and guess what we found yesterday from nine-twenty-six until after lunch?”
Phineas chortled with glee as Denise blanched.
“Do you know where I’m going next, Denise? I’m going to go serve him papers too. Oh, and before we forget, Phineas’ father is meeting with yours right now and he is holding a voice clip from yesterday where you admit out loud you knew the man you were having sex with, is married.”
“Where is Phineas? I need to see him. I can explain.”
“He is taking care of a friend. He sent me because he never wants to see you again. In fact, he won’t. He will never acknowledge you again. He told me bluntly, even if he got subpoenaed to court, he’d pay the fine or demand you be removed because he doesn’t ever want to see you again.”
“Our fathers are best friends!”
“You should have thought of that before you considered him your cash cow and treated him like an ATM instead of a person. You threw more of his money away on wasteful shit than should be allotted and you stole from him, and he caught you red handed. You’re not a good person, Denise.”
A photograph slid from the envelope and landed on the table between Denise and her mother. Her mother’s intake of breath as she noted the contents of the photograph made Phineas laugh out loud.
“Looks like her mother is being faced with the evidence we have. How are you going to get out of this now, Denise?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” her mother shot to her feet. “You cheated on your husband with another woman’s husband?”
“It was just sex, Mom.” Denise wailed as her mother slapped her hands against the tabletop sending water glasses shaking. or ab
“Just sex? You wrecked two marriages for just sex?”
“He started out as a really nice guy who helped me when Phineas yelled at me in his office for spending too much money. He bought me a tea at the café across the street while I got myself together. He told me marriage is hard work and how he was with his wife for fourteen years and they have ups and downs, but they put in the effort. He told me to keep trying. I meet with him a bunch of times after and he was really nice but then I kissed him, and he got nasty with me. The nastier he got, but I the more I liked it. He’s mean, Mom. He’s so mean to me, can’t stop going back because he wants me and my own husband doesn’t and he’s so good at it.”
“So, you initiated it? You kissed him first?” Her mother accused her.
“Is that all you heard out of this? I turned to him because Phineas was cruel and it turned out he is crueler, if not worse than Phineas. Mom! Where are you going?”
“As far the fuck away from you as I can. I need to find your father before he goes off the fucking deep end.”
Adil pulled the camera out as he and Beni walked away.
Phineas looked at Juniper curiously, “how did that feel?”
Adil looked at Beni and sighed, “dude what is your problem?”
“He had her on his lap.”
“I saw it too.”
“Why is he so damn hands on all the time? He just scoops her up like she’s weightless.” Beni grunted angrily.
“I could do it, but he beat me to the punch.” Adil flexed his muscles.
“He’s a very take-charge individual but I’m worried he’s going to make her uncomfortable. Her heart is broken right now. She doesn’t need Daddy Dominant spanking her ass while she’s recovering from a miscarriage and a cheating ex she’s been with since she was a kid.”
“You’re very protective of her,” Adil accused quietly. “You’ve been protective of her since I pulled the file.
“I watched her.” Beni admitted. “The day you pointed her out two weeks ago, I kept watching her after. I’ve been following her, trying to get a read on her. I wanted something, anything, which told me she deserved the shit we were going to end up bringing to her table. Instead, I saw this funny, insightful, sweet woman who overtips the barista at the coffee shop, smiles at everyone she comes across and is well-respected and liked in her department. She’s genuinely a nice person and the guilt I feel for ruining her life is killing me.”
“Is it only guilt for ruining her life?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if you watched her for two weeks and you think she’s all this, then is it guilt for ruining her life or guilt because you’re glad you ruined it so you can swoop in and make her tea and rub her back.”
“Adil.”
“Don’t Adil, me, Beni. I’ve known you far too long to pull this bullshit with me.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.