Page 64 of Temptation

At eight twenty-five, Tenn let her know he was outside, and she practically ran to get in his car, desperately needing to get out of the house. “Hey.” He smiled and leaned over to hug her. Her arms went around him, and she held on tightly; he started to pull away, and she let out a small whimper of dismay. “What's wrong?” His tone flipped from happy to concerned immediately.

“I just need a hug,” she murmured, pressing her face into the crook of his neck and shoulder. She wanted him to hold her and never let go. His warm skin and clean, citrusy-woodsy scent calmed the crawling feeling on her skin.

“I can do that.” He tightened his arms and held her until she reluctantly sat back, feeling more in control of herself.

“Okay. Let's go see Deedee.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck with both hands as he backed out of her driveway. “Did you talk to Viki at all before she left?”

“I spoke to her last night when I got home. She was trying to call me all afternoon to get me to come clean out her car for her.” He rolled his eyes, and Quinn had to admire Viki’s entitlement to think her husband would come home to clean her vomit out of her car after a night of drinking and making an ass of herself. “Then she asked about you and if I knew everything. The result of that conversation was that it's been twenty years, and you should be over it. She left this morning while I was in the shower.”

“Right.” Quinn frowned. Get over it? Viki clearly needed to touch grass and learn some empathy. “Well, according to my soon-to-be ex-husband, Rhyme gave her the Porsche because she was driving a rusted Honda Civic, and he didn't want it at the dealership. It was a trade-in, and he didn't think he would be able to resell it because of the colour. But he avoided looking me in the eyes while he was telling me that so take it with a grain of salt.”

“Would Rhyme do that?”

“No idea. My relationship with him is very superficial. I've met him a few times at Christmas parties, that kind of stuff.” Quinn shrugged apologetically. “He’s like the original hard-core car salesman, though, so I really doubt it.”

Tenn was quiet for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Would Quill know? He and Rhyme are friends.”

“He considers Quill a friend; Quill considers him a client. But it wouldn't hurt to ask him tonight.” She rolled her neck and shoulders, trying to relax the tension that had settled in since her conversation with Joel and then tried to stretch it out by leaning her head back with her hands on the back of her neck

“What else happened?” Tenn reached over and rubbed the back of her neck for her. Quinn moved her hands and closed her eyes gratefully.

“I was in the kitchen this morning, writing out the grocery list, and he “confessed” to encouraging Viki to flirt with him, insisting that it was just friendship from his side, but she thinks he's going to leave me for her, and she's been getting increasingly volatile, threatening to go to Rhyme, saying he made her have sex with him, going to send me doctored texts, all kinds of stuff. I recorded the conversation so you and Deedee can listen to it.” She swallowed the queasiness that rose up her throat and continued. “Then he kissed me a bunch of times before I could react and told me he loved me.”

Tenn's eyes narrowed, and he looked at her carefully. “Are you okay?”

“I felt sick, and like bugs were crawling on me, so I had to shower again. But yeah, I think I'm okay.” She smiled as he gently rubbed the base of her neck.

“We're halfway there, Flacara.”

Chapter Thirty-Two: Theory Number One

Deedee Grant was a large, matronly woman in her mid-fifties with black and grey hair pulled back in a severe bun. After the official introductions were made, they sat across from her, and she went over their options and the next steps.

“So, after you two fill out all your paperwork and attach copies of all the documents I asked you to bring, I'll file your divorce paperwork, and you'll get a copy of it and a summons in the mail. I'll serve both of your spouses at the party on Friday. They have to file an answer, and we'll find out if this will be uncontested - which will make things go much smoother - or contested, which means I get to have fun laying out all their cheating misdeeds in court.” She smiled in a way that let them both know she was looking forward to that.

“Quinn, according to your tax filings, you make about the same amount, there are no kids, and your brother owns your house. It should just be a simple matter of separating the money in the joint accounts.” She passed over some papers for Quinn to sign and a sheet with a list of information needed to put things together. Quinn immediately started flipping the pages, signing all the spots and looking for the requested information on her tablet.

“And Tenn, your prenup is ironclad. There's cheating on her behalf, so you don't have to go through the counselling sessions; she's working; there are no kids, so you don't owe her anything, and the house is yours; it’s in your name alone, you paid the mortgage, and it's premarital property.” She passed over his papers and list and handed him a pen as well.

“Obviously, we're aiming for them not to fight us and to stay out of court, but if they decide to, we'll go for the pretrial hearing. I will be subpoenaing their financials at that point, which may be enough for them to agree to the terms we'll outline. If they decide to fight, I'll hit them with all the evidence, and they'll lose in court. So, my question is, what do you want? Tenn?”

“I just want her gone. Out of my house and out of my life.” Deedee nodded, smiling.

“Easy enough. And you've been following my advice?”

“Yes, thank you.” Tenn smiled. “I also hired my PI again and sent him to Atlanta.”

“Excellent. Quinn?”

Tenn squeezed Quinn's hand, and she swallowed. “I don't want anything. If he bought her the Porsche, I want some compensation for that, whether he pays off my car or gives me the equivalent. Something. Other than that, he doesn't have anything, and I'll make sure everyone knows what he did at the party Friday.”

“Do you feel safe with him? We’ve already laid the foundation to protect Tenn should Viki go nuclear. I want to make sure you’re protected as well.”

“I don't think he'll hurt me.” She shook her head. “He doesn't have physical reactions to anger or anything like that; he walks away and gives you disappointed silent treatment until you either apologize or he decides he’s punished you enough.” She looked at Tenn, watching as he signed his name to the documents absently. “He wants to work on getting us back to normal, or that's what he said this morning. I recorded it; it was a little disturbing to listen to.”

“More disturbing than the texts you sent me last night?” An odd mix of pity and revulsion crossed Deedee’s face.

“Disturbing when you put it in the context of those texts.” Quinn sighed. “I know we can’t use the recording, but I’ve been feeling gross ever since.”

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