Page 19 of Strictly Business

“What is he going to do with it — propose to his next wife? That’s a little tacky, even for him.”

Elias tries to hide the smile in the corner of his mouth. “The center stone is very important to the family and—”

“I said he can have that one back.”

“And the condo? He wants to sell it, split the proceeds.”

“It’s my condo, he’s barely—”

“You’re both on the deed, Michaela. He has just as much right to want to sell as you do to want to keep it.”

I roll my eyes, I knew putting him on the deed was a mistake. “I bought that condo, Elias. He didn’t put a penny down on it, I just—”

“Doesn’t matter, he’s on the deed.” Elias offers a sympathetic smile. “Look, we can work on it, but we still have the ring to worry about. If you don’t want to give the whole thing back what are you going to do with it?”

“Throw it in the Hudson, probably.”

He can’t hold back his laughter. “Well, please refrain from doing so before the divorce is finalized.”

“No promises, Elias.”

Elias sighs and pulls a cloth from the desk drawer to wipe invisible dust off his glasses. “Michaela, you realize this could have been finalized if you weren’t holding onto the ring. I’m almost positive we could get him to budge on the condo if you’d give the ring back.” Setting his glasses back on his nose, he folds his hands in front of him. "What good is it to drag out the process for something you’re not going to keep anyway?”

He’s right, but that’s not the point. It’s the point that my husband blindsided me with a divorce without any room for discussion or the possibility of fixing it. “I’ll think about it.”

“So, what exactly are we doing here?” Caitlin follows me through the revolving door of the Woolworth Building — home of Villa Inc., NYC — the next morning.

I wave at the security guard sitting at the front desk, and she waves us through. “I wish I could tell you, Cait,” I press the call button for the elevator. “I know as much as you. All she'd tell me is there's something she needs help with at corporate. It's pushed back my probationary period, so I guess I shouldn't complain."

“At least we’re not late.”

“Sure about that?”

She checks her watch with a groan. “You’re a terrible influence.”

We aren’t late, yet, but we will be by the time we get upstairs.

The ride to the twenty-eighth floor takes less than a minute, but it's the longest minute of my life. When the elevator doors open, big, bold letters greet us — VILLA, INC. Underneath them a young redhead with bright red lips talks into the phone, and she holds her finger up to us when we approach the desk. The person on the other end drones on about something she doesn’t care about based on the look on her face, but the smile never falls from her lips. “Okay, well, unfortunately, I can’t give you that information. You will have to wait for a response from Mr. Fields... No, it doesn't matter who— Well, I'm sorry, but that's protocol. You can take it up with him when he gets back with you. Have a great day!” I wait for the smile to falter, but it never does as her attention turns to us. “Morning ladies, they should be in conference room two waiting for you.”

They? Who the hell is they — I thought I was meeting Nina.

“How is she this morning, Liv?” Caitlin asks.

“Seemed to be in a good mood when I got here, she’d already been here by the time I got in, but that was a while ago, so who knows what someone around here could’ve done by now.”

“You’re not inspiring any confidence.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Mrs. VD as much as her counterpart.” Before I can push for more details, the phone rings and she instantly picks it up.

“Sounds like we’re in for the time of our lives,” Caitlin says, looping her arm through mine. She begins to tell me more about the guy she has been seeing for two months as we walk through the halls. Apparently, he’s too good to be true, and in my experience, that means he is, but, I don’t want to burst her bubble. Besides, it worked out for Nick and Nina, right? That should give everyone a little hope.

The environment of Villa Inc. is drastically different from DV Designs. It’s nowhere near as warm and inviting, more executive. Offices are closed off, and the ones with windows have the blinds drawn for extra privacy. DV offices tend to be open and airy, with glass walls and splashes of color throughout the decor. Nina never wants it to feel like a typical office setting, she wants it to inspire creativity and make people feel comfortable. Unlike the feeling I'm getting right now.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The words tumble out before I can stop them walking into the conference room. At the far end of the table sits my worst nightmare — one of them, anyway. “What are you doing here?”

This has got to be some kind of joke, Nina cannot seriously be putting me on a project with Finnley Sheffield. I step outside and double-check the number on the outside of the door — Conference Room 2.

Fuck.

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