Page 23 of The Marriage Negotiation

I shoved my knuckles into my mouth to keep from laughing when Peter began to sputter.

"You canceled my credit card?"

"No, I canceled my credit card, attached to my bank account. I'm no longer your piggy bank, Peter. Find someone else to mooch off of." Zaq started to lift the phone away, but them stopped and smirked. "Oh, yeah, one more thing. I canceled the honeymoon. The entire honeymoon, including the airfare."

"What?" Peter screeched.

"I had to pay quite a bit in cancelation fees, so you'll be getting a letter from my lawyer for compensation."

Zaq swiped his finger over the phone, hanging up on Peter before he could utter another word. I watched him carefully, worried about how this might affect him.

"What an asshole," Zaq snapped. "How did I ever agree to marry him?"

I kind of wondered that, too, but I wasn't going to mention it.

"Well, it's not a problem anymore," I said instead. "You're married to me now. Peter can't have you."

That put a bright smile on Zaq's face. "Man, I'd like to a bug on a wall when he finds that out."

"You don't think he already knows?"

Zaq shook his head. "If he'd known, he would have raised a much bigger stink. Peter does not like to lose."

Oh, I was aware.

"No, he does not and that gives us an even bigger incentive to get this stuff in the truck and get the hell out of here."

Zaq's brow flickered. "Why?"

"Because both Peter and my parents know I live in Texas. Granted, neither of them have my actual address, but I doubt it would be too hard for them to track it down."

"Can't they track you to New York?"

"They could, but I doubt they'd ever think to look there. But, just to be on the safe side, the building we're moving into has some serious security. Even if they found us, they'd never get up to our condo without our permission."

Zaq blinked at me for a moment before turning and walking away. "You get the boxes. I'll get the door."

Sounded like a plan to me.

I grabbed the first box and followed Zaq out the front door.

Two hours later, I was wishing I'd hired a moving company. I was sitting on the steps, resting my arms on my legs and praying I didn't have to move anytime soon.

"Maybe we should find a hotel and rest up before we hit the road."

Zaq, who was sitting two steps below me, tilted his head back to look up at me. "I vote for that, but we should get out of the city first. Once rush hour traffic starts, it'll take us forever to get out of here."

That was true enough.

"I'm going to do one more walk-through and then I'll meet you in the truck."

Zaq nodded as he stood and then headed for the moving van.

I climbed to my feet and went back into the condo I had lived in for the last five years. There was a part of me that would miss this place. It was the first home I'd ever owned and paid for with my hard earned money.

Another part of me was looking forward to the new life I hoped to build with Zaq in New York City. A new house, a new job, and a new love interest. It was a really good way to start the next phase of my life.

I went through the condo, checking every cupboard and closet just to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. Luckily, I found nothing, which meant I had everything.

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