Page 84 of All the Forbidden Things
“What things?”
“I might have mentioned that I hate her and that I know Gardener was high when he crashed—”
“For fuck's sake,” Lennon interrupts. “Tell her nothing. Not a word.”
“If you can’t control your temper around her, then we need to get her out—” Aaron pauses, taps his lips with his index finger and then asks, “What ifyouget away?”
My eyes move from Aaron to Len, then to Cal before I ask, “Me?”
“Yeah. What if you stay at Jay’s for the next few weeks until we can file. It’ll keep you away from Whitney and the press.”
“I can’t see it being a problem,” I tell him with a shrug. “I can only ask. Their place is huge, and they have a cottage next door to the studio too. Do I have any other commitments coming up?” I ask Lennon.
“Nope,” he replies. “I checked earlier in case there was anything we needed to discuss or cancel, butyourequested everything be cancelled until after Christmas, remember?”
I do remember. I thought I’d be spending the time celebrating the birth of our daughter with my wife, not planning our divorce and filing for custody.
“This is how it’s going to play out then. We’ll file the divorce petition on the morning of your anniversary, and I’d like you to return from Jay’s that day—”
Cal interrupts with a long whistle before adding, “Harsh. I like your work.”
“And?” I question Aaron.
“And I want you to keep things sweet with Whitney.”
Again, Cal interrupts. “She’s gonna think you’ve come home because it’s your anniversary. Instead,boom, you’re gonna drop the divorce petition in her lap.”
Cal’s grinning. Len, Aaron, and I are not.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying the demise of my marriage so much.”
“Max, what she’s done to you is despicable. The way she’s treated Layla is callous beyond belief. So, yeah, dude, I will be celebrating the day you start the process of getting shot of her.”
I look to Lennon, who raises his brow, shrugs, and holds out his hands palm up. “I’ve got nothing.”
I raise my brows and aim a questioning look at Aaron.
“I’m here as your legal representative, and in that capacity, I’d like to explain the steps we’ll take on the day the petition is filed. But, as your friend, I’d just like to add, Whitney, your marriage, the way you rushed into it, is possibly the biggest fuck up of all the biggest fuck ups you’ve made, and I sincerely hope, both as your friend and lawyer, and for both you and Layla, I hope you learn from this.”
“And what is it exactly you want me to learn?” I snap, feeling defensive.
Aaron sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t rush into doing something because you think it’s therightthing to do. Do what makes you happy and what will make Layla happy.” He pauses for a moment and smiles. “You’re like a son to me, all of you boys. I love you like my own, and all I want is for you to be happy. All . . . all any of us want is for you to be happy.”
The room’s silent. Four grown men and a two-month-old baby, and not a sound. Len clears his throat, but before we move things along, there’s something I need to say.
“Thanks, Al. All of you, thanks. For all your support, your words of wisdom, and just for being there for me and Layla.” I swallow the big fat ball of feels sitting in my throat and look to Aaron. “And just so you know, allIwant is formeto be happy.”
He nods, claps his hands loudly together, making Layla start, before continuing. “Right, as I was saying before we all started catching the feels, if you stay away until your anniversary, I’ll get things put in place so we can file and serve on the same day. Once you’re home, we can either arrange a meeting at Morgan and Crane, who’ll be representing you, or, I can get Diksha to come here. She’ll sit down with the pair of you and explain that you’re divorcing her on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. I’m hoping that she’ll still be oblivious to the fact you’ve already petitioned for full custody of Layla.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Aaron holds up a finger to quiet me. “She’ll likely be served with the divorce papers first, and while she’s losing her shit over that, we’ll tell her about Layla. If she objects, makes any kind of threats to counterclaim for custody, she’ll be presented with the evidence we have as to why that wouldn’t be a good idea.” His phone vibrates. He glances at it and gives a small smile before continuing. “We have the tox reports on her and Gardener proving she had coke and MDMA in her system at the time of the accident. We also have witness statements, as well as the motorway camera images, which suggest Whitney was giving Gardener a blowie when their car veered off the road and crossed the central reservation into oncoming traffic.” Aaron’s dark blue eyes look around the once again silent room, taking in each of us. “On top of that, there are witness statements suggesting Whitney is an occasional drug user, something that can be corroborated by the tox reports. Your team will make it abundantly clear to her that, if she’s noncompliant in any way concerning the divorce or the custody of Layla, then wewillgo public with everything that we have. But we need more, she could argue that she’s clean now, learned her lesson and reformed. I’ve spoken to Diksha, who’ll be heading up your team, and they’re looking to see if she has any previous charges outside of this country, which would really help our case.
“You need to be prepared because, once the divorce is filed, it’s out there. That information becomes available to the public. Like I said, I’ll put measures in place so we can file and serve the same day, so she hopefully won’t see it coming. And then we sit back and wait for her reaction.”
My gut churns as I consider what that reaction might be.
“To keep things as amicable as possible, we offer her an alternative place to stay until she can go back State side. Considering her financial situation, I think she’ll be needing that time.”
Feeling drained, I rake my fingers through my hair and stare out the window to the white building Billie’s window overlooks. It houses my pool. I’ve not swam in a while, maybe a few laps are what I need to do to unwind. Between the stress Whitney’s causing me, and the sexual tension bubbling between me and Billie, I’m not sure which is going to explode first, my head or my dick.
