CHAPTER14
As they headed backdown the road, Nick couldn’t stop thinking about all that money Gillian found in her husband’s safety deposit box. What kind of man had that kind of money stashed away? She hadn’t said much about him, except that he wouldn’t give her a divorce and that he was in jail. He wondered if he was dangerous.
He turned to her. “What are you going to do with the money from the box?”
“I’m not sure. It’s a lot of cash.” She was silent for a moment. “I’m trying to decide. Anything other than giving it to the authorities is a risk.”
“How strong is the case against him?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to anyone about it since I left Virginia.”
“Do you have a good lawyer?”
“I have a divorce lawyer and a criminal lawyer who I’m working with on an advisory basis.”
“Criminal?”
“Paul is in some serious trouble.”
He took a deep breath as worry grew within him.
“Let’s not talk about my problems anymore; let’s go get that sweet baby of yours,” she said. “Will we have time to stop by the house and get the car seat?”
He smiled. “It’s already in the back.” He pulled the envelope out of the gap between his seat and the console and handed it to her once again. “You didn’t get a chance to read it this morning. You might want to since they added you to their list of grievances.”
“They what?” Gillian pulled out the custody papers and started reading them, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “Did you really get arrested for drunk driving?”
“And punching an officer,” he added.
“But that was seven years ago. That should count for something. How has your record been since then?”
“Clean. I learned my lesson.”
“My mom said you got into some trouble after I left. I hope all this—“ she held up the papers—“wasn’t because of me. I hope I didn’t do this to you.” Guilt darkened her face.
“You certainly did not do this to me. I was an adult. I chose to drink whiskey and drive, and furthermore, you were nowhere around when I punched that cop. Do not take credit for my mistakes; they’re mine.”
“Sorry.” She held up both hands. “Won’t happen again. I have enough of my own mistakes I’m trying to live down.”
They continued in silence for a long while.
“It also says I’ve been jobless and living off Shelley, but that wasn’t true. In lieu of rent, I was renovating the old house we lived in. We shared all the expenses, and I worked for a contractor under the table.”
“Anything in writing to prove that?” she asked.
“No, but at the time, her parents thought it was a great idea. Shelley’s house is worth a lot more now after all the renovations I did. In fact, she planned on selling the house to pay me my share. We were going to start a flipping business and invest the proceeds from the sale into our next flip.”
“Did she tell her parents?”
“Of course, they knew all about it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s just so unfair.” He held up his hand before she could say anything. “I know, life isn’t fair, but they knew. They were excited about our ideas and loved the changes we made to the house. The only thing they seemed surprised about was our relationship.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“They didn’t mind that we were going to raise Bailey as friends, but they wanted us married. Apparently, she never told them that wasn’t going to happen.”