“They got thrown out. She’s happy there now. She doesn’t want to go to Rome. She told me last night.”
“Tough. We’ve all got to do things in life we don’t want to. Sooner she gets used to that, the better.”
“You know what? Fine, if you want to think that way, you go ahead. I’ve tried to reason with you, but I can see no point. You’ve already made your mind up.”
He picks up the petition and passes it to me. “Sign that, and I’ll take it back to the clerk. Your marriage will never have existed. That’s what you want, right?”
I sign the paperwork so hard I almost rip the paper. “It was never real,” I tell him. “I might have felt something for her, but it wasn’t real. She might not have taken the money but look at me. I couldn’t keep someone like her. She’s better off without me. Look what I did to my first wife.”
“You didn’t kill Sofia.”
“No, but I pushed her away when she needed me.”
“She was a junkie. You tried to get her clean. She was always going to hate you for that. Don’t forget she threatened to kill Alicia. That kind of shit isn’t something you can just work through.”
“Nor is this. It’s gone too far. Best case scenario, I’ve got an empire to run and no time for a wife. Worst case, I end up in prison or dead. She’s better off without me.”
“If you say so.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, why are you talking to me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you know something I don’t.”
“I’m just a lawyer. I’m not a therapist.”
“You think I need therapy?”
Cynthia appears in the kitchen. “I think you need a smack around the head is what you need.”
“Not you as well.”
“She was right for you, Hunter. She made you happy. Everyone could see it.”
“Yeah, well, she couldn’t.”
“Still got time to fix things. Go and see her.”
“And do what? Tell her I believe in something I don’t? There is no such thing as love. It’s a myth, a fairytale people tell each other when they just don’t want to live alone. You know what? I’m fine with living alone. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I don’t need someone getting in my way all the time.”
She walks over to Toby, putting an arm around him. “If love doesn’t exist, what have we got right here?”
Toby manages a sad smile. “Oh, the boss here thinks we did this to cement an alliance. That right, chief?”
“I’m not talking about you two.”
“Precisely. We’re talking about you. You love Bex, don’t you?”
“I already told you. There’s no such thing as love. It’s just a made-up word.”
“Try telling that to Alicia next time you see her. Tell her that what she feels for her father is made up. Tell her what she feels about Bex is made up. We love you, Hunter. Your father does too. Is all that made up?”
I point at the petition. “Get that to the court. You’re my lawyer. You do what you’re told.”