“Do you fucking mind?!” Curtis drags Greg away from me. “Hands fucking off.”
Deep down, those two are still enemies and competitive as ever. Just because they have found common ground now, it doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Whatever arrangement they have is tentative at best, and I wonder again how I might use that to my advantage. One thing is crystal clear. I need to get out of here so I can review my options.
Curtis removes the ties from my ankles as Greg unlocks the cuffs around my wrists. “You have twenty-four hours to break it off with Vander and instruct your attorney to accept the terms of your husband’s agreement,” Greg says, threading his fingers through my hair. I swat his hand away, and he grins.
“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, we will go straight to the cops and release one of those videos online,” Curtis warns, striding toward the door.
“Choose wisely, Kendall,” Greg says as they exit the room.
44
KENDALL
I crawl out of bed at five a.m., giving up on the illusion of sleep. My brain is going at a hundred miles an hour, and I can’t switch it off. Since leaving the office last night, all I have been able to think about is the mess I’m in. I don’t want to let Greg and Curtis win, but I can’t have them reporting me to the police. Even if I can plead my case and get the charges dropped, the damage will already be done. It would devastate my kids, and Vander would murder his father and end up in jail for life.
No. I can’t let that happen. No matter what, I need to protect Vander and my kids.
I wish I had someone to talk to about this, but I’m terrified to involve anyone because Greg seems to have eyes and ears everywhere, and he has more than proven how resourceful he is.
I honestly don’t believe Curtis would let it get that far. From the way he reacted yesterday, I know he’d be furious if news got out about Vander and me because it’ll make him look bad. The story would take on a life of its own, and the narrative would be he couldn’t hold on to his wife and she was fucking a high-school kid because he couldn’t fulfill her needs. He would be a laughingstock, and Ingrid might even kick him to the curb. And she’s liable to do that if she’s saddled with his kids.
Irrespective of what he said last night, he doesn’t want the kids. Not really. He’s making a new family, and that’s all that’s important to him now. He doesn’t have a clue how to properly take care of them anyway, as he’s always left most of the parenting to me, and he’s far too busy enjoying life to even contemplate full custody. It’s all a bluff. A means to an end to get what he wants.
Curtis is simple to figure out.
He wants the house, and he wants to be free of me and the kids. Having thought about it, I can give him that. While I have a lot of fond memories attached to our home, it’s where we lived with Curtis, and I don’t want reminders of him after we’re divorced.
A clean break is exactly what’s needed, and I’ve already come up with a plan.
Greg is the real villain.
He’s the one I need to worry about. Curtis is only a pawn in Greg’s game. Greg will do whatever it takes to get his way, and he has the connections to make it happen.
The way I see it, if I don’t agree and I tell Vander, he’ll either end up on a murder charge or go straight to his father and promise him everything he wants in exchange for setting me free. I won’t let Vander ruin his future over me. However, if I do agree, it not only means breaking Vander’s heart, but his future is still not his own. Greg is going to continue to harass him and use Diana to force Vander into giving up art school and following him into law. He’ll be miserable, and he’ll never get out from under his father’s clutches. I won’t facilitate that.
Which only leaves one other option. I have one bargaining chip, and I intend to use it to negotiate for Vander’s freedom.
After waving the kids off to school, I phone work, explaining I need some personal time this morning and I’ll be late arriving. Deciding to tackle the easier conversation first, I head to Denver to speak to Curtis. At least going into his place of work ensures I won’t bump into Ingrid, and it should mean the conversation remains civil. I don’t intend for it to take long.
I’m sitting in a small meeting room at the back of the reception area when Curtis arrives. He claims the seat across from me and leans back in his chair. “I hope you’ve made the right choice, Kendall. I really don’t want to hurt my kids, but I’ll do it if I have to.”
“Cut the bullshit, Curtis. We both know you won’t go there. You don’t want it getting out about Vander because your ego is too fragile to handle it. I’d also wager Ingrid wouldn’t be pleased, especially if you go to jail for fabricating evidence. Considering you’re doing all this for her, you won’t take that risk.”
He opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up my palm. “Save it. I won’t believe your lies, and I’m going to give you what you want—an expedited divorce and the house—but I have some conditions.”
His mouth flies open again, and I drill him with a look. Surprisingly, he shuts up. “One, you give me my share of the house from your stock portfolio or your 401K and you agree to pay all the college fees.” West has received a full scholarship, but Stella most likely won’t, and she’ll be starting college next year. I might not be in a financial position to support her, and while she can take out loans to put herself through college, I don’t see why she should have to when her father can afford it. It’s the least he can do seeing as he wants to cut us loose to focus on his new family. “Two, you give me full custody of the kids, and three, you agree to let me move out of state.”
I can’t stay here after this goes down. It will be virtually impossible to stay away from Vander after I have broken up with him, and I don’t think my heart can withstand the pain of seeing him but not being able to be with him or even talk to him. I’m also doing it to protect my children, and I think a fresh start some place new is what’s best for all of us. Moving out of our house to accommodate their dad and his pregnant mistress will kill them. I know how people gossip, and it will be unbearable.
Ridge will be upset because he loves his dad, and he won’t really understand, but he’s young, and he’ll adjust. West is leaving in a couple months for Oklahoma, so my proposed move won’t impact him. It’s mostly Stella I’m concerned about. I don’t want to force her to move or force her to live with her father as her only way to spend senior year with her friends, but I have limited choices, and I’m working toward the bigger picture. I hate the thought of leaving her behind, but I’ll support whatever decision she makes. “There’s just one caveat. If Stella wants to stay here, you let her live with you during senior year.”
Curtis taps his fingers on the table as he stares at me while he thinks it through. It doesn’t take long for him to decide, and I almost wish he had proved me wrong. “I agree, on condition you end things permanently with that punk.”
He is such an asshole. It was okay for him to have multiple affairs, but as soon as I find someone, he gets pissy, as if he has any right to feel aggrieved. I don’t bother making that point though because I’m done with him. I’m ready to draw a line under my marriage and move on. My chair scrapes across the floor as I stand. “You don’t need to make that a condition, Curtis. It’s already a condition, or were you not listening to anything Greg said last night?”