Page 18 of Staking His Claim
I grimaced. The last thing I wanted was to talk about my ex, but I could tell she was regretting her curiosity and went easy on her.
“We should never have married. A combination of too much booze and being high on life. I’d just made managing partner the week before. One of the youngest in the city. But”—a wry smile twitched my lips—“I despise losing at anything, so for the first few months I tried to make it work. Then I found out she’d cheated on me literally days after we got married.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow.”
“Yeah. And she was pretty indiscreet about it. Things got ugly when she realized I wasn’t going to be as cool about infidelity as she’d thought.”
“But…why did she stretch out the divorce for so long?”
I shrugged. “She’s liked the perks of having my name, despite not minding about dragging it through the mud with her behavior. One of the many things she wanted to fight over was for me to pay her to drop my name after the divorce. She wanted ten million dollars for that alone.”
Emily’s eyes goggled, then she shook her head in wonder. No doubt people she grew up with didn’t resort to crass greed likemy ex-wife—fuck, it felt good to be able to call her that, to put her in my rearview where she belonged.
“Doesn’t stop her from dropping it into conversation of course, but she can never use it on any official document without getting sued, and I won’t fucking hesitate if she tries.”
“Why was that important to you that she not use your name?” she asked.
This was probably where I needed to be careful, to go slow so I didn’t overwhelm her. But fuck it. Emily was soft and tasted like the richest peaches and cream, but she wasn’t fragile or weak.
I’d seen her stand up to many an asshole client who thought they could throw their weight around.
I liked her because she knew when to stick to her guns. Hell, she’d needed to do that with me because I didn’t tolerate wallflowers. So I stated the bold, unvarnished truth.
“Because when I marry again, I want there to be only one Mrs. Fletcher Knight. I want there to be no doubt who I belong to, and who belongs to me.”
Notif.
“When?” she echoed, eyes wide and bright.
“Yes. I intend to marry again.”
And I had already picked my bride.
But this news I intended to keep to myself for a little bit longer.
6
Emily
That pulse of intent and determination behind his words stirred heavy emotion through me, as did the brooding stare he levelled on me, seeming to be waiting for…something.
Fortunately, the second “when” that rushed to the tip of my tongue managed to stay put.
We were flying at breakneck speed and I needed to put the brakes on.
Luckily, Fletcher didn’t seem to mind when I changed to safer subjects like our case load for the rest of the way to his condo.
His place was stunning.
I’d been there only once, when he hosted a pre-Christmas dinner for his senior partners. He called me to pick up and deliver a case of wine stuck at a warehouse in Queens because of heavy snow.
I suspected it was an excuse but hadn’t been able to fully convince myself back then. But he’d invited me to stay, and throughout the dinner, I felt his gaze following me around the room.
He’d looked positively livid when at the end of the night Darius Redmond, one of the partners, had offered to give me a ride when he found out I lived in the Village.
Fletcher had called every five minutes until I assured him I was home. And that yes, I was alone.
I barely dropped my purse on the nearest surface now before he swept me up into arms, his lips finding mine, his tongue stroking mine in hungry licks as he headed down a hallway to where I suspected his bedroom was.
