“What?”
“Your brand-new fiancée entered the building in tears. You got about thirty seconds.” She slams the door behind her.
Checking, there aren’t any messages from my lawyer. The terms of the prenup are more than fair. What the hell was Chloe crying about?
For the second time today my door bangs against the wall. Her face is puffy but the tears are gone. “A settlement of five hundred thousand dollars per kid. Are you fucking serious?”
Goddamn it, I thought she was different. It’s Sheryl and the prenup all over again. She had demanded a million per kid; I don’t know why I thought Chloe would be different. The whole reason why she was saying yes was the house and the kids. “I’m not paying a penny more.”
“More? What is the matter with you? For fuck’s sake, Enzo, I don’t want our kids wondering if the only reason they’re here is because I wanted more money from you. Take it the fuck out of the prenup or I swear to god this is all over now.” She takes the thick prenup out of her briefcase and throws it at me.
I barely manage to catch it before it hits my face. Relief fills my entire body, replacing the tension. “All right, breathe. The lawyer should have told you some of the things were negotiable.”
“That’s not the way he made it sound. You’re such an idiot, fifty thousand a year if I divorce you before we hit ten years, but a million a year for every year after ten years. If you think that’s the only thing preventing me from divorcing your ass, you are not paying attention.” She shakes her head. “Where’s my ring?”
Stiffening at the reminder, I shrug. “I threw it away. You didn’t want it.”
“You’re lying.”
“You said no.”
“I said not yet. You did not throw a million-dollar ring away, Enzo Sabatini. Give it to me.”
“How did you know it cost a million dollars?”
“I looked it up. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t fall in line with all your devious, scheming plans and say yes to marrying you after knowing you for all of six days. It took me two whole weeks and a lot of sleepless nights. Stop being an asshole.”
Shrugging, I lean back in my chair. “I don’t have it means I don’t have it.”
“Just for that, I’m going all the way up to two nine on the multifamily even though I would have been happy with a one six property. Get that to your lawyer, I won’t sign it without it taken out.” She slams the door so hard it shudders in the frame.
I barely manage a deep breath before Pauline opens the door, then leans on the doorframe. “You could have told her that you told me to hide it from you until the house was finished so you wouldn’t do anything stupid, again.”
“No, I’m still not sure I want her to have it yet.”
“You big ol’ baby. Fine, be that way. But you at least better give it to her when she has your first baby. Anything later and I’ll give it to her myself.”
“As always, your advice is unnecessary and unappreciated.”
***
Chloe
“Tell me I’m doing the right thing, Bethany. Please tell me I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life, that this isn’t going to be a complete and utter clusterfuck but worse because there will be kids involved.” All of my earlier calm was completely destroyed by that fucking prenup. What if I was wrong, and it was just really awesome sex?
“You’re doing the right thing. You are not making a mistake at all, let alone the biggest mistake of your life. Enzo is straight-up, kiss-all-his-billions-goodbye crazy about you.”
I stop pacing the length of the living room in the under-renovation home Bethany is having fun planning. “Are you sure it’s not just how I want a half a dozen kids as of yesterday that he loves? I mean he’s done this once before.” I think about it for a long minute. “If I tell you something, do you swear not to tell anyone? Dante included.”
Her eyes go wide. “Not tell Dante?”
“Especially Dante. Please, I need to know, but I’m pretty sure Enzo will hate me forever if he finds out I told anyone this.”
“Oh god, you’re killing me. Now I have to know. Okay, I swear. I’ll take it to my grave.” She raises her hand.
“Enzo actually asked me to marry him last Monday with a ring and everything.”
“Holy fucking shit! Are you serious? Like you guys met on Tuesday, and he asks Monday after you threw water in his lap on Saturday and he swore on Sunday he wasn’t interested in you anymore?” I nod. “So wait, have you been engaged all this time?”