Only One Night (Only One 3)

Nico walks in wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, and a leather jacket. “Hey,” he says to me and then looks at Becca. “Good to see you.”

She just nods at him as the bell rings again. He moves over to me. “You okay?” I shrug my shoulder when I see Candace come in. Her eyes go soft when she sees me.

“Manning.” She comes over to me and hugs me. “I’m so sorry.”

“Okay, I set up in the dining room,” Becca says, walking toward a door that I didn’t even see when I got in. I step in and see Becca’s computer out and her legal pad next to it with writing all over it.

I slip off my jacket and sit down, grabbing a water bottle from the middle of the table. “What a day,” I say, chuckling.

Nico sits next to me. Candace sits next to Becca and takes out her own legal pad. “So what happened?”

I shake my head. “I gave her the divorce papers, and I’m hoping to fuck she doesn’t fight me on it.”

“She put out a statement,” Candace says, and I look over at her in shock. “She did it herself.”

“What did she say?” I ask, and my leg starts to move up and down. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Well,” Becca says, laughing now. “She did call me two seconds after you left her and told me that I better make sure that I take care of this shit, or you’ll regret it.”

“What did you tell her?” I ask.

“I told her to eat my dick,” Becca says, and Nico laughs. “Then I hung up on her.”

“And then she called me,” Candace says, looking down. “I didn’t tell her what Becca said, but I did tell her that she was not my client. She then told me to eat a dick and hung up. The minute she hung up, I put out the press release that we wrote up.” I nod, knowing she took care of it. “It contradicts what she says, though.”

“That’s her problem,” I say, then look over at Nico. “Any news on your side?”

“You know me, Manning,” he says. “People don’t come to me with this shit because I’m not going to fucking answer it. They know better. I had Becca send out a press release on behalf of the organization asking that they respect your privacy as well as your son’s,” he says.

“How are you going to handle the press?” Nico asks. “You have a game tomorrow night. Luckily for us, we are home for eight days, but . . .”

“It’s no surprise. I don’t talk about my private life, and I’m not going to do it now.” I look over at Becca and Candace. “Unless she comes out spewing shit and talks about Evelyn, I have nothing to say on the matter. I’m not the first man to get divorced, and I won’t be the last one.”

“Dad.” I hear Jaxon calling me. “I’m making cupcakes.” I laugh now and look at the three people who I know will be in my corner no matter what. “I’m sorry, guys.” I put my hands together. “I didn’t want it to come out the way it did. I didn’t want this huge media circus. But she crossed the line with Evelyn. She broke it off with me because I was married even after I told her what was happening with Murielle. It killed her that she was the other woman and to be attacked at her work. I wasn’t going to let it slide.”

“Hopefully, this will be over very soon, and we can pop champagne for another reason,” Nico says, getting up. “Becca, why don’t I take you to dinner?”

Becca looks over at him and tilts her head to the side. “Depends. What are you thinking?”

“Whatever you want,” he tells her, and she gets up, closing her laptop.

“I’m thinking pizza,” she says. “In Italy.”

“If we leave now, we can get there for lunch,” he says, and they both leave.

“Ralph and Miller are going nuts,” Candace says when I walk her to the door. “I didn’t tell him anything, and he’s being a big fat baby about it and pouting.”

“I’ll give them a call later,” I tell her. “Thank you,” I say, “for everything.”

“Out of all my clients,” she says, opening the door, “you were the quiet one. I’d expect this from Miller.” She shakes her head, laughing as she walks to her car. I lock the door and walk back to the kitchen.

Slapping my hands together, I ask, “So what are we eating?” My mother looks over at me. “I’m starving.”

My mother takes over the whole conversation during dinner, talking about all the chores she does at home, and when I get up to walk Jaxon upstairs, I look over at her. “I’m going to have a talk with him.”