Millionaire's Woman

She supposed she shouldn’t have said yes so quickly. After all her doubts, after all their differences, she should have at least asked for some time to think it over.

But she hadn’t been able to think. She’d been too surprised and too happy—too deliriously, ecstatically happy. She loved him. And he loved her.

She believed that with all her heart.

Whistling, Garek entered his office late Monday morning. Larry and Mrs. Grist were already there.

Garek smiled. “Good morning, Mrs. Grist, Larry,” he said cheerfully.

Mrs. Grist responded civilly, but Larry only stared at him in astonishment.

“Mrs. Grist,” Garek continued, ignoring Larry’s silence, “would you please clear all appointments for two weeks—no, make that a month—starting next week. I will not be available.”

Now Mrs. Grist looked startled. “But what about the meeting with the Lachland lawyers? They want to go over the independent auditor’s report in detail. Most of the auditor’s points are perfectly ridiculous, but the lawyers have a lot of questions—”

“Reschedule the meeting for this week,” Garek said. “If they can’t make it, suggest a teleconference.”

Larry frowned. “What’s happened?”

Garek looked at the two anxious faces before him. “Nothing,” he said. “Except that Ellie and I are getting married.”

An exclamation escaped Mrs. Grist. She beamed like a hundred lightbulbs. “Well, it’s about time! Congratulations, Mr. Wisnewski. She’s a fine young woman, and I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”

Garek smiled back. “Thank you, Mrs. Grist.” He glanced at Larry.

Larry, in contrast to Mrs. Grist, did not look at all pleased by Garek’s news. In fact, he looked downright worried.

Garek arched an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Larry?”

“What? Oh, uh, no. Congratulations,” Larry said hurriedly. “Uh, could I see you in your office?”

“Certainly.” To Mrs. Grist, Garek said, “Ellie is coming to meet me for lunch. Have her come up immediately when she arrives.”

In his office, Garek sat at his desk and looked at Larry’s concerned face. “Yes?”

Larry hesitated a moment, then launched into speech. “This girl, Eleanor Hernandez—do you know anything about her finances?”

Garek arched a brow. “I haven’t looked at her bank statement, no.”

Larry’s frown deepened. “I dislike having to be the voice of caution, but that is part of my job. You must get her to sign a prenuptial agreement.”

Now it was Garek’s turn to frown. “I hardly think that’s necessary.”

“It is necessary. You know as well as I do that fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce—”

“I have no intention of getting a divorce.”

“No one does, Garek. But you’ve got to realize that people change, things go wrong, you can’t always predict what your feelings will be five, ten, fifteen years from now.”

“We’re not getting divorced,” Garek said, steel in his voice. “But even if we did, I would treat Ellie fairly.”

“Yes, I’m sure you would. But her definition of fair might be very different from yours. Believe me, after four divorces, I know what I’m talking about. Women can be very vindictive when they’re angry.”

“Ellie’s not like that.”

“Maybe not—but she would legally be entitled to a portion of all your assets—she might even try to go after your business. You owe it to your stockholders, if not yourself, to protect the company.”

Garek frowned. As much as he hated to admit it, what Larry said made sense. He had a responsibility to the company. He couldn’t shirk that just because he was getting married.