The Angels' Share (The Bourbon Kings #2) - J. R. Ward Page 0,111
You have to kill them. And they must not be facing the way out or trying to make it to an exit.” Samuel T. wagged his index finger. “But that’s the way to do it. As long as no one knew your father had been asked to meet him out there? Edward would have gotten away with it.”
As Lane stared across at his attorney, Samuel T. waved his hand like he was clearing the air of the words he’d just spoken. “But I’m not advocating that course of action, however. And I’m drunk, as you know.”
After a moment, Lane murmured, “Remind me never to come here without a written invitation, Counselor.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
In the back of the Phantom Drophead, which had its top up in deference to her hair, Gin sat beside her future husband and looked out the window. The river was muddy and swollen from the storms of the afternoon and night before, the waters rising so much, it looked like they were trying to consume parts of Indiana.
Downtown was up ahead, the skyscrapers glinting in the sunshine, the asphalt necklaces of highway lanes encircling their steel and glass throats. There was a little construction to deal with, her father’s chauffeur hitting the brakes every now and again, but the delay wasn’t going to cost them much time.
As they approached the Big Five Bridge, she stared at the span’s five arches, at the cables that suspended the pavement over the water … and remembered the fight she and her father had had over her marrying Richard. She had refused—only to find that she was cut off financially, marooned on a deserted island of insolvency.
And so she had caved.
And now she was here.
Closing her eyes, she pictured Samuel T. out by the pool during the visitation that had had so few visitors.
“Sign this, would you.”
Opening her lids, she glanced across the cream leather seats. Richard was holding out about twenty pages of some kind of document along with one of his black and gold monogrammed Montblanc pens.
“I beg your pardon.”
“It’s a prenuptial agreement.” He jogged both at her. “Sign it.”
Gin laughed and looked up at the chauffeur. The uniformed man with his jaunty little cap was about to get a helluva show.
“I’ll do no such thing.”
“Yes, you will,” Richard said.
Staring back out the window, she shrugged. “So turn the car around. Call this off. Do whatever you need to, but I’m not signing away my rights as your wife.”
“May I remind you of the distribution help I bring to your company. Given how it’s struggling, you’re going to need those favorable contracts. And they can disappear fast if I want them to.”
“Given how we’re struggling, there may not be a Bradford Bourbon Company next year. So your personal fortune is a better bet for me.”
He recoiled at that, his thin neck flexing in a way that reminded her of a horse who had been starved. “Have you no shame?”
“Nope.”
“Virginia Elizabeth—”
“Even my father never called me that.” A Porsche sped by in the breakdown lane, and as it shot past all the stagnating traffic, she realized it was her brother. “Not that I would have found it persuasive if he had.”
“This is boilerplate, you know. And if you’re not familiar with the term, that means it’s very simple. You keep everything that is yours going into the marriage. I keep everything that is mine. And never the twain shall meet or mix.”
“Simple, really? Is that why it’s the size of War and Peace?” She glanced over at him. “And if it was so simple, why didn’t you give me a chance to read it and review it with a lawyer first?”
Like Samuel T., for instance. Although she could guess how that would go.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with legal jargon.”
“Don’t I? You might be interested to discover that I’ve already researched divorce law, and you want to know what I learned?”
“Gin, seriously—”
“I learned that I’m going to be very faithful to you.” As he recoiled again, she muttered, “You know, I really should be offended by your surprise. But before you get too excited that I’m respecting you in some way, I’ve learned that whereas Kentucky is a no-fault state for divorce grounds, evidence of infidelity can be used to reduce spousal support. So those two pilots I fucked the other night are my last forays into infidelity. I will be an honorable wife to you and I encourage you to have me trailed and photographed. Bug my bedroom, my cars,