Penance (Devout Trilogy #3) - Lesli Richardson Page 0,17

or another.

If I can just hold out for another two weeks. I can get it all over with at once.

Please, God. Cut me a little slack, just this once.

* * * *

Olivia heads to Georgia for her family visit and I distract myself with Liam and Daniel.

Until Sunday morning.

My stomach remains painfully tight from the moment I awaken this morning. Olivia returns from visiting her family in Georgia this afternoon, and then I’ll have “the talk” with her.

As of right now, I haven’t done anything that will trigger the penalties in our prenup. Rather, she has zero proof I’ve done anything that can trigger them.

Oh, believe me, if she had proof, she would’ve immediately leveraged it against me to her benefit.

I cannot continue to get that lucky, however, and my name will be mud in certain circles once news of our divorce hits.

That means the less I lose to her in a divorce, the better off I’ll be.

Then there’s the fact that I don’t want to drag Liam and Daniel through the muck with me. At some future point, hopefully, I can make it up to both of them.

For now? I need to protect them from a scandal.

Liam might run for POTUS one day. If he does, it renders a relationship between us nearly impossible, but he would make a great president.

I can’t let my selfish desires get in his way. I’ve already hurt him too damned much in this life, and I don’t want yet another blemish on my soul.

It’s dark enough as it is.

With the way her family is harping on Olivia to hurry up and finally get pregnant, I wouldn’t be shocked if she strolls into the house with an ultimatum of her own for me to do something, which would make for the perfect set-up for me to drop my news on her.

I’ve already drawn up the papers and have them ready. Whether or not she’ll sign them as-is remains to be seen.

Why did I let myself get railroaded into this loveless marriage? Why did I waste so many years of my life and hers? No, she’s no angel, but it damn sure wasn’t fair to her to trap her in this life.

Then again, she could’ve said no to her father and didn’t. I warned her ahead of time and offered to take the blame. But she didn’t.

Just like I didn’t say no to mine.

The difference is, my father’s dying now, and my inheritance will be mine. She can’t touch a penny of it, even if we’re still married. One good thing he did for me, at least, to set it up so my spouse has no access to the funding, even if I’m dead or disabled.

I’d have to dissolve the trust and allocate the funds, but that would take a legal untangling that would drag on for years.

I get a text alert from the flight tracking app I use that her plane’s on the ground, and from there the countdown starts in my head, until I hear the front door open and shut almost exactly when I expected her to return.

She walks into the living room, where I’m reading in one of the recliners. She drops her purse on the couch and stares at me for a moment. “You can take my suitcase upstairs, but first we need to talk.”

Yes. “Okay. You go first.”

She scowls. “What do you mean, I go first?”

“Because you’re right that we have to talk.”

Studying me, she lowers herself to the couch. “I heard from Elsbeth that you’re not running for re-election to a second term.”

I curse Stan. “I didn’t say that.”

“She said Stan told her you wouldn’t talk to him about PAC money.”

I slowly nod. “That’s right.”

“So…you’re not running then?”

We’re really doing this. I gird my loins and dive in. It’s a little backward from my original plan, but I’ll work with it. “No, I’m not running for re-election. I’m miserable, I hate what I’m doing, and I’m not torturing myself for another six years with this. I’ll wait to announce that until next month.”

“Don’t you think you should’ve asked me first?”

“Last time I checked, you don’t get to make that decision. Isn’t the wife supposed to submit to her husband?” Low blow, I know, but fuck it.

She sucks wind through her teeth. “Mom and Dad demand to know when we’ll get pregnant.”

“Not happening with me.”

She snorts and it doesn’t even bother me. “Yeah, I told her that.”

“You…did?” That’s an answer I wasn’t expecting.

“Yes.” She leans back, stretching her arms