Treachery Prequel

Luca

Three years had passed since I left Yale.

Three fucked up years I’d given my life to a man who had promised to be my world. For our entire marriage, my husband, Clayton, did everything he could to sneak around on me.

After holding me back, after convincing me it would be okay to leave law school to help take care of my mother, he was now leaving me for a younger model, his secretary, as if that wasn’t cliché enough, while also attempting to renege on the prenuptial agreement that promised me several million dollars for his playboy ways.

Even worse, he’d chosen to file for divorce three short months after my father died. I was already broken to lose him so soon after my mom, and Clayton’s declaration that he was leaving me was like getting kicked in the belly when I was already down.

If that wasn’t bad enough, I’d learned this morning that Clayton had finally hired an attorney to represent him. Much to my surprise - and anger - he’d chosen the biggest bastard of them all, a bastard I’d hoped to never see again for the rest of my life.

Ta

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t wrap my head around how Clayton had convinced Ta

While I sat at a table in the front of a large courtroom, I watched Ta

“Don’t even look at him, Luca. Ta

Tearing my eyes away from Ta

A goddess among divorce lawyers, she’d represented every high profile marital split where assets ranged in the millions and billions. Celebrities, politicians, CEOs, it didn’t matter. If the asshole husband in the cases she worked wanted to keep so much as his dick in the divorce, he quickly learned how to bargain.

“I don’t even know why that jackass is in the courtroom. He handles corporate mergers when he actually deigns to work a file in his office. And never have I seen him take a divorce case.”

Platinum blond hair slipping over her shoulder, Marjorie snuck a glance at the two men as they slipped through the half door leading into the front portion of the courtroom.

Thankfully, Clayton was able to work a deal where media wasn’t allowed in the room, and the only people sitting on the viewing benches were his father’s campaign manager and another man I assumed was part of his father’s team. Clayton’s father was up for re-election in four months. For that reason, I knew he needed to keep these proceedings quick and quiet.

“Marjorie.”

Softly rolling thunder shook the air around us, a deep voice resonating over every cell in my body. The timber of Ta

Unable to look up from the gouged scar carved into the dark oak respondent’s table, I saw Marjorie turn in my peripheral vision, her hand smoothing down her cream colored skirt to find Ta

“Mr. Caine. How nice to see you’re still practicing law. I thought being a playboy was more your style. And in an area you have zero practice litigating. Does Mr. Hughes know you’ve never worked a domestic case before?”

I couldn’t decide if Marjorie was brave or stupid. There stood Ta

His calm laughter forced a chill down my spine, the cold spreading lower until my legs were overrun with pins and needles.

“Mr. Hughes is well aware of my abilities, Marjorie.” He paused long enough for my gaze to slide his direction, “As is Mrs. Hughes, if I’m not mistaken.”

Asshole.

With his signature smirk, Ta

My eyes clenched shut and I could feel the indignant heat radiating from Marjorie. Ta

Adjusting her posture, Marjorie tapped a set of perfectly polished fingernails over the table.

“I’m glad to hear you’ve been forthcoming, especially when up against a woman of my caliber. The case speaks for itself. Mrs. Hughes has been nothing but the perfect wife. Your client, however…”

Her voice trailed off before she gri

Before Ta

On shaking legs, I stood from my seat, my eyes studiously glued to the top of the judge’s bald head. The last place I wanted to look was in Ta

Now standing behind the petitioner’s table, he wore a black pinstriped suit with a white shirt and sapphire blue tie. Tapping a pen against the side of his leg, he appeared relaxed in his environment, the king of this courtroom as much as he’d been the king on campus. I knew exactly why Clayton had run to Ta

We had history, the three of us. A history that began with the mistake of climbing in Ta

“Be seated.”

The judge pulled a few papers from the desk in front of him, and I hadn’t yet relaxed into my chair by the time Ta

Leaning back, I used Marjorie as a wall between us. I preferred the sight of her platinum hair to the black silk of Ta

“It looks to me we’re here today on the matter of Hughes vs. Hughes, Petitioner’s Motion to Enforce The Prenuptial Agreement due to Extramarital Affair.”

Marjorie’s expression twisted, the red haze to her cheeks telling me something had already gone wrong. Standing from her seat, she cast a sharp glance at Ta

The judge conferred with his court clerk briefly, but I already knew Marjorie was in for an upsetting surprise. A smug grin tilted the corner of Ta