Her heart sank. She hadn’t anticipated that her ex-husband would be the topic of discussion and, as usual, every time his name was mentioned her stomach knotted up with trepidation. “What about Gary?”
“He came to my apartment a few days ago,” he said evenly. “The same day we got back from Florida, actually.”
She frowned. “He never mentioned a visit. I talked to him briefly yesterday on a conference call about my considering getting a new lawyer. It was all very official, since his lawyer was in on the call.” She tapped her finger against her lip. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t mention it.”
“He didn’t mention it because I suspect he’s deliberately trying to keep it from you.” Simon leaned back in the chair, whatever uncertainty he had been carrying now replaced by a steely confidence. He crossed his strong arms, his unwavering gaze meeting hers.
“Why would he do something like that?” Heather asked in surprise.
“Because what he came to discuss was utterly distasteful.” His eyes narrowed, his anger apparent.
Heather swallowed hard. She had never seen Simon like this. Never seen such tightly coiled anger threatening to boil over. He had lost his temper once, when he had thought she was trying to sabotage Dover by hacking into his cyber system, but this anger was different. It was as if he was trying to restrain it through sheer force of will, doing everything in his power not to unleash it. “What did he come to discuss?” The minute she asked, she knew she would regret finding out the truth.
The expression on Simon’s face was the most terrifying combination of anger, grief, and disgust. “He came to try to squeeze money out of me.”
She gasped, her hand flying to her throat in panic. “How could he do something like that? Simon, I’m so sorry. He had no right to do that.”
Guilt wracked her. If it hadn’t been for her, Simon wouldn’t have had to deal with her rotten excuse for an ex-husband. Gary had always been rough around the edges. Even ill-mannered. But this was a new low for him.
“It gets worse,” he said tersely.
“How much money did he ask for?”
Simon narrowed his eyes. “Two million dollars.”
“What?” Her lungs constricted painfully and she struggled to breathe. This was insane. She had thought maybe Gary had come asking for a small loan for rent or a car payment, but this was beyond anything she could have ever predicted. Disbelief forced her to search for the right words to respond with.
“Why would he ask for that kind of money?” she finally gasped out. “Is he in some kind of trouble?”
“You’re seriously still giving him the benefit of the doubt?” Frustration laced every word as he scowled. “He isn’t in any trouble. He wanted a payoff to drop the custody battle and relinquish his parental rights to Finn. And, as terrible as it sounds, I’ve actually given his proposal serious consideration.”
Chapter 8
She had never been bombarded with this many conflicting emotions. Anger at Gary’s callous audacity. Bitter disappointment at Simon’s confession. And, worst of all, heartache over Finn being abandoned by his own father.
“Simon, seriously?” she cried, her anger at Gary projecting onto Simon. “How could you consider something so horrible?”
“How could I not?” he fired back. “He’s been trying to take Finn away from you, but he refuses to spend time with the kid. It’s obvious he doesn’t care about Finn, and he’s just using this custody battle to get back at you. Paying him off might be the answer to your problems.”
“No, absolutely not.” She stared daggers at him, too angry to even contemplate his words. “Not only am I going to forbid you paying Gary any amount of money—”
“You? Forbid me?” He scoffed. “This I have to hear.”
“Dammit! Sometimes you really can be so condescending,” she snapped. “I know you think that money doesn’t mean anything, but that’s only because you have so much of it. Two million dollars is a lot of money. I don’t think I’ve made that amount of money in my entire working life.”