“A giant cockroach?” Garek guessed.
Larry’s nearly nonexistent eyebrows rose. “You knew about this?”
“Not exactly.” Narrowing his eyes, Garek signed the deed and set it aside. He stared down at the next paper, a document stating that one Eleanor Hernandez relinquished all claims on him. “This is already signed,” Garek observed.
“Yes,” Larry said, his satisfaction evident. “I spoke to her this morning.”
“Did she give you any trouble?”
“Surprisingly, no. I think she realized she was beat. She read through the waiver and the annulment papers, then signed them both. She did ask me to remind you what she’d said about her cousin, though.”
“Ah, yes. Her cousin.” Garek set Ellie’s waiver aside and glanced at the next document—a statement against Robbie. Phrases like assault with a deadly weapon and criminal confinement leaped out at him.
He’d been too furious about the whole shotgun marriage and her threat to sell her story to the tabloids to think about Eleanor Hernandez very clearly. All he’d thought of this last week were ways to squash her gallery, her cousin and—most especially—her.
But now, something nagged at him, something that had been niggling at the back of his brain all week.
She’d been extremely upset when the reporter had taken a picture of Garek and her, insisting that he go after the man and get the film. She’d even refused to be interviewed when it could have helped her precious gallery. She’d claimed she wanted the attention focused on the artists and th
eir work, but the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that she found the idea of appearing in a tabloid as distasteful as he did.
Garek frowned.
If she was trying to blackmail him, she wasn’t doing a very good job of it. She should have threatened to go to the tabloids if he didn’t give her money—not to save her cousin. If money was what she was after, she should have cashed that five-thousand-dollar check weeks ago, not squandered it on a ridiculous donation to the Art Institute, a donation designed to…what? Embarrass him? Make some point?
If she wanted to make any kind of claim on him at all, she should have refused to sign these papers. She should have let him make love to her that night, encouraged him to consummate their “marriage”…
It didn’t make any sense. She didn’t make any sense—
“Ahem.”
Garek looked up to see Larry watching him. The lawyer pointed to the line at the bottom of the complaint. “You just need to sign there—”
Garek pushed the paper aside. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to have Roberto Hernandez arrested. I want to leave him out of this.”
Larry’s mouth fell open. “But why?”
“I don’t want to have it on public record that I was coerced into marriage at gunpoint.”
Lines formed on the lawyer’s forehead. “Since when have you cared what anyone thinks?”
Garek’s eyebrows lifted. “You should be happy—you’re always telling me I should worry about it.”
Larry’s frown deepened. “You can’t let this man off. He’s a menace, a danger to society—”
“You’re afraid he’ll go all over town forcing men to marry his cousin?” Garek asked sardonically. “Somehow, I’m not too concerned.”
“I don’t think it’s wise,” Larry said unhappily. “Without the legal complaint, it will be easier for Ms. Hernandez to claim that you weren’t coerced.”
“She’s already signed away all claims.”
“That doesn’t mean she couldn’t change her mind. If she gets herself a sharp lawyer, she could—”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” Garek interrupted. “I’ve made my decision.”
“Very well,” Larry said, his voice as stiff as the hair covering his bald spot. “If you’ll just sign the annulment papers, I’ll go.”
Garek glanced down at the last document, then set it aside also. “I have a meeting shortly. I’ll do it later.”