Chapter Fifty-Two Him

Chapter Fifty-Two Him

Married, Day Forty-One

Between Kathryn’s incessant complaining and Addison’s stranglehold on my life, I was done with women. They had a place. By

my side, acting as my equal and my partner, was not it.

I’d married once out of necessity and once by accident. The first walk down the aisle completed the picture I wanted to present

to the world. People equated marriage with stability. I became someone everyone could trust and should listen to. No longer

a traumatized teen. A fully in control, successful man who beat the odds. A survivor.

A map and my dead brother, Cooper, caused the second marriage.

I’d hoped to thread the needle and pull off an extraordinary scam—get rid of one unwanted wife by pretending to marry a second

one. The risk didn’t pan out. It was a temporary setback and one I vowed to fix. That meant destroying Addison. She didn’t

think I could, which made me more determined to succeed.

Elias’s investigator promised to find the fodder to send Addison running. That was only the start. After all her snide comments and that shit with the bat, she’d pay for her behavior. Her destruction would be my gift to every man who might have fallen under her spell or been subjected to her blackmail in the future.

Planning and gameplay were my strengths. I’d defeated stronger people. Older, wiser, wealthier people. Addison was nothing

more than a nuisance, one that would barely register as a blip on the timeline of my life. It was time to start laying the

groundwork for her erasure.

First, Kathryn. Every minute of her shrill fussing tested my patience. I’d been in our old house, sitting on the family room

couch and tuning out her moaning for more than fifteen minutes.

Time to get to the point of my visit. “Addison is trying to kill me.”

Kathryn stopped mid-whine. “What?”

“She’s not stable.” Kathryn spent the last half of our marriage droning on about “coded” words and phrases. From her frown,

it looked like I’d hit one, so I tried again. “Addison is cunning. A master manipulator.”

“ She is?”

That grating tone. Kathryn enjoyed taking shots. Small, passive-aggressive hits as a reminder that she kept secrets that could

ruin me. The marriage had neutralized her. The rushed divorce turned her into a potential problem.

Kathryn stopped fidgeting and sat down. She tended to be a ball of energy, always looking for some cause or errand to keep

her busy. So much about her annoyed me. Idiosyncrasies and habits I tolerated for decades now made my temper spike.

“Why did she want to marry you in the first place?” she asked.

“Money. It’s all that bitch cares about.” Addison hadn’t spent a dime yet, but the answer was good enough for Kathryn. I’d know more about Addison once someone on my payroll told me who the hell she was and how she fit into my past.

Kathryn was back to shifting around, playing with her necklace, as if she lacked restraint. “Do not put Addison’s name on

any of the assets.”

An order? Kathryn had lost the ability to question me about money or anything else. She didn’t recognize that, but I would

remind her once I’d taken care of Addison. Dealing with one unwanted wife at a time was enough.

“The assets have been handled.” My tone said discussion over .

Kathryn jumped to her feet again. “You promised none of this would happen. The marriage. Her in our lives.” She grew more

agitated the longer she spoke. “Your so-called wife should be paid off and gone by now. A hundred thousand dollars is a fortune

for her. Please tell me you offered her the money like you promised.”

Kathryn never contradicted me before we said our vows. She reeled me in with fake submission. Probably not the first bride

in history to wait to show her backbone and unleash her argumentative nature until after the wedding reception bill had been

paid.

She stared at me, as if waiting for a response. I had no idea what she’d said.

After a brief hesitation she wound up again. “I devoted my life to you. To our kids. I did everything you asked and ignored

every slight. The other women.” The sound of her sharp inhale bounced around the room. “Damn it, Richmond. How could you do

this to me?”

In no universe was this situation about her. “You’re getting hysterical.”

“Gaslighting. Really?”

Her favorite word. “I was making an observation.”

“Do you want to know what I see?”

Not even a little. “Addison’s irrational behavior is the point. I have cameras and security everywhere in the house and on

the grounds so I can spy on her.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I want to believe you.”

“Addison claims to know things.”

“Yes, I get it. She’s basically blackmailing you. But what exactly does she know? Why won’t you answer that question?”

“Again, the specifics don’t matter.” Telling Kathryn might give her leverage, so she didn’t need to know about the map and

this supposed tape. It was sufficient for her to understand that Addison claimed to have proof and I believed her. “Until

I figure out where Addison got her information and how much she really has, I need to play along.”

“By being married to her.”

I hated that part, too. I stretched my arm along the top of the couch cushions. Even Kathryn should see my lounging as a signal

that I wasn’t swayed by her outbursts. “It’s a piece of paper that means nothing. A joke.”

“Like our marriage was?”

The burst of strong will was the one downside of our divorce. That and losing a portion of my net worth, but I’d figure out

how to get the money back. “Addison sleeps with a bat.”

The air seemed to run out of Kathryn. She dropped back down on the couch, concern obvious in her eyes. “She could kill you.”

Finally. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“You made a fool out of me. All because of her. This homicidal lunatic. And you’ve turned me into one of those forgotten first wives that you and your friends make fun of at the club.”

That was more like it. I could handle her self-pity. “That’s not true.”

“Remember, Addison isn’t the only one who knows about the things you’ve done.”

I was about to put my hand on her knee. Show her some comfort, then that came out of her mouth. “Are you threatening me, Kathryn?”

“We’re in this mess because of you.”

Anger flared. Violent flames spilled out, burning through every promise I’d made to myself to maintain control. That need

to reach out. To take her neck and squeeze... but I stayed calm. Clenched the couch material in my fist and rode out the

wave of fury.

“I worked my ass off to give all of you everything you could want. I’m the one out there every day.”

“You’re being sued.”

“I miscalculated with one surgery.” I’d gotten complacent. A lawsuit loomed but I could talk my way out of that. Thomas couldn’t

afford to lose me. The blame would be shifted as far away from me as possible. “Do you have any idea how much time and energy

I’ve dedicated to this family? To our financial security?”

All her squirming stopped. The hint of panic in her expression disappeared and her face went blank. “I know exactly what you’ve

done to get where you are.”

“And what you did.” She could taunt but the facts condemned both of us.

“You’re turning our lives upside down over some vague accusations from a woman no one would take seriously.” Kathryn sprang up again. She rubbed her forehead as she walked back and forth in front of the fireplace. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into any of this.”

I tightened my hold on the couch material. “You seemed fine dividing our assets and taking the money.”

“It was the first time you conceded to putting any asset in my name.”

“Because I’m the one who earned it all.”

My effort. My money. My dead parents.

“Don’t do that.” Her voice was softer now. Sweeter, as if she sensed she’d gone too far. “We’re a team. We were supposed to

continue being a team. You promised we’d separate long enough for you to remove Addison from our lives forever then we’d return

to normal. You’d take the public hit for cheating on me, and I’d be graceful and take you back.”

“That is still the plan.” Not really.

“But Addison outmaneuvered you. Your guilt made you sloppy.”

Every nerve jumped to attention, ready to strike. “Be careful about the words you throw around, honey.”

I stood up as a signal the conversation was over. My work was done. I’d set the groundwork. Painted Addison as volatile and

dangerous just as I’d done all over town. When the time came, people who barely knew her would line up to talk about her violent

side. The rumors about how I’d married an unstable woman who lied about being pregnant would build. Whispers about how when

I found out she tricked me and confronted her my mysterious “accidents” started.

That’s when the power balance would shift in my favor. She’d need my help to avoid the police and the angry mobs. She’d panic. Her type always did when the money stream dried up. She’d hand over her supposed evidence to secure her freedom. I’d let her think she escaped the worst of my retribution. Then I’d get rid of her because I was not going through this bullshit again.

I had no choice but to kill her.

“Consider what we have as a death pact.” I chose words calculated to produce the reaction I wanted.

Kathryn actually backed up. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

That was more like it. Her being afraid of me was new but not a bad thing. A little fear would keep her in line. “If I go

down, you go down. We’re in this together.”

Some of the tightness eased from around Kathryn’s mouth. “What if you can’t beat Addison?”

Not an option. “I’ve never lost before. I won’t lose this time.”