Page 2 of Completely Captivated
He cut his gaze to Aaron and sighed heavily without even attempting to disguise his disgust and disapproval.She watched the wordless exchange between the two men, observed as Aaron quickly averted his eyes from the heavy glare of the other man.She had a quick and powerful urge to come to Aaron’s defense and put the other man in his place.The obvious question was why he’d be so disappointed in Aaron in the first place.
“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before.I’m Christa.”She extended her hand to offer a handshake.
“Yes, I know who you are,Christa Lanes.I’m Lance Rivers, Aaron’s older brother.”His reply was curt and brash as he blatantly ignored her proffered hand.
She immediately noticed he didn’t say it was nice to meet her, and a sickening feeling about this impromptu, early morning meeting settled into her gut.
Lance’s stare darted between Aaron and Christa, throwing daggers in their direction.“Have a seat.”He motioned at a small conference table close to the window then jerked the chair out for himself.
Aaron took the farthest seat, putting his back to the window.Christa sat directly across from Aaron.Lance sat at the head of the small table and waited for them to settle before he began.He opened the manila folder he’d brought with him and pushed a neatly stacked collection of papers in front of Christa.He then clicked his pen and laid it directly on top of the papers.
“Ms.Lanes, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?My brother, Aaron, is quite impetuous—that means he doesn’t always think through his decisions as thoroughly as he should.”Lance’s tone was extremely condescending.
“Yes, I know what ‘impetuous’ means, Lance.What are you trying to say?”Christa’s hackles were immediately raised, her tone rife with indignation over his assumption she was ignorant.
Lance smiled, but his eyes lacked any humor or warmth.“Everything I need to say is right there in those papers in front of you, Ms.Lanes.”
Christa looked down at the papers, and her world came to a crashing halt.She couldn’t breathe and couldn’t form a coherent thought.The words jumped off the page at her, but in her panicked state, they were in no given order.Her mind raced and her heart throbbed, rendering her unable to comprehend the meaning of the words.Everything was a jumbled mess.But there was one lone word that resonated and reverberated throughout the echoes of her mind.
Divorce.
“I don’t—I don’t understand.Wh-what is this?”Christa demanded of Aaron when she finally found her voice.She searched his face intently, but it was void of any emotion.He deliberately masked his feelings, retreated inside himself, and blocked out the unpleasantness around him.
“It is exactly what it says it is.”Lance spat out his sarcastic response.“Ms.Lanes, you and my brother do have not a real marriage.This fiasco never should’ve happened.We need to rectify this situation as soon as possible.As Aaron’s lawyer, I’ve drawn up these papers to handle the procedures speedily.”
She gripped the armrests of her chair, trying to focus on a single spot while a vortex of blackness threatened to erase her very existence.Her entire world stopped spinning and hung precariously on its axis, of that much she was sure.But the room she sat in was spinning fast enough to draw the air from her lungs, making it harder and harder for her to maintain her composure.
“Aaron.Why?” Desperation gripped her like a heavy vise and spilled over into her voice—forcing the pleading tone that was obvious even to her.She struggled to maintain her dignity and poise over the despair that suffused her.Everything she’d ever wanted in life was within her grasp, and she felt it slipping away, like tiny grains of sand sliding through her fingers.She was powerless to stop it.
“Ms.Lanes, surely you didn’t think your relationship with Aaron was anything more than a passing fling.That’s all Aaroneverhas—just a quick fling, a one-night stand, and then he’s through with them,” Lance retorted, disdain dripping from his every word.
Christa heard a low growl emanate from Aaron’s chest, but he didn’t dispute Lance’s mean-spirited words.He also didn’t disagree with Lance’s assessment of their relationship.She knew that was Aaron’s life before her, buttheywere different.Hewas different with her.They were a couple now.
“Aaron—tell him that’s not true.Tell him it’s different with us,” Christa pleaded.
Lance continued as if her world wasn’t disintegrating all around her.Like the very person she loved the most wasn’t being ripped from her life.Like her heart wasn’t being cut out of her chest.
“Ms.Lanes, as you can see, Aaron is offering you a very generous settlement.You will be given ten million dollars, a house, and a vehicle of your choice, and you may keep any gifts Aaron has given you.This is theonlytime you will be offered this generous settlement.”Lance’s heartless words and matter-of-fact tone matched the sneer on his face.
“What?Ten million dollars?What are you talking about?”Unable to stay seated a second longer, Christa rose and quickly stepped around the table to sit beside Aaron.She was close enough to touch him, to feel the heat of his body, and to inhale the faint smell of his cologne.She watched him lower his head and stare down into his lap before she spoke softly to him.
“Aaron, please look at me,” she requested.She watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down when he swallowed hard before slowly raising his chin.He turned his head toward her, his eyes indulging in a slow perusal of her body.When their gazes finally collided, she saw his emotions in the stark blue pools of his eyes before he quickly masked his feelings and his eyes became hard as nails again.
“Aaron, what’s going on?Why are you doing this to us?”Christa asked softly.
She desperately wished Lance wasn’t in the room so they could talk alone, and she could at least try to understand what was happening.She laid her outstretched hand on Aaron’s arm and lovingly stroked his skin with her delicate fingers.
“I don’t understand.I don’t know why you’re doing this.But it doesn’t have to be this way.We don’t have to do this.We can just leave now and go hometogether.”
“Let’s be frank, shall we?You know who Aaron is.You and he married without a prenuptial agreement.You may have fooled him for a short time, but no judge will ever give you more than what we’re offering you right now when you’ve only been married a few days.You are not entitled to half of everything he owns.If you want to fight us over it, rest assured we have the resources to keep you tied up in litigation foryears,and you will not see one penny the whole time.Take the offer.Live comfortably.Move on with your life,” Lance barked.
Pain and confusion were etched on her face.I know who he is?What does he mean by that?So many questions flew through her mind at lightning speed, too many to even try to vocalize.The only coherent thought she could latch on to wasthose weredivorce papers.
Didn’t we just walk in here holding hands?He brought me here to serve me with divorce papers, but I don’t understand why.What’s happening?The questions kept coming.They flooded her mind and made it impossible for her to make a logical decision on her own.When she sat motionless and silent for a moment too long, Lance continued.
“Ms.Lanes, it is my belief that you drugged my brother to get him to agree to marry you, and that you have continued drugging him to keep him with you for the last three days.Now that he can think clearly again, he’s agreed not to press charges against you, provided you agree to this deal,” Lance concluded.
“Drugged him?Press charges?I haven’t done anything wrong!I don’t use drugs, and I’d certainly never drug him.I wouldn’t even knowwhereto go to get drugs, or evenwhatto get.”Her gaze darted between the two brothers, waiting for one of them to speak words that made any sense to her.Her lips parted, her chest rose and fell in rapid succession, and her hands shook.Her mind was reeling, and she couldn’t reconcile how Aaron could think so poorly of her.
