Sweet Seduction Sacrifice (3 page)

Finn Drake just watched me for several seconds, I kept my gaze at the floor. It was a nice floor, different carpet to that out in reception. Reception's had been cream - bad for coffee stains - here it was a pale grey with darker grey flecks throughout. Coffee spilled wouldn't be so noticeable in amongst all of that.

"But he lived in the same house as you up until four months ago?" he asked and I could tell he didn't like doing it. I don't know why I could tell, maybe it was the fact I jerked in response and he didn't seem surprised.

"Under the same roof, not in the same bed." Good God, Gen, shut up! "Until four months ago," I added and thought, just shoot me now, but kept on going. "I changed the locks and the alarm code and replaced my cellphone too. He couldn't get in touch and maintenance and my neighbours all knew not to let him in. I also served a Trespass Notice on him last week." Verbal friggin' diarrhoea.

"Why the Trespass Notice?" he asked and this time reached for a pad and started to jot a few things down. I couldn't see what he was writing, but it was the first time he had started taking notes.

"He's been sending me roses, bunches of them. Leaving them outside my front door. They haven't been delivered by a regular courier service, somehow he gets in the building and does it himself. Maintenance confirmed it was him on the security cameras. I've told him it's over, I've explained it all, but he keeps coming back. He won't listen. He doesn’t believe me."

Finn Drake kept writing a few things down for several seconds and then without looking up asked, "Are you afraid of him?"

I frowned. Brett was a lot of things, but he'd never hurt me physically. He was just persistent. I was annoyed and wanted the attention to stop. And now the letter, demanding half of everything I owned in a separation settlement he seemed hell bent on not actually following through with, if today's roses and attached card begging I take him back was anything to go by.

"No, not afraid," I admitted. "I just want it to stop. And," I paused, this was it, the big reason I was here. The shallow, incredibly selfish reason I was here. "I don't want him to have the shop. It's mine. My dream. I worked for it, he did nothing to help me out. He barely paid anything towards our mortgage on the apartment, let alone groceries and things like that. He never contributed a thing. Well until the last time I took him back."

"What happened the last time you took him back?" Finn asked, still not looking up from his frantic writing on the pad.

"I was behind in the mortgage, somehow he found out, he offered to pay that month if I let him come home again."

Finn looked up at that. "And you accepted?"

It had been a tough month, the espresso machine had not only broken down, it had died. I had to get another on short notice and no one locally had one to hire out, so I paid an arm and a leg to get one up from Hamilton while I sorted out a new one from my local
Rancilio
agent. Then forked out over ten grand for the model we had always used and knew worked well.

I swallowed down my embarrassment and lifted my chin at the lawyer before me. "Yeah, I let him come back."

He slowly put his pen down on the desk and held my gaze. There didn't seem to be any judgement there, but I felt judged all the same.

"First of all," he started gently, "the law is quite plain as far as long term de facto relationships go. The Property Relationships Act 1976 covers couples who have lived together in a relationship for at least three years. Also, the longer you are together, the more inclined a judge is to act on the side of the law. Your relationship is considered long term, anything over five years now days is and every year on top adds more weight. So, he has a right to claim half of your property."

I sagged into the chair I was sitting on, defeat and once again, guilt and shame crashing into me. Seven years wasted, the last two shouldn't have existed at all, but even taking those off the tally, we were together properly for five. More than the law covered. Brett could take Sweet Seduction from me, because to halve it would be to break it. I couldn't buy him out. I just didn't have the money anymore.

"I'm telling you this because you need to be prepared," Finn went on, as though I wasn't having my world turned upside down. "We can fight for your side, make sure your story is heard. The fact he hasn't contributed financially for the majority of the relationship will help out."

"Should I take him back?" I abruptly interrupted. It was the only thing I could think of to stop Brett destroying my dream. I didn't want him back, hell I wanted to forget him if I could, to never see him ever again. But to save Sweet Seduction?

"Um," Finn said uncertainly. "Do you want to take him back?"

"If it means I keep my shop, then I'll do it."

He looked at me strangely for a moment, then said, "You could buy him out, you know. Come to some agreement with him maybe. A payment plan if finances are tight. Taking him back should only be considered if you
want
to take him back." He held my gaze. "It's only a business, you could also start again."

I shook my head from side to side vigorously, my bottom lip firmly between my teeth.

"OK," he said quietly. "The shop is important." I nodded, just as frantically. "I'll need a list of your assets, your current bank account balances, any investments you own. I'll also need you to write an affidavit about the condition of the relationship, in particular reference to him not contributing financially. Your financial records should support all of this. It may not be as bad as it all appears, his non-contribution will not be overlooked, it will go against his claim."

He shuffled his papers for a moment, as though he was deciding whether to ask the next question on his lips. My father had always done the same thing, that's why I could recognise it. Usually with Dad, it was because he was about to ask about a disliked boyfriend attending a family gathering or not. Finn Drake had that same look, but I couldn't hazard a guess at the question behind it.

Finally, he asked, his warm brown eyes looking sharper than they had before, "Why do you think he's doing this? If he hasn't contributed financially to your living arrangements, he must know his case is weak. Does he want the shop specifically?"

I shook my head, I was getting good at non-verbal communication it seemed. "He has a gambling problem. I didn't know about it until he withdrew all of our savings and lost it on a bad bet. That was the first time I chucked him out."

Finn had gone deathly still.

"How much are we talking about?" he asked, still immobile in his seat.

"One hundred and fifty thousand," I replied, my voice shaking obviously.

"You had that much in savings and not on the apartment?" Yeah, it was stupid, I should have paid off the mortgage, but the money was an inheritance from my gran and I'd had it only a few weeks. I had deposited it in our joint account, while I decided how best to use it. I didn't get a chance. I relayed this information to Finn.

"He stole your inheritance," he said, voice low. I nodded, bottom lip secured.

"Ms Cain," Finn Drake said standing up. "You definitely have a case."

He came around the front of his desk, but I was too busy deep breathing through profound relief. I hadn't thought my inheritance would count, it was money we'd had when together, just because he lost it gambling, didn't mean it could be counted in the settlement now. It had been there, now it wasn't. In my mind it wasn't even part of the equation, just evidence of my misplaced trust and Brett's inability to resist its allure. My mistake, his incompetence and greed. And I saw afterwards, a destructive habit to gamble on anything that moved.

"Did things deteriorate after that?" Finn asked, sitting in the chair beside me, which I found rather strange, but also kind of nice. He'd removed the big wooden barrier between us and seemed more normal - as in my kind of normal, not normal legal-like, god-like man.

I nodded again. "He seemed to change." Then I closed my eyes, thinking back on that time. "No, he changed before that, I just didn't notice or chose not to."

I opened and saw him watching me, that warm smile back on his lips.

"I need to speak to our investigators, I believe they may be able to help out in this case."

Holy shit, not only lawyer bills, but investigator bills and I really didn't want to think about how they would be suited to
this case
.

"Um," I said, but he went on.

"Once I have all of your financials, I'll get our techs onto tracing exactly where your ex-boyfriend came and went. There may be more embezzling of your funds that you are not aware of. Gamblers become adept at covering their trails. I'll also have the team look into exactly what he has done with his own pay-check, if he's resorted to using your money, you can be guaranteed he's already spent his. This will all aid us in building his character and strengthening your case."

"That seems like a lot of work," I said, also thinking this seemed well out of my understanding of a lawyer, but what would I know?

"It is, but it will be worth it," he replied easily.

I was sure he believed that and maybe he was right, things certainly didn't look as bleak as they had when I got here, but still - time to confess.

"I don't know if I can afford this," I admitted.

He turned to look at me, face open and incredibly kind. "We have a budget for pro bono work, I think your case would apply."

I started shaking my head, a hand out, charity. I knew what pro bono meant and my financial worries were not for the greater public good.

"Ms Cain," Finn said reaching over and placing a placating hand on my arm, "let me help you."

"Why?" I whispered, knowing nothing in this life was for free.

His lips tipped up into a genuine smile.

"Because I can," he replied softly. "And because he stole your grandmother's money and squandered it all on a bet."

"There must be many people deserving of your help more than me," I argued, my voice still soft and unbelieving.

"Who we help and who we don't is our decision alone. I will need to gain approval from the other partners, but once they know the specifics of your case, I am sure they will agree with me."

Oh no. God-like Mr Anscombe will know how fucked up my life is and how stupid I've been. I wasn't sure if I could handle that, him thinking I was a weak and pathetic female who took her ex-boyfriend back, because she couldn't budget appropriately to pay all the bills.

And then I thought of Sweet Seduction, my dream come to life and all that is left of me. If I lost it, I just didn't have it in me to start again, I was sure. This was it, my one chance to succeed, to live my dream. For that I could face a little judgement, a little embarrassment. For that, I'd do anything.

Even take Brett back if it was the only course left to me.

I blinked back tears at that horrific thought, but I think Finn Drake assumed they were because of his generous offer. He just smiled, squeezed my hand - which had somehow found its way into his - and offered me his handkerchief.

I took it and wiped away tears and then didn't know if I was meant to return it or wash it first. Finally I placed it in my handbag and stood up on only slightly shaky feet. It seemed we'd said all there was to say, it was time to leave. Finn stood too and stepped back to allow me room to manoeuvre.

"Get all of that information to me as soon as you can, Ms Cain and I'll get the ball rolling. I should have an answer for you at the beginning of next week."

That didn't surprise me, but the thought of lasting the entire weekend not knowing if things would be OK or not was not a good thing. I nodded - unsurprisingly - and stepped toward the door. Just as I reached it he cleared his throat. I turned and once again he was right there. In my space. I couldn't step back, the door was behind me, there was nowhere to go.

He handed me a business card, as I took it I flipped it over, he'd written his private line on it. I thought it rather nice if not a little strange.

"If you need anything at all, have a question, just want to talk things through. Please call me. Any time," he added pointedly.

I nodded, what else could I do? Then escaped out the door, praying I didn't bump into god-like man number one, as god-like man number two had unsettled me way too much for my own good. He'd been kind and understanding and had offered to represent me for free. Plus employ investigators to dig up more dirt on Brett. It was almost too much to believe, a dream.

I huffed a laugh out as I pressed the button on the elevator, purposely ignoring the bitch-at-reception as I waited for it to arrive. I only had one dream owed me in this life, my quota was already full. I couldn't afford to get my hopes up until that dream was secure and safe and no longer threatening to be broken in half by Brett.

Even if every particle in me wanted to dream just a little, that Finn Drake meant every word he had just said.

Sweet Seduction was pumping by the time I arrived, just after 10am. Our early morning business rush would have passed, and now we were firmly into the latte set, those shoppers on High Street needing to rest their feet in between purchases and down a little sweetness. They'd come to the right place. Coffee permeated the air, mixed in with the heady smell of chocolate and the almost too loud music of Gin Wigmore.
Man Like That
thumping out of the speakers and making the whole place thrum with the exotic beat that only Gin seems to be able to create. Today was New Zealand artist day, Kelly had chosen well.