Chapter 10: Not a Cent

Audrey's POV

Travis kept the lights low in his office at seven on a Saturday, and a bottle of the good red wine stood open on his desk.

He had poured two glasses.

He had known I would come.

Ethan had walked me to the door of the building, and stopped in the lobby.

"Let me come up."

"He asked for me alone."

"That's why I should come."

"Ethan, I have known him since I was eight," I said. "He's never hurt me. He just sells things."

"He sold you my life."

"He sold it back to me," I said. "That's different. Wait here. Please."

He had waited.

Susie sat beside him on a lobby bench with her arms folded, glaring at the elevator doors.

Now I sat across the desk from Travis, in the same chair where I had signed my monthly transfers.

He pushed a glass toward me.

I did not touch it.

"You look tired," Travis said.

"Don't be kind."

"I'm always kind to you, Audrey."

"You told me my husband was a countdown."

"He is a countdown. I never said he wasn't a good man."

He leaned back, and the leather creaked.

Behind him, through the open door, I could see the outer office.

His receptionist was still at her desk.

Two analysts had stayed late, heads down over their screens.

It was a Saturday.

They were not working.

They were listening.

"I'll be direct," Travis said. "The final anchor costs ninety-one thousand, and the signing is a formality. But you've changed your mind."

"I'm not signing."

"I understand. People get brave the night they've been loved." He smiled gently. "I'd like to offer you something else."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Perfect Husband Act: Now My Wife's Sorry from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.