Chapter 15: Nature of Incident

Lorne's POV

The buyer had put his feet back on my desk, and I asked him to take them down.

I asked politely.

"Mr. Roark," he said. "Let's not waste each other's mornings."

"I have a great many mornings. I'd be glad to waste yours."

Roxie was standing beside me with her arms crossed.

She had not let go of the loan envelopes since the night she found them.

They were zipped inside her hoodie.

"Here is the offer," said the buyer. "Margaret's company holds your note."

"I know."

"We take over the studio on the day of the vote, and the note disappears. Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars, gone."

"In exchange for what?"

"Your signature on the sale. And your wife's name on a likeness agreement."

"My name on what?" Roxie said.

"Handfast is the only thing about this game I want."

The buyer smiled at her.

"Couples stay four times as long. People pay for that. We'd call you the Original Bride."

"The first what?"

"We'd sell divorce," he said, pleasantly. "Nine ninety-nine at the Chapel, with an optional ceremony pack."

"And me?" Roxie said.

"You'd stay married on the page, for the brand."

"No," I said.

"You haven't thought."

"I've been thinking since you sat down. I'm now thinking about the chair."

"Mr. Roark. You're a smart man who is about to lose his apartment."

I did not look at Roxie.

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