39. The Sweetest Revenge #2
“And how do you want to live your life?” I ask her, thinking back on that painting I saw in her home when she was going through her marital troubles.
“Alive. Happy. Free,” she says, with radiant bliss written on her face.
“So what now?” Ben asks.
“We celebrate?” Kate asks with a wild smile.
“I know just the place,” I say.
“Tomorrow though, my calves ache and it’s been a busy day,” Ben says.
“Agreed,” I say.
“Oh, so you don’t want to do another round?” Kate jokes and I shake my head. She laughs snuggling back in between the two of us.
I kiss the top of her head, proud of her for standing up for herself and getting the justice she wanted. I feel so confident in the fact that it was just a matter of finding the right person at the right time with the way Kate fits perfectly between us.
Life is good and every day the weight on my chest lessens ever so slightly. This is what love is, and I treasure it more than I ever thought I would.
The bar’s filled with family and friends, and Kate looks more beautiful than ever. She has the slightest tan from our time in The Bahamas and her head is thrown back in laughter as Penny has all of the women laughing, retelling some story about a dryer mishap.
I’m hardly listening, just mesmerized by her, by this feeling.
“Guess you really grew up, huh?” Aiden says next to me and I turn to face my oldest brother.
“I guess I did.”
“A good woman will do that to you. I’m happy for you, Gav. You deserve this,” he says.
I have to hold back emotion and just nod my head. “Now I just gotta figure out a way to keep her.”
Aiden laughs, shaking his head. “Stop thinking about the worst case scenario. You have her. Jessa showed me the article. She wouldn’t do that if she wasn’t all in.”
“Thanks, Aiden.”
“Okay. Don’t cry about it, get me another beer, will ya?”
I roll my eyes, but walk around the bar and fill up a fresh pint glass for him. As the foamy substance pours down the glass, a woman holding a baby walks into the bar, looking around frantically.
“Oh fuck,” Savannah says.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Chelsea adds in.
“What am I missing here?” Penny asks, as Kate just stares at this woman, confusion written all over her face.
“Satan’s baby mama,” Savannah says.
The woman is young, probably in her early twenties. Too young to have the heavy bags under her eyes.
“You can’t bring a baby into a bar,” Penny tells her, immediately hating the woman without any questions asked.
The woman scoots the baby on her hip. “Kate, can we talk please?”
Ben is standing beside Kate, taking her direction on how she wants it to go. I slide the beer to my brother and give the woman a once over.
“Do you want me to have her removed?” I ask.
“No, say what you need to say,” Kate says, being far too fucking nice to this woman.
She licks her lips and glances around our small little crowd. “In private?”
“Everyone here is family. Whatever you want to say to me you can say in front of them.”
The woman nods and the baby plays with her necklace.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know what he was doing.
He said that he wanted to sell the company but that you wouldn’t let him, and without your approval he was stuck with it.
I swear I had no idea about him following you.
I know you have no reason to be kind to me, I know what I did.
I knew he was married,” she says, her cheeks flaming red as she lets the truth fall past her lips.
“I came here to ask that you let us move, that you don’t open a civil lawsuit. I promise that he won’t bother you again.”
“What makes you think you have any control over a man like Will?” Kate asks, being far too sympathetic.
“I don’t know, but I don’t have any other options, okay?
I don’t have a job, Danger needs a good life, both parents.
He agreed to go to therapy, he agreed to move and start over.
I know you probably hate me and you have every reason to want to make his life miserable.
But I’m here to beg. Please, please just let us move and you’ll never see us again. ”
Kate licks her lips, and glances over at me.
“Did you sign a prenup?” Kate asks.
The woman's brow furrows and she shakes her head. “I’ll agree to not file a civil suit on the conditions that you do move out of the state and that you save my divorce lawyer’s phone number in your phone if you ever find yourself in need of such a contact.
How much did you buy Dennis Commercial for? ” She tilts her head over to Lincoln.
“Enough for a hefty divorce settlement,” Lincoln says with a shrug.
“Okay, I can do that,” she agrees, and Kate inputs the number on her phone. She gives us all one last glance, shifting the weight of the child on her other hip, before leaving the establishment.
“Do you think she’ll actually call the lawyer?” Penny asks.
Kate shrugs, taking a sip of her martini. “I wasn’t going to file the lawsuit anyway, but if I get them the hell away from me, and put the idea of divorcing him in her ear, I’d call that a win.”
“Diabolical,” Savannah says.
The night continues on with the celebration of the sale of the company, the cut ties with her ex, and the promise of tomorrow.
I’m behind Kate, my arm wrapped around her collarbone as Ben sits next to her, their fingers tangled with one another's.
“You were too sweet to her earlier,” I say, kissing the side of her face.
“Well, what is it they say? The sweetest revenge is living a better life? I think I’ve got that covered.”
Ben lifts her hand, pressing a soft kiss on her knuckles. “So, what do you want to do now?”
“I just want to live,” she says simply.
“Then we’ll do just that,” I agree.
It’s exactly what we do—we live.