Chapter 26
Atlee
“You might be angry at me but I’m not going to apologize.” Casimir shrugged off any wrongdoing as I stepped onto the porch. “That would be lying and I’m not going to do that to you.”
What had he done?
The last week and a half had gone entirely too smoothly, though, so maybe Wednesday was just the day he decided to take over the world?
He’d finally confessed how much he liked those old monster kaiju movies…had he accidentally summoned something weird?
Deliberately stirred up drama in the neighborhood like that time he’d tried to get everyone to pitch in to hire a circus for the barbecue? I hadn’t been around for that one but it’d sounded interesting when everyone told the story.
I glanced around, trying to see if I could figure out what chaos he’d caused but it just got a snicker from him. “I didn’t do anything to the neighbors. Well, not much anyway.”
So he’d done something to them?
Was this an everyone’ll be pissed situation?
“Am I going to get accosted at the mailbox again? I didn’t know what to say when that weird guy from two streets over wanted the TLDR of my divorce because he’d somehow missed the last round of gossip.
” I only knew who he was because he kept crashing the neighborhood barbecues the street had every summer.
He brought really good desserts, so we’d taken a vote and agreed to pretend we didn’t know where he lived. His street sucked and the cannoli dessert-casserole thing he brought every year was amazing.
Maybe we were too nice?
Was that why we had so many of those odd people around us just showing up?
“He needs to work on his subtly.” Casimir shook his head before pushing off the doorframe and letting me inside. “Confession time first.”
And then what second?
He was being very cagy.
Okay, not going to even think about that word because it seemed like I was going to need all brain cells functioning for our conversation.
“Did you take over the world or something?” His sigh and adorable glare had me trying not to smile as we went into the house and he locked the door.
“No, but I’m not going to lie and say I’m sorry.” Casimir was patient until I sat down on the couch, but he quickly plopped himself down on my lap. Drama was radiating from him like he was expecting me to go postal at any second.
What was this about?
Did I even want to know?
“Are you feeling cuddly or just keeping me pinned in place?” His face scrunched up as he tightened his legs around me, answering my question. “Never mind.”
What could he have done?
It didn’t seem dating-related because we had similar views on restaurants and behavior. He also didn’t need any personal space or time apart, so it couldn’t be one of those I need space things that I’d heard other couples fighting about.
It couldn’t be a Dom thing because he was damned near religious about sticking to our lists and having conversations about issues.
He was also really good at reading me, even when I didn’t know what the problem was, like figuring out how to get me out of the cage headspace without it feeling like the world was weighing down on me.
Was it something outside the box?
“Did you put in a job application somewhere weird?” Was he going to move to another country? “I’ll admit, I like having you close and my licenses for work are state specific.”
I liked his house too…so moving would be a pain for a variety of reasons.
Casimir cocked his head like that was a curious option but quickly straightened and shook it. “No, but that’s an interesting idea. You’re very creative.”
“Thank you.” I was out of reasonable and slightly unreasonable things to say, so I shifted to another topic. “I’m also very well-behaved, so I was promised a reward.”
No matter what he’d done, I wasn’t going to let him forget that point.
Too many late meetings and unexpected crazy at work had screwed up our usual schedule and I was at the point where I was going to start telling clients no when they asked to meet at seven in the evening.
No matter how much money they had.
Casimir’s smile peeked out before he remembered he’d done something to frustrate me. “We’ll come back to that.”
When he saw if I was pissed or not?
“Alright.” He wasn’t mad at me and he wasn’t the type to cheat. It seemed like there could only be so many ways the situation could go wrong. I wasn’t that dramatic no matter what he liked to say. “I’m trapped and in a good mood. I’m as ready as I’m going to get.”
“I can’t stay in my lane.” His dramatic announcement wasn’t a surprise or enough information. “It’s okay to be frustrated at me.”
Were Doms supposed to stay in their own lanes?
“We might need to come back to that whole in-your-lane thing because I kind of thought Doms just barreled through whatever lane they wanted, respecting limits, of course.” Casimir was always careful with limits, though.
Did he think he’d railroaded over one of mine?
He barely let me process the ridiculous idea before he shrugged. “You never gave me a limit on this.”
I’d given him limits about how often he could meet me at the mailbox…anytime he wanted because he liked it…so how could he have found something we hadn’t talked about?
I’d filled out a limits list on the bathroom for crying out loud.
“That’s very confusing.” I didn’t feel bad about confessing that because Casimir was generally one surprise after another and we’d reached the point of illogical. “What happened when you found a new lane?”
He actually squirmed and frowned again, looking a bit like a kid who’d just gotten caught having to explain the shenanigans he’d gotten up to. But after a few moments he huffed, probably frustrated with himself, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I had good intentions.”
He was fascinating.
“Thank you.” Looking cute was the only online advice that seemed to apply in our current situation, so I kissed his cheek and wrapped my arms tighter around him. “I like it when you look out for me.”
It seemed like a good choice when he curled into me and let out a deep breath that was almost a moan. That didn’t mean his confession was quick, though. No, it took more low grumbles and a few confusing comments about minding his own business in the future.
“Um, we both know that’s not a reasonable goal.” My helpful response finally got a snicker out of him. “So let’s just see what happened.”
His groan made me think he agreed with me, but it was kind of fun being the voice of calm and reason. That was usually his job, but I’d felt so good lately my doctor had tried to figure out why my blood pressure had gone down so much.
No, I was not explaining my new routine… Yes, that had made him insane.
He seemed a bit too straitlaced for that kind of conversation.
“I might’ve hired a private investigator to do some research into your family.” He paused at that point, probably to let me react, but I was slow on the uptake. Mostly because the answer was unexpected.
“A private investigator?”
Really?
“Yeah, they just aren’t acting reasonably about anything in this situation and your lawyer isn’t taking it seriously enough.
” He wasn’t wrong about that. She thought this was one last bout of drama before Valerie would agree to finalize the divorce.
She kept claiming that people did strange things under stress but Casimir hadn’t liked her responses.
So he’d decided to handle the situation himself.
That really didn’t surprise me.
“If I ask to be able to reimburse you for the cost of that, are you going to get upset?” His whole body felt offended when he sucked in a breath and the drama made me smile.
At some point he was going to have to come to terms with the difference in our incomes, but it seemed like we hadn’t reached it yet. “Never mind.”
I’d figure that out later.
He’d hired a private investigator.
Well, the first thing that hit me was my utter lack of surprise. He’d been remarkably patient with the whole situation but Casimir could only hold back so long. He’d somehow even gotten a copy of my initial divorce proceedings and brought it to the pizza place so I could get delivery again.
He hadn’t actually let me order pizza because he liked doing that for me, but I could if it came down to it.
“What did he find?” Was that the problem? “Um, the whole hiring one thing doesn’t really surprise me if that’s what you were wondering.”
I’d seen more dramatic situations playing out in an online group for subs I’d joined recently, so this was small potatoes on the my Dom is up to shenanigans scale. “Oh, and I’m proud of you for not doing anything to end up in jail.”
My family hadn’t shown up in the past couple of days, though, so that might’ve helped his restraint.
“Thank you.” Casimir kissed my cheek before snuggling back into me, now feeling relaxed instead of like he was hiding from an incoming explosion. “You’re not going to like the answer to that what did he find question.”
Could the situation get any worse?
Well, my dramatic Dom thought so, but I wasn’t sure how.
“What did they do?” Someone had to have done something, so it was a reasonable place to start.
He sighed again.
This was going to be interesting.
“Do you remember your grandfather?” Casimir paused long enough to sit up, but not long enough for me to answer before he kept going. “The PI said he died when you were young.”
He’d done some research.
“Kind of?” What did I remember? I closed my eyes to think. “He was older. I remember a big beard and smiling eyes. I remember he had a deep voice and liked to take me from my nanny and we’d go to places like the zoo or to get ice cream. That’s about it.”
From what I’d been told, he’d driven the staff crazy once he’d retired, but I didn’t remember anything about that firsthand.
“Well, he seemed like he really wanted more kids but he and your grandmother couldn’t have them.” None of that was new information, so I nuzzled against him and just waited to see what the shocking part was as he curled into me again. “Your mother and father only wanted you.”
That time when he paused, it was my turn to sigh. “Neither of them liked kids, hence the nanny and lots of staff. I think my grandfather was the only reason I wasn’t sent to boarding school, but I’m not one hundred percent sure on that.”
“You’re right.” Casimir finally sat up all the way, running his hand over my head as he frowned at me. “His will and the trust he left for the family had a lot of stipulations for things like that.”
I seemed to come from a long line of control freaks, so that didn’t surprise me either.
“I was given access to some personal funds in a trust when I turned twenty-five but I won’t get access to the rest until my parents pass.
I think?” They’d always pushed me to succeed on my own to prove that I wasn’t spoiled, but I’d just thought that was because they planned on living forever and burning through as much money as possible along the way.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t need their money.” I was doing very well on my own, which seemed to drive them crazy sometimes. It seemed like they weren’t planning on leaving me any money but I was supposed to desperately want it. “What did they do?”
Had they gambled everything away on stupid investments?
Pyramid schemes?
“It turns out that the main trust is set up so that the bulk of it is only released to the heirs when the next generation is born.” He paused but I must’ve looked confused enough that he kept going without being prompted.
“Your parents can’t get access to the next chunk of the trust until you have a child. ”
For fuck’s sake.
My head hitting the back of the couch got a slightly strangled chuckle from Casimir. “Yeah, that was kind of my reaction too. Even the PI guy was stunned.”
“They want me to stay married to my ex and accept the baby because it will trigger the release of the funds.” I wasn’t sure how that could be legal but they’d have already challenged it if that were the case. “And they’ve probably concocted some plan to give Valerie a chunk of the money.”
Then once everything was settled, she could get a divorce.
“That’s what it looks like but there isn’t a paper trail to follow on that part.” Casimir’s tone sounded less dramatic since I hadn’t lost my mind, but he kept up the soft caress and kissed me. “He had to do some digging, which is probably why your lawyer didn’t find it.”
“My lawyer has turned out to be entirely too nice, which actually might be suspicious as well.” The guy who’d referred her made her sound like a shark but all I’d gotten was one of those tiny shark-looking fish who liked to play with divers.
I’d been hoping for Jaws but that hadn’t worked as planned.
“What would you do if I asked the PI to look into your lawyer?” His question had me groaning and bringing up my hands to scrub them over my face. “I’m going to take that as consent. Frustrated but consenting.”
“You’re incredibly smart and that’s one of the things I like best about you.
” Second on that list was how well he read me, which made life much less stressful.
“How about you get a list of divorce lawyers he’d actually recommend?
Mine wasn’t nearly shocked enough last week when I explained that Valerie really didn’t understand we were getting divorced. ”
Casimir’s snicker and quick peck had me opening my eyes to see his grin. “I’ve already done that. I just didn’t want you to think I was pushing to actually make sure you get divorced.”
I managed not to laugh but it was close. “I appreciate all your effort.”
His pleased wiggle made my head happy and my dick confused about what we were doing. “I have the best boy. You knew right away I just had your best interest at heart.”
The lane analogy wasn’t quite right…my Dom was a freight train on a mission to keep his boy safe…my family wasn’t nearly frightened enough of what they’d unleased.
Oh well.