Chapter 15
the post-nuptial contract
LEXI
The lawyers slapped five thick paper copies of the post-nuptial contract on the coffee table.
Paper. Wow. How . . . conventional.
The closely spaced text was forty-seven pages long, and I read every word, even though I understood maybe half.
Victoria explained all the clauses to me, and that’s when I discovered that I had understood far less than I had thought I did.
Because Nicolai had emailed the lawyers before Volkov made his initial threats, the whole contract was centered on how much money Nicolai was going to pay me and the very few legal ways I could break the contract if something happened.
And the almost-zero ways that Nicolai could break the contract without paying me an obscene amount of money.
Nicolai had sewn every loophole up tight.
Even he wouldn’t want to pay out that much. Millions like that surely wouldn’t be petty cash even to him.
Right?
When his lawyers finally allowed Nicolai to put pen to paper and sign it, he watched me carefully as he held the tip of the black ballpoint in contact with the signature line, considering something, before he bent his head and scrolled his name to seal the deal.
I did the same thing, holding the pen and watching for any reaction from him before I wrote my now-legal name on the contract: Alexandra Faith Romanov.
And with that, Nicolai’s lawyers shook hands all around and vacated the room, but Victoria pulled me aside for one last sidebar.
“Okay, that contract is signed and valid, but I’m not sure it would hold up in court.
I’m not even sure why you signed it, other than some misguided notion that you'd get more with that contract than with a settlement. But I gave you my professional opinion, and it is your option to legally bind yourself in any way that you want to, even if I could have taken him for way more than that.”
“That’s almost exactly what the clerk at the marriage bureau said.”
Victoria laughed. “My contact info is on your phone, and I will always have a copy of this contract available for you. If you need me, call. If you have any questions, call. If you feel like you need to talk out any decision and want to know the ramifications for this contract, call. Do you understand that I want you to call me for any reason?”
I smiled at her. “Loud and clear. Enjoy your purse.”
“I figure you have three years of retainer paid in advance with this purse. Use it.”
When all the lawyers had left, Ueli and Nechtan searched the room, batting aside the curtains and checking closets behind the suit jackets hanging inside, examining any space even remotely large enough to conceal yet another Russian assassin.
They didn’t find anyone.