The Devil Is a Lie (13 page)

E
nough was enough, Nina fumed as she sat and watched Rick flip aimlessly through the channels. “Am I worth more to you than some money?” she finally asked. She’d lost track of how long he’d been walking around in a funk. All she knew was she was tired of it. Between his secret phone calls and his attitude, she was getting fed up. She’d just finished going off on her sister, who swore she didn’t know anything about the twins’ plan to steal from her. Nina knew her sister well enough to know she was telling the truth, so that had made her feel better, but this logjam with Rick was working her last nerve.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he replied. He acted like just her talking to him was irritating.

“I mean, you’re walking around here, barely speaking to me,
pissed off. Mad because we might have to split eight million dollars. If our relationship is supposed to be bigger than money, I don’t understand why you’re so upset with me.”

“That’s just it, Nina. This doesn’t have anything to do with the money,” he huffed. “Yeah, I’m upset that this man walks in here and infiltrates our relationship. But he’s claiming that he’s your husband. And I can’t become your husband until he decides that he doesn’t want to be your husband anymore.”

“That’s absurd.”

“Is it really, Nina?”

“I told you, the divorce will go through. I filed the paperwork myself. So you and I can still get married.”

Rick still wasn’t satisfied. “Nina, this man took away my control. The woman I love is married to someone else. That’s a lot to process.”

“But we’re married only on paper.” She was glad that he was finally opening up to her. Maybe that was part of their problem—he was holding everything in. “You know my heart belongs to you.”

He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. “Forget it, Nina. I just have a lot on my mind.” His voice softened, and for the first time in days, he didn’t seem annoyed. “It’ll all work out, okay? I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk.”

“Okay. But please tell me what you’re thinking.” She hadn’t forgotten about his secretive phone calls, but he was opening up to her, and that’s what she wanted to focus on right now.

“I’m stressing out about the gym. I don’t want to lose it. This is my dream and I’ve gotten in way over my head trying
to make it a reality. Then this stuff with Todd.” He patted her hand. “But don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine,” he said, sounding like he wanted to end the conversation.

Nina needed to hear those words, even though he didn’t sound convincing.

Unexpectedly, her cell phone rang. The number was blocked and she almost didn’t answer it, but then she realized it might be her attorney, whose cell phone number always came up as “blocked.”

“Hello?” Nina said, grateful that Rick didn’t use the phone call as an opportunity to get up and leave.

“I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, but we ain’t the one.”

It was a woman’s voice. “Excuse me? Who is this?”

“This is your worst nightmare.”

Nina recognized her now. “Pam? Why are you calling me?”

Rick’s eyebrows immediately rose.

“I know you thought you could get my man alone and try to convince him to drop this suit, but you might as well get ready to pay, ’cause he ain’t droppin’ nothing. The only thing he dropped was you.”

Nina took a deep breath. She didn’t want to go off in front of Rick, but she couldn’t help herself. “Do you think because you flash your big old behind in front of Todd and seduce him into bed that makes you a better woman than me? I don’t think so. I’m not the one who had to go around messing with other people’s husbands.”

Months of pent-up fury was bubbling over. She was going
to blast Pam more when she noticed Rick out of the corner of her eye shooting her an angry look.

“If you were doing what you were supposed to, I wouldn’t have been able to take your husband,” Pam continued. “So understand this: Todd doesn’t want you. The only thing he wants from you is your money. You ought to have seen how he came home talking about you. He wants to make sure we get every brown penny we can so that he can take me to Paris for our honeymoon.”

Nina was on fire. This tramp had truly lost her mind. “Why, you little…” Rick’s scowling caused her to stop midsentence. “You know what?” Nina said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “The only thing I have to say to you and your man is, I’ll see you in court.”

“Bring it on.” Pam laughed. “All I know is you better have my mon—”

Before Pam could continue her tirade, Rick snatched the phone from Nina and hung it up.

“What does she want?” he snapped.

Nina was so mad her eyes were stinging. She was about to vent when it dawned on her that Rick didn’t know about her visit with Todd. She contemplated lying, but she was so angry that she couldn’t even think of a lie.

“I met with Todd,” Nina told him.

“For what?” Rick asked, getting heated himself.

“Because I was trying to settle.” Nina stood up and began pacing.

“Settle what?”

“This whole lotto mess,” Nina said, exasperated. “I offered him a flat one million dollars.”

Rick stared at her, dumbfounded. “So you did this without even talking to me?”

“I just…”

He tossed the phone onto the coffee table. “No, you just do what you always do—make decisions without me. But hell, Todd
is
your husband, so I guess he’s the one you
would
talk to about it.”

“Come on, Rick,” Nina said, stopping to face him. After her conversation with Pam, she wasn’t in the mood for another argument.

“Don’t ‘come on, Rick’ me.” He pounded his fist into his palm. “This is some bull. Now you got this trick calling and acting a fool.” He stood up stiffly and headed toward the door. “I can’t deal with this anymore. I’m outta here.”

“Where are you going?” she said, following him.

Rick slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and swung open the front door, ignoring her.

Nina watched him get in his car and screech out of the driveway. Closing the door, she sank to the floor in tears.

Fifteen minutes later the tears had dried, but the simmering rage had once again taken over. It was bad enough Pam had to wreck her life. Now she and Todd wanted to torture her even more by taking her money. No, she’d tried to take the nice approach. Shoot, she’d been nice her whole life and had gotten screwed over in return.

Nina pulled herself up off the floor and stomped back over to the coffee table, where Rick had thrown her cell phone. She picked it up and punched in Todd’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“Look, I know you can’t run your own relationship, but you need to get your psycho girlfriend under control!” Nina yelled into the phone.

“Nina?”

“Yeah, it’s me, and I’m about sick and tired—”

“Whoa, hold on,” Todd said, lowering his voice. “I’m at work. Why are you calling me with this?”

“Because your girl just called my house threatening me—”

“Pam called you?” He cut her off.

“Yes. And she told me how you think you’re slick and are tryin’ to play me.”

“Okay, hold up. Back up and slow down.” His voice echoed, like he’d stepped out into a hallway.

“No, I am sick and tired of you and your trampy girlfriend,” Nina continued ranting. “You don’t want the deal? Screw it. Matter of fact, don’t worry about the offer at all. It’s off the table. I’ll see you in court.”

“Nina, calm down. As usual, you’re going off the deep end without hearing the whole story.”

“As usual, you don’t know nothing about me.”

“Nina, calm down,” he repeated.

“Oh, I’m calm. I’m calm, all right,” she said, pacing back and forth across her living room. “You listen to me and you listen good. You and that skank you call a girlfriend can go to hell. You won’t see one dime of my money.”

He sighed. “Nina, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t. I forgot Pam’s got the balls in that relationship.”

“Okay, now you’re truly trippin’. I actually was going to call you—”

“Let me make this clear to you,” Nina said, scowling. “I’m not the same passive woman you used to be married to.”

“
Still
married to,” Todd said, momentarily shutting her up.

“Not for long,” she finally said.

“Look, I don’t want to do this. I told you I was going to—”

She cut him off again. “Going to what? Think of more ways to hurt me, you low-down, sorry bastard.”

A growl had entered his voice. “I’m not gonna take much more name-calling.”

“Oh, you’re trying to grow some balls now? Maybe I should call your mother and let her know just how low-down you are. Or better yet, have a little talk with Grams about what a dog you are.”

Todd was finally getting mad himself. “Don’t bring my family into this.”

Nina could tell she had touched a nerve, and that’s exactly what she wanted. Todd was always sensitive about staying perfect in the eyes of his mother and grandmother.

“Oh, that’s right. We wouldn’t want your perfect image to be tarnished. I’m about to tell them and everybody else everything about your cheating, lyin’, sorry—”

“Nina…”

“Save it. I’ll see you in court.” Nina slammed the phone shut.

N
ina fidgeted nervously in her seat. Today was the day of reckoning. Her attorney had managed to quickly get the case before a judge. It was amazing what money could do.

The judge had spent the morning hearing, then reviewing Todd’s case. Nina’s attorney had made a compelling argument about how, for all intents and purposes, their marriage was nonexistent. He’d brought out Todd’s betrayal, which, of course, once again opened wounds for Nina.

But that had been six hours ago, and she’d taken the lunch break to pull herself together, especially since Rick hadn’t shown up for the hearing until fifteen minutes ago. Even now he sat in the row behind her, despite the fact that she’d asked him to sit next to her. Shoot, she
needed
him to sit next to her. But he
was still stewing. They’d barely uttered two words to each other in the past week. Whenever he was home, he acted all restless. Nina was too stressed to deal with his attitude, so she’d decided to wait for him to take the first step.

Nina stole a glance across the courtroom. Todd had the nerve to be looking at her like he was actually sad. Pam, on the other hand, was her usual cocky self in a fire red two-piece suit with a lace bodice underneath. The suit itself wasn’t half bad, but the color screamed hoochie.

Pam caught Nina looking at her and waved ta-ta before lovingly running her hand over the back of Todd’s neck.

Shavonne, who was sitting next to Nina, caught the exchange and shot Pam her middle finger. Nina quickly grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled it down.

“You cannot be doing that up in the courtroom,” Nina hissed.

Pam mouthed something Nina couldn’t make out, but judging from the scowl on her face, it wasn’t King’s English.

Shavonne started removing her earrings. “Meet me outside, tramp,” she mouthed.

“Would you stop before the judge sees you?” Nina hissed.

Shavonne hunched, then leaned back in her seat. “Somebody betta tell ol’ girl who she’s dealing with.”

“Shhhh,” the bailiff said, shooting Shavonne a warning look.

If she hadn’t been so nervous, Nina might’ve smiled at how it never failed—her girls always had her back.

“Are both parties present?” the judge asked.

Both Nina’s and Todd’s attorneys stood and simultaneously said, “We are.”

Michelle, who was sitting on the other side of Nina, patted her leg reassuringly.

“Well, let me say I am most disheartened that the parties could not reach an amicable settlement prior to coming into my court,” the judge began. “But it is my duty to do what they cannot.” He rustled some papers before pushing his glasses up his wide nose. “In the matter of Todd Lawson versus Nina Morgan Lawson, after careful review, it is hereby the order of this court that Mr. Lawson be awarded half the winnings from Mrs. Lawson’s winning lottery ticket.”

Nina jammed her eyes shut to ward off tears. She couldn’t believe she was going to have to give Todd—more specifically, Pam—anything.

Pam squealed in delight. Nina opened her eyes and glared at Todd. He was staring at her, a sympathetic look on his face. She wanted to scratch his eyes out.

“We’re rich! We’re rich!” Pam sang as she stood and did a little shimmy.

“Order in my court!” the judge said, pounding his gavel.

“Sorry, Judge,” Pam said, sitting back down in her seat.

“This order shall take immediate effect.” The judge looked at Nina’s attorney. “Mr. Mason, will you advise your client that my clerk will notify the Lottery Commission tomorrow morning? At that time the funds will be ordered released. One half to her. One half to Mr. Lawson.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” he said dejectedly.

“I hope this has taught us all a valuable lesson about follow-through,” the judge continued. “We do not take our jobs lightly in this judicial system, so it would behoove you not to take our rulings lightly.”

Nina didn’t know why the judge was looking at her. She’d done her part. She’d signed the divorce papers. She couldn’t help it if Todd didn’t handle his business. Besides, she really didn’t feel like being lectured.

“Case dismissed,” the judge said.

Nina turned to seek comfort from Rick, but he was already heading out the courtroom doors. She couldn’t believe it. She’d just had the judge rule against her. Now her fiancé had turned his back on her as well.

“W
e can appeal.” Walter was perched on the edge of his large mahogany desk, looking like the high-dollar attorney he was. But even at two hundred and fifty dollars an hour, he couldn’t stop her ex from ruining her life—again.

“What are the chances of an appeal winning?” Nina asked.

“Honestly, slim to none,” Walter answered. “Most of the judges are going to side with Todd, no matter how compelling a case we present. I can tell you that if you decide to appeal, I’ll give it my best shot. But I assure you, Todd will continue to fight you, and when all is said and done, you both will have used up most of your money on legal fees.”

Rick didn’t hide his displeasure. “So basically we’re just screwed.”

“I wouldn’t look at it that way,” Walter replied.

“There’s no other way to look at it.” Rick stood to leave, and Nina jumped up behind him.

“So what do you want me to do?” Walter asked as he followed them to the door.

“Tell the judge we won’t be appealing,” she said, not taking her eyes off Rick.

“Will do,” Walter said. “And keep in mind, four point three million dollars is still a whole lot of money.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nina said. “We can have a good life with that. Can’t we, baby? We just have to use the money more wisely so that we’re not broke in a few years.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Walter said. “Invested right, you’ll be set for life.”

Rick merely opened the office door and walked out. Nina quickly thanked Walter, told him she’d call him later, and hurried after Rick.

“Rick, would you wait?” Nina asked as she speed walked to catch up with her fiancé. He stopped, but the irritation was evident on his face. “What is it going to take for you to get over this?”

Seeing how distressed she was, he tried to smile. “I’m sorry, Nina. I’m over it. I mean, it’s still four million more than we had yesterday.”

Nina smiled at those words. “Right, and this doesn’t change anything. We just have to put ourselves on a budget.”

“And I guess a budget would include passing on the gym?”

“We can get the gym,” she said, less sure. “Maybe not the one you wanted, but we can still open somewhere else.”

“No, we can’t,” he said, starting toward the car. The rational, understanding man who had just moments ago appeared before her was gone. “It’s like you said, it’s only four million dollars and you have to use it wisely.”

“Maybe we can look around for a smaller property.”

“I don’t want a smaller property. I want
that
property. But I bet you’ll find enough money to give to your triflin’ relatives,” he muttered.

Nina was taken aback. This money had turned him into a bona fide jerk. “Of course I’m still planning to give my family cash gifts. It won’t be as much as I initially planned, but I will give them something.”

“Yet another thing you didn’t consult me on.” He turned his back and unlocked the car door. She stood waiting for him to unlock hers. When he didn’t, she tapped on the window.

“Are you going to let me in?”

He slowly reached over and unlocked her door. “Okay, Rick, you’re acting like a big baby,” she said as she climbed in the car.

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m the broke big baby. Let me take you home so you can figure out how you’re going to spend your money.”

Nina could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. This song and dance with Rick was getting really old. His taking her home was the best thing she’d heard all day.