Chapter 31: Forever With The CEO: Chapter 31

I was ecstatic. I’d been in celebratory mode ever since Hugo told me that Bob and Sophie had canceled their case. I was going to celebrate with Allison tonight. I’d braced myself for a much longer fight.

I’d messaged Allison to congratulate her, but she hadn’t replied yet, which wasn’t such a surprise. I knew she had a full day. But tonight, once the twins were in bed, she was going to be all mine.

For tomorrow, I’d planned something bigger. It was Friday evening, and the twins were having another sleepover at my brother’s house. The timing was perfect.

My day was even longer than Allison’s. By the time I arrived home, she and the twins had already eaten dinner. In fact, they were already upstairs.

I took off my shoes and went right up the staircase, hovering in the doorway of their bedroom. Allison stood between their beds, instructing them to get under their blankets so she could read them their bedtime story.

“Hey! Congratulations,” I told her.

She gave me a small smile. “Thanks. I still haven’t processed it.”

I kissed her cheek and then whispered in her ear, “Well, we can certainly process it after these two are asleep.”

Allison nodded, but as I pulled back, I realized she was averting her gaze. Maybe she was just shy. I should have more self-restraint when we were around the kids.

I went to each of them, kissing their forehead. “Sorry I’m so late, guys.”

“That’s okay. Auntie Allison is gonna read our story tonight.”

I looked over my shoulder at Allison. “Do you need me to do anything? If not, I can just wait for you downstairs.”

Allison nodded. Something was off. “We’ll catch up later, after I wrestle these two to sleep.”

“What’s wrestle?” Annie asked.

Allison laughed, but she still wasn’t looking at me. Strange. Then again, we’d both had a long day.

I headed back down the stairs, opening the fridge and rummaging through it. Finding some leftovers, I heated them up and ate while sending some emails I’d put off all day. I set a bottle of champagne in the fridge too. This wasn’t the one I’d planned to open for this occasion—I’d bought a Dom Perignon back when Allison and I decided to go forward with our plan—but it was back at the penthouse. This one would do for now.

After I finished dinner, I noted that it was already very late, and Allison hadn’t come down. Did the twins not want to go to bed?

I headed upstairs and listened intently, but it was completely silent. As I opened the door, I almost chuckled but stopped myself in time. Allison had fallen asleep in Annie’s bed. She must have been exhausted. Only one of her legs was covered, so I went to the master bedroom and grabbed a spare blanket from the dresser, putting it on her. It didn’t make sense to wake her up.

Annie was nestled right under her arm. Allison had put her hand protectively on Annie’s shoulder. I watched them for a split second before closing the door and heading back downstairs. I was certain Allison would join me eventually.

Only she didn’t. When I woke up the next morning, I realized I’d slept alone. I glanced at the clock and groaned. I’d overslept too. It was already eight thirty.

I hurriedly took a shower and dressed before going downstairs to drink coffee. As I took the first sip, I noticed a stack of documents behind the toaster. That was strange. Allison never brought physical documents home. Had she forgotten to take them with her to work today?

I pulled them out and did a double take when I saw they were divorce papers. What the hell?

Putting down my coffee cup, I quickly scrambled through the pages. It was the same thing Hugo sent us months ago. Why would she have it here?

I frowned and immediately called Hugo.

“Hey,” I said.

“Morning, Nick.”

“Question: yesterday, when Allison was in your office, did you discuss anything besides the custody?”

“The divorce.”

I exhaled sharply, leaning against the counter. “What exactly did you discuss?”

“I told her that the papers are ready to sign. She took the stack with her.”

Fucking hell. I closed my eyes, opening them again. I’d completely forgotten about the divorce.

“Do you have any questions? Did you manage to talk about it?”

No, we fucking didn’t. “Yeah, I do have one question. Wouldn’t it be smarter to wait for a while?”

“Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told you in the beginning. No one’s going to come after you for dissolving a marriage, you know? It happens often. And even if the other side did think it was suspicious, they are out of it, and no judge would take them seriously anymore.”

I swallowed hard and started to pace the kitchen. “All right. Thanks for everything.”

“The divorce papers are bulletproof. You don’t have to worry about division of assets or anything like that. It’s all covered.”

I wasn’t fucking worrying about that. “Thanks. I have to go.”

“Sure. Anything you need, just call me again.”

After hanging up, I turned around, glancing at the papers. Was this what she wanted, to go ahead with the divorce? Why wouldn’t she, though? That was what we were planning all along. Now life could go back to the way it was before.

That sounded fucking awful.

I looked around at the living room. I liked it. Now the thought of living by myself in the penthouse seemed insane. Why did I think I needed so many rooms? Maybe I should just rent the place after all and find something smaller.

Fuck no! I didn’t want to find anything else. I wanted to be right here with Allison and the kids!

My mind was racing a million miles an hour, but I couldn’t put my thoughts in order. I couldn’t make a plan; I was simply too blindsided.

But why, though? We’d agreed on this from the start. Since she’d brought the stack home with her, she probably wanted to move forward with it.

That was the right thing to do. There was no point wasting more time going over it, as I had a long day ahead of me. I left the house without even finishing my coffee.

My schedule was so packed, I didn’t have time to call Allison. I needed this day to end so I could talk with her, make sure this was really what she wanted.

At five o’clock on the dot, I left the office so I could pick the twins up from daycare. Allison had a meeting at the opposite side of the city, so it made no sense for her to pick them up. I was going through the motions. I couldn’t comprehend that this stage of my life was coming to an end.

They were ecstatic when I arrived. They were so hyped up about the sleepover, I could barely believe it.

“Best day ever,” Annie said.

“What did you do?”

“We learned how to paint a tree.” Her voice was full of wonder.

“That’s great!” I looked at her in the rearview mirror. I didn’t want to give things like this up: talking to them every evening, learning about their day, spending time with Allison after they went to sleep.

When had I started to enjoy this life so much? And why couldn’t I see myself doing anything else at all? After all, I’d been single and dating for years, and it had always been fulfilling to me. But now it seemed hollow and not at all how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

We arrived at my brother’s house a short while later. Both Annie and Jack were so excited that it took me a while to get them out of their car seats. Then they bounced out of the car all by themselves and ran toward the front door.

Spencer must have heard us coming, because the door swung open. To my surprise, Gran was right beside him.

I grinned at her. “This is a surprise.”

She put one hand on her hip. “Well, since the invitation to have them over at my house went unheard, I figured this would be a great opportunity to see them again.”

“We didn’t do it on purpose, Gran.”

Although we kind of did because I’d voiced my concerns that Gran might have bitten off more than she could chew by suggesting having the kids, and Allison agreed. My granddad wasn’t here, just Gran.

Penny and Spencer both opened their arms, and Annie ran into Penny’s, Jack into Spencer’s. Ben looked up at me with big eyes and held out his hands, so I picked him up.

None of the kids wanted to be held for too long, though. They demanded to be left to their own devices in the yard. It was convenient that it was narrow enough that you could see the whole area from the living room. We could keep an eye on them from inside.

“You seem tense,” my brother said.

I realized I’d been massaging a spot under my right shoulder. I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Problems at work?” Penny asked.

“No, it’s not that. We got news. Jim’s parents pulled back their petition for custody.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Gran said. “Now poor Allison can stop worrying.”

“Exactly.”

“Fantastic,” Spencer said. “Then why are you tense? Or is it not related?”

“It is,” I admitted.

He frowned. “I’m not following.”

Penny and Gran were sitting next to each other. They exchanged a glance, and then Gran gave me a sad smile. “This means it’s time for the divorce.”

I couldn’t even bring myself to say yes. I just nodded and pressed two fingers on that fucking sore spot again. When had it clenched so tight?

“It’s what we agreed on. And yesterday, Allison brought the papers home from Hugo’s office.”

“Oh.” Penny sounded stunned.

“You’ve already signed?” Gran asked.

“No, we didn’t have time to chat about it at all. I just found the papers this morning.”

“You’re having second thoughts,” Spencer exclaimed.

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing their living room. I normally liked debating important decisions with my family. My thoughts had been a jumbled mess the entire day. Maybe laying out everything would help.

“I was blindsided. I think that’s the problem. I’d completely forgotten.”

Penny sat down on the couch. “How is that even possible?”

I shrugged. “Because everything was moving along smoothly. Frankly, I always figured it would take longer to get the issue resolved.”

“You don’t want to go back to the way things were,” Gran said.

As usual, she had the ability to get to the bottom of things in record time.

“Exactly,” I admitted. “I’ve always been good with the way my life is.”

“But now, you’ve had a taste of something different, and you’re surprised that you liked it,” Spencer finished for me.

Penny clapped her hands together. “I’m sorry, but this is exactly how I was hoping things would turn out.”

“All of us did,” Gran added.

“Do you want a drink?” Spencer asked.

“No, I’m driving.”

“Well, I need a drink for this conversation.” He went to the kitchen and poured himself a Scotch.

“I don’t understand. What’s the problem?” Penny asked.

“You’re not sure what Allison wants,” Gran said.

I felt like my brain was about to explode. “Exactly.”

“But you two are very close,” she continued. “Anyone could see that.”

“It’s one thing to be close—”

“And another to want to stay married,” Spencer cut in.

I looked straight at my brother. I had an inkling that he understood exactly what went through my mind. Penny and Gran both seemed to watch this through rose-colored glasses—which wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t my style. Spencer could put himself in my shoes easier.

“My guess,” Spencer said, taking another sip, “is that you’d like things to stay as they are.”

“Yes!” I was perplexed by my family’s ability to see right through the muddled thoughts in my mind. Then again, perhaps it was easier to have perspective if you weren’t in the situation.

“That’s perfect,” Gran said.

“Is it? I mean, I’ve lived my whole life being happy as a bachelor.”

“You think this might be just a phase?” Spencer asked.

I shook my head. “Not exactly, but it’s all happening very fast.”

“That’s true.” Gran nodded. “But I think that deep down, we all know what we want and where our heart is. Sometimes it’s more useful to turn our mind off and let our feelings guide us. Sometimes the mind can get in the way of our own happiness.”

Hell if that wasn’t true. Today, I’d driven myself insane for no reason.

Gran was right—I did know what I wanted. Why the fuck was I fretting like this? I was always decisive. Always went after what I wanted. And I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I rolled my shoulders and felt the tension between them disappear. “Right. Well, it was good chatting with you.”

Penny pointed at me, grinning. “You have a plan.”

“Yes, I do.”

“This is fascinating,” she murmured. Gran just beamed at me.

Spencer finished his glass before saying, “Don’t let us keep you from it.”

I nodded. “I’ll see myself out.”

After leaving their house, I checked the clock. I knew that Allison’s business meeting would last for another hour. I had just enough time to grab that bottle of Dom Perignon from the penthouse.

It was fantastic how clear things seemed now after talking to the family. I should have done that first thing in the morning.

I drove straight to the penthouse but didn’t bother going into the garage, as it would take too much time. Pulling into the temporary parking that was reserved for taxi drop-offs, I jumped out and hurried inside the building.

The doorman greeted me. “Mr. Whitley, we haven’t seen you in a while.”

I nodded. “Can you keep an eye on my car, please? Make sure it doesn’t get towed. I just need a few minutes upstairs.”

“Sure. You can count on me.”

I threw him the key and then headed up.

Frances came here regularly to bring me clothes, but I hadn’t been here in a while. When I stepped inside, I looked around. It almost seemed like a hotel, like it didn’t belong to me at all even though I’d lived here for five years. I went to the fridge, grabbing the bottle of Dom Perignon. It was the only thing inside. After that, I took one last look at the living room.

The only way I would return here was with my family. With Allison and the twins.