Page 48 of Shadowed Agenda

He walked out the door, and Regan closed it behind him, sliding the deadbolt into place.

She looked at the envelope in her hand and wondered if Nicholas could change. Could they recapture the moment their life seemed perfect, the nanosecond before everything seemed to spiral out of control? Could they make that moment last forever?

The hollow pit in her stomach said no. When Emmeline was old enough to function independently, Nicholas would cast her aside like an out-of-date computer.

Regan opened the envelope and began reading. She felt like she was wading through a viscous liquid, each horrible word clinging to her. Then, she finally came to the paragraph outlining the visitation rights Nicholas’ lawyers proposed.

The words around the only two sentences that meant something to her ran together, an unfocused black smudge across the page. All her eyes could see were those two sentences.

One weekend a month. To be spent in New York City. That’s all he would allow her to see her daughter. Nicholas hadn’t even shown up at the hospital during Emmeline’s birth. There’d been no card, no telephone call to see if he could see the baby, nothing until now.

Regan pulled out the locket from under her blouse. She opened it. Emmeline’s smiling face shone on one side. A lock of her hair nestled on the other side.

It wouldn’t have mattered what the ink on the paper said. The judge would grant Nicholas and his entourage of lawyers what they wanted. Nicholas had contacts, money, and power. Regan could never fight him.

She’d contact her lawyer after the Toastmasters luncheon and tell him she was considering Nicholas’ offer to remarry her. A video call for eight tomorrow morning would give him enough time to pass on her answer to Nicholas’ lawyers. It would also give him enough time to draw up a prenup to protect her and Emmeline. After the red carpet movie premiere, she’d jot down a few notes of things she felt should be included.

Nicholas’ lawyers could battle over the prenup. Regan was certain Nicholas had already instructed them to draw one up. If he wanted to remarry her, he’d have to agree to the terms she laid out, or she would pass a photograph of Emmeline and her father’s name to the press. Nicholas would worry she wasn’t bluffing and would give in.

Regan knew she could never trust Nicholas, and he would break their agreement, just like he had their custody agreement. She also understood she was expendable. When Emmeline reached her teenage years, she’d have learned to take care of herself. Regan would no longer be needed. Nicholas would find a means to remove her from his and her daughter’s lives.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and Regan quickly brushed it away. She thought of Pavlo and how he made her feel. Yes, he was hot and turned her on, but there was more than a simple attraction. She enjoyed his company.

Did he feel the same way about her? Regan would never find out. There’d be no exploring the feelings she had for the man. She’d never know how he felt. Her future role was to make Nicholas look good so he could climb the political ladder.

Regan thought about the USB drive and the memory card from her cell phone she had safely stashed in a safe deposit box. She wasn’t as helpless as Nicholas thought. She would play house until she could find a way out.

Chapter twenty-two

Pavlostoppedasaman in a black suit walked out of Regan’s suite. Nicholas Wyndham. Why was he talking to Regan? He was positive the visit wasn’t planned. Regan would have mentioned it.

Since Javier dug up the connections between Nicholas and Senator Aster, Pavlo kept wondering how Wyndham played into things. Was he supposed to pressure Regan into the book signing? Was he a distraction to keep her occupied so she wouldn’t stumble across the real reason for the meeting with Mrs. Aster? Or was Regan’s presence in New York convenient for him to pursue a change in the custody agreement? They didn’t have enough information to know.

Regardless, Pavlo didn’t trust or like the man. He liked it even less that he’d spoken to Regan without Pavlo present.

He knocked on Regan’s door. She’d opened it immediately, an envelope and a document in one hand. Pavlo recognized the logo on the letterhead. It was a prominent New York City law firm. Nicholas had hand delivered the custody agreement he wanted her to sign. By the look on Regan’s face, whatever was in the document wasn’t good.

“I saw Nicholas walking to the elevator,” Pavlo said as he entered the suite.

“He was being a gentleman and delivered the custody agreement to me in person so I could read it before my lawyer contacted me,” Regan scoffed and raised the document in her hand. “I have our friend Isla to thank for letting him know I had planned to work in my suite before heading downstairs for the convention book signing.”

There was no escaping Isla. No matter where they turned, she was present. Pavlo had explained away her involvement in the whole affair as an opportunity to bring the Senator on as a client so she could start her firm. It was possible he was wrong. Someone had given her the money to lease the pricey Manhattan office space.

Her relationship with Gage Palmer was short term, even if Isla didn’t see it. He wouldn’t have backed her. After she met with the Senator, Pavlo was certain Isla’s newfound love interest would move on to another woman. She was a shrewd publicist, so there was a chance the Senator would hire her.

If Isla knew why the Senator selected Regan to meet with his wife, she was hiding it well. Pavlo knew there had to be one. It was too big of a fuss to make sure Regan met with Mrs. Aster. They were overlooking a small, seemingly insignificant detail that would pull everything together.

“So why didn’t Wyndham courier or email you the documents?” Pavlo asked.

“That had been my question. Hey!” Regan shouted as Pavlo snatched the document out of her hand.

She’d have said no if he’d asked politely to read the agreement over. This was easier. Less arguing was involved to arrive at the same end.

Pavlo skimmed the document, not liking what he was seeing. A lot of expensive legalese to strip Regan of her rights as a parent. He swore under his breath when he came to the visitation rights. Not Wyndham’s visitation rights. Regan’s.

Wyndham had told Regan he intended on filing for full custody, and he had. Regan was going from being Emmeline’s sole parent to nonexistent. The man was a bastard in the business world, and it obviously carried over to his personal life.

“It’s going to backfire on him,” Pavlo said, continuing to read the document. “As soon as people hear you’re only allowed one weekend a month to see your daughter, they’ll take notice. He’s restricting visitation to New York City. It isn’t a good move for him politically.”