Page 17 of The Honest Affair
“Come on, Petri dish,” Jane cut in. “We don’t need to be voyeurs on every single one of Nina’s conversations, you know.”
She popped up from the couch and proceeded to tow Eric out of the room by his tie. He didn’t look altogether unpleased by his wife’s sudden attention.
I turned back to Barney, who had made the request. “It’s getting late.”
“Yes,” he said. “But we wanted to speak to you about…well, about the other option here. Of getting Mr. Gardner to be more…amenable.”
I frowned. “There’s another option?”
Delia sighed. “We didn’t think you would want to discuss it in front of Eric and Jane. But, Ms. de Vries, if you did file on grounds of abuse—”
My head snapped up. “On grounds of what?”
Both lawyers remained quiet. They looked almost sorry for me, and their expressions were exactly why I had never told anyone at all about the things Calvin had done.
But that day in their office, caught as I was on a tidal wave of truth that seemed to be crushing every aspect of my life at the moment, I had told them. I had shown them the pictures I had taken over the years. I had recounted time and time again that Calvin had hit me, kicked me, beaten me so hard my ears rang and I saw stars, sometimes for hours after he was done. I showed them the X-rays with cracked ribs, another with a deep contusion just below my kidney. They had seen everything.
“If you file on grounds of physical abuse, it may speed up the process. Particularly given the fact that with the dates of some of these events, Mr. Gardner may face criminal charges if you wanted to pursue them.”
“And if he counters with grounds of adultery?” I asked.
“You said he was not aware of your relationship with ADA Zola,” Barney replied. “Was that true?”
“I—yes, I believe it was. But—” I cut myself off this time. “No, I’m not going to do that. It’s too much. Olivia will find out. My family will learn of it. No. The answer is no.”
Delia folded her lips together, clearly disagreeing. “Please just think about it, Ms. De Vries.”
“I’m paying you the earth, or at least my cousin is, Delia. I’ll think about it, but I’d ask you to think about more creative ways to get me out of this marriage. As soon as possible. Please.”
“Ms. de Vries—”
“I need a break,” I said suddenly, and stood from the couch, sweeping past Eric and Jane as they reemerged from the upstairs.
“Hey,” Jane said. “We were just going to make dinner.”
“I’m going for a walk.”
“Nina, come on, it’s raining,” Eric said. “You can go to Jane’s workshop if you need some space—”
“Going for a walk!” I practically squawked as I grabbed my favorite cashmere coat from the rack in the front hall and swept out the front door.
“Take Tony!” Jane called before the door swung shut.
But I just kept walking, where neither Jane’s voice nor her hulking security detail could follow.