“She’s not going to get away with this, Brian. I’m marrying her because I have to, but that’s not the end of it. She’s going to discover she picked the wrong man to push around.”
Delgado looked thoughtful as he tapped the prenup with the top of his pen. “She seems to lead a quiet life. I don’t imagine I’ll find too many skeletons.”
“Then find out what’s important to her and bring her down that way. Put your best people on it. Investigate her work life and her professional life. Find out what matters most to her. Once we know that, we’ll know exactly what we’re going to take away.”
Cal could almost see the wheels turning in Delgado’s mind as he sifted through the challenges of the job he’d been given. Another less aggressive attorney might have balked at an assignment like this, but not Brian. He was the sort who enjoyed feasting on a kill.
As Cal left the office, he made up his mind to protect the people he most cared about from what Jane Darlington had done. His family still mourned the deaths of Cherry and Jamie, and he wouldn’t add to their wounds. As for the baby . . . People’d been calling him a tough son of a bitch for as long as he could remember, but he was also fair, and he wouldn’t let the kid be punished for its mother’s sins.
He shied away from thinking any more about the baby. He’d deal with those responsibilities later. For now, all he cared about was revenge. It might take a while, but he was going to hurt her, and he’d do it in a way she’d never forget.
The night before the wedding, Jane was so full of dread she couldn’t eat or sleep, but, as it turned out, the actual ceremony proved to be anticlimactic. It took place at the office of a Wisconsin judge and lasted less than ten minutes. There were no flowers, no friends, and no kiss.
At the end of the ceremony, Brian Delgado, Cal’s attorney, told her that Cal would be returning to North Carolina in another week and that Delgado would handle any necessary communications. Other than his brusquely delivered wedding vows, Cal didn’t speak to her at all.
They left the ceremony in separate cars just as they had arrived, and by the time she got home, Jane was light-headed with relief. It was over. She wouldn’t have to face him again for months.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t counted on the Chicago Tribune. Two days after the ceremony, a Tribune sports writer, acting on a tip he received from an anonymous Wisconsin county clerk, broke the story of the secret marriage of the city’s most famous quarterback to Dr. Jane Darlington, a distinguished professor of physics at Newberry College.
The media circus began.
“I’ll never forgive you for this,” Jane hissed as she snatched up the two halves of her seat belt and shoved them together.
“Just remember who showed up with a bow around her neck.” Cal jabbed the stubs from their boarding passes into the pocket of his sport coat and settled into the seat beside her. He bristled with hostility, and she couldn’t remember ever being in the presence of such naked hatred.
It was Monday, only five days since their makeshift wedding ceremony, but everything had changed. The flight attendant serving the first-class passengers stopped beside their seats, calling a temporary halt to the bitter verbal battle that had been going on between them in one form or another since the Trib story had been published three days earlier. She held out a tray with two glasses of champagne.
“Congratulations! The crew’s so excited about having both of you on board today. We’re all big Stars’ fans, and we’re thrilled about your marriage.”
Jane forced a smile as she took the champagne. “Thank you.”
Cal said nothing.
The flight attendant’s gaze slipped over Jane, assessing the woman who had managed to snag the city’s most prominent bachelor. Jane was beginning to grow accustomed to the flicker of surprise on people’s faces when they saw her for the first time. They undoubtedly expected Cal Bonner’s wife to look and dress like a Victoria’s Secret model, but Jane’s well-cut tweed jacket, camel trousers, and bronze silk shell fell short of the mark. All of her clothes were of good quality, but conservative. The classic styles suited her, and she had no desire to make herself over into a fashion butterfly.
She’d arranged her hair in a loose French twist, a style she had always liked because it was neat and timeless. Her friend Caroline said it was too stuffy, but she’d also admitted it did a good job of setting off Jane’s rather delicate bone structure. Her jewelry was minimal, small gold knots in her ears and the plain gold wedding band Cal’s attorney had purchased for the ceremony. It looked strange on her finger, and she pretended it wasn’t there.