"you might want to go to the house and make sure everything is alright there. I have arranged to have the locks changed tonight at five. That gave her the day to move out. If she needs anything after five tonight, she can call me for it and I'll take care of it."
Roman felt a heaviness in the pit of his stomach, wondering what she might have done to the house. He took a deep breath and told himself it couldn't be too bad, whatever it was.
"I'll call you when I get to the house and let you know what kind of condition it's in. Don't worry about the mess in the office, we can clean it up tomorrow." She said goodbye and he drove toward his house, wondering what he would find when he got there. The house was quiet and dark, and he wasn't sure what to expect, but he didn't see anyone in it, and at first everything at the front of the house looked fine.
He walked back to his office and discovered that she had ransacked it, looking for the prenuptial agreement as well. He sighed, looking at the mess scattered all over the floor. Then he headed to the library and saw that she'd gone through the desk and files in there as well, but of course, he knew she hadn't come up with anything. He checked the rest of the house and found that it was all in order, just as it should have been.
He hesitated outside of the room Agnes was staying in, knocked on the door and hearing no answer, he went in. It was empty of everything that had been hers and a few things that had been in the room before she had moved in. It was encouraging to see the room empty. Next, he strolled down the hall to Denise's room and opened the door.
Her things were gone, but the room was a demolished mess. Windows were broken, walls had holes in them, and one of the closet doors had a hole in it. She had left the water running in the tub and sink; probably to try to flood the place, he thought, but she hadn't bothered to plug the drains, so the water was just running and wasting away.
He shut it off and looked around the room. He decided he would have an insurance agent come to check on it in the morning. He went to his room last. He had locked it when he left that morning, sure that it was in his best interest to do so, and he found that his room was untouched, which was a huge relief to him because he was exhausted from the long couple of days he’d had.
Roman headed to bed, hoping to sleep deep enough to forget everything that had happened, at least for the night, and that's just what he did.
The next day dawned bright and early, and Roman headed in to the office. He called the insurance adjustor to go to the house and to come by the office, and that was handled.
The insurance company mentioned that they may try to subrogate and go after her to recoup their losses, if it was at all possible.
His attorney called him and told him that his divorce could be final in as little as 45 days if she signed the agreements right away. He crossed his fingers for that, and his attorney suggested that perhaps if Roman offered her a single monetary settlement, she may be more inclined to sign them, as her prenuptial had prevented her from receiving any alimony.
Roman considered it an investment in his future to get her out of his life as quickly and cleanly as possible. He told his attorney to offer her one million for the divorce, and the attorney said he would let him know right away what her response was.
Janine had never looked so happy at work and Allen was still floating on cloud nine from his sale. Captain Heatherwick was off looking at new yachts, and Roman had finally begun to feel like his life was headed in the right direction.
He wanted to spend some time with Cami and Emma more than anything else, and so he called Janine into his office and asked her for a favor. She was more than happy to help him, and was instrumental in making it all work.
Roman called Cami and asked her if he could take her out for dinner and a conversation. She agreed and he asked if Janine could babysit for them, and Cami agreed to that as well.
"Please make sure Emma has a lot of breast milk ready for Janine. I don't want her to run out,” he mentioned in concern.
Cami assured him that there would be more than enough for Janine to take care of Emma. Roman told her he would pick her up around five that afternoon, and he left to take care of his arrangements for the night.
The Final Chapter
Roman pulled his car up at Cami's house and went to the door. She opened it up with a big smile and his daughter playing happily in her arms. Roman took his daughter and held her close to him, breathing in her sweet baby scent and kissing her soft cheeks.
He played with her for a little while, and then her Auntie Janine showed up, and Roman smiled thankfully at her and took Cami out to his car with him.
She got in and was quiet for a few minutes and then her curiosity got the better of her. "Where is it that we are going?" she asked. "You seem so full of mystery tonight!"
He only smiled at her and said, "I'm keeping my word to you."
She shook her head at him. "I don't know what you are talking about, but I trust you implicitly, and I'll say this, too. I've never seen you as happy as you are right now, so whatever it is that you have up your sleeve is fine with me. I don't care what it is, if it makes you this happy, it's fine with me." She grinned at him and he took her hand in his and lifted her fingers to his mouth, kissing them softly before letting go of her hand.
The touch of his lips on her fingers made her catch her breath, but she told herself she had to focus on being friends with him. She could not ever afford herself the luxury of feeling what he really made her feel, because he was married and that was just the way that it was.
They curved down a long and winding private road with enormous trees lining both sides of it, and finally came to a stop at a boat house and a huge cabin. He helped her out of the car and they walked around the boat house and there before them, was the yacht that had carried them down to Mexico and back.
Cami gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my gosh! I didn't think I was ever really going to see it again! How in the world is it here?" She looked at Roman.
"You know the owner? They are letting you use it?" she asked with exhilaration.
He chuckled and took her by the hand, leading her to the boat. He helped her on deck and then he walked over to the main cabin door and unlocked it.
"I do know the owner." he said. "I know him very well, and I think you do too."
He turned on the lights and there in the main dining area, was the table all set up with taper candles and vases of red roses everywhere. The staff was lined up, resplendent in their uniforms, smiling. Then they dispersed themselves unobtrusively and returned to their duties.
Roman walked over to the stereo and turned it on, and soft romantic violin music began to play over the speakers. Then he walked to the table and lit the candles all over it, and all over the other areas of the dining room until it was aglow in candlelight, and then he turned the lights off and walked over to Cami, taking her hands in his.
She hesitated, looking around her and paused where she stood. "Roman, this looks amazing... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful in my life, but we said we were going to be friends. We said we were going to try as hard as we could to just be friends. This is incredible, but this doesn't feel like friends to me." She spoke softly, looking up at him with sad eyes through her thick lashes.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her. "Well, my life has taken a few turns this last week. Denise has moved out and we are in the middle of a divorce. It will be official in about five weeks, maybe less if my attorney makes himself worth the money I pay him."
Cami stared at him with wide eyes full of surprise. "You're kidding!" she said in shock. "That's... that's unbelievable! What happened?"
Roman shook his head. "It ended. Actually, I ended it much later than I should have ended it. It should have been over years ago."
Cami nodded and looked at him in sympathy for a moment, and then looked around the room they were in, feeling the music and candlelight work their magic on her.
"...and this?" she asked, hesitantly still.
Roman slipped his finger beneath her chin and lifted her face to look into his. "I don't want to be just friends with you anymore. I don't think I could possibly manage it."
Cami's heart began to pound. She was sure she hadn't heard him correctly, but she thought she might as well pretend anyway, because she was standing in the best dream she had ever known. "Why couldn't you manage it?" she whispered to him as he leaned so close to her that their lips were a breath apart from one another.
He smiled at her and ran his other finger down the side of her cheek. "Don't you know, beautiful lady? I couldn't possibly manage to be just your friend because I'm in love with you. I want to be much more than just your friend."
Cami gasped and stared at him, and before she could respond, he closed the gap between them, pulling her to him in a warm embrace, and pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss. She closed her eyes and let him steal her away from herself as he moved his mouth over hers, tasting her and igniting every fire within her as he made her melt in his arms.
When he lifted his mouth from hers and looked into her eyes, she tried to remember how to breathe, and when she could, she whispered, "Roman, I love you, too. I just couldn't help it, it happened. I've tried to talk myself out of it so many times, but you took my heart a year ago when I gave it to you, and I just don't know how to ask for it back. If you're going to keep it safe and love me, I don't want it back, you can have it forever."