Colin

“Talk to me, Arthur. How bad is it?”

“So, I have some dirt on the lawyer Abby tried to hire.”

“Wait. Okay. You’re going to have to backtrack further than that,” I said. “I wasn’t aware that Abby retained a lawyer for anything regarding her ex.”

“Backtracking. When her ex stole from her, she tracked down a lawyer. A seedy one, too. He gave her a free consultation and filed the paperwork accordingly, but it looks like when she tried to retain him for the case he kept turning her down.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because her ex hired him before she could.”

Arthur slid some papers across my desk as we sat there in my office.

“Wait, this is the same lawyer that’s gonna be issuing Abby papers,” I said.

“Yep. The same one. He took Abby’s free consultation and used it to help her ex. The quote the lawyer gave Abby is much less than the agreement that he now has with her ex.”

“He ditched Abby when he found out he could get more money from her ex,” I said.

“Yep. That’s a conflict of interest if I’ve ever seen one,” Arthur said. “But you gotta be careful with this guy. He’s known in the State of California do to all sorts of seedy business. Gets bad guys off on charges for fun. Rumors are circulating that he takes payment under the table for all sorts of shit.”

“Is there any way to prove that?” I asked.

“If we could, he wouldn’t be practicing. He’d be in jail.”

“Did you find a lawyer we could use for Abby?” I asked.

“I did. The best L.A. has to offer. Her name’s Deidra Prowler, and her name suits her well. She’ll take wonderful care of Abby, and she’s discreet.”

“Good, because I don’t want Abby to find out any of this,” I said.

“Sounds like a wonderful basis for a relationship.”

I whipped my gaze across the desk as my face hardened to stone.

“You make many more quips about my engagement, my fiancé, or my decisions, your services will no longer be required,” I said.

“Whatever you wish, Mr. Murphy.”

“I just don’t want her stressing out about this when we should be enjoying our engagement,” I said.

“I trust you know what’s best,” he said.

“Now you’re mocking me.”

“Hardly.”

“You’re dismissed,” I said.

“The name and number of the lawyer is on that top sheet of paper. I suggest giving her a call right away. She’s a late worker, like yourself, and her schedule fills up fast.”

I watched Arthur exit my office before I picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“Deidra Prowler speaking.”

“Miss Prowler, this is Colin Murphy.”

“I was expecting your call, Mr. Murphy. I assume you want to set up a meeting?”

“I do. When is the earliest I can see you?” I asked.

“I’m not free until next Friday,” she said.

“When can I see you if I double your rate?” I asked.

“Monday morning,” she said coolly.

“You have nothing this weekend?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Family emergency. I’ve had to clear my schedule as it is. But I have you down for seven Monday morning. Your office, mine, or neutral ground?” she asked.

Abby typically didn’t come in to the office until nine, so I figured meeting here at seven would be just fine.

“At my office. I’ll have coffee available,” I said.

“I take mine black with plenty of sugar. Sweet tooth and all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. See you Monday morning at seven.”

Even though I apparently had the best lawyer in all of Los Angeles, I was frustrated that I couldn’t have access to her right away, like today. I was ready to get to the bottom of everything right now. I was ready to tear Abby’s ex to shreds so we could begin our life together. I wanted to get all of this figured out before it all surfaced and upset Abby.

And eventually, it would.

Sitting there in my office, I got to thinking. What was it that sparked this lawsuit in the first place? He cheated on her with her best friend, and that was eight or nine months ago. Why was he just now coming forward and asking for the lawsuit? Was it really possible for him to take half of everything she owned?

I picked up the phone and called Arthur just to clear my head.

“You need me to turn around?” he asked.

“No, just let me talk. When this first came about, you said something insinuating this lawsuit came about because we got engaged.”

“That’s the only motive I’ve got for now, yes,” Arthur said.

“So, if he drags out the lawsuit waiting for Abby and I to get married, then all we have to do is— not get married.”

“I’m not sure I’m following you,” he said.

“When we were talking over the phone last week, I mentioned that Abby didn’t have anything to sue for, and you said something like, ‘until she marries you.’ right?”

“Yes. If the two of you get married while this is all going on and there isn’t a prenuptial agreement in place, then he can technically sue for half of everything you have, because when the two of you marry, what is yours is hers.”

“I’m not making Abby sign a prenuptial agreement. I love her and I’m in this for the long haul. But if that’s his endgame—to wait us out until we’re married—there’s a chance that simply not getting married would fix this.”

“Are you talking about calling off the wedding?” he asked.

“Abby mentioned something to me about postponing the wedding until next year. Maybe I should take her up on that offer.”

“It would help the situation, but it wouldn’t make it go away. They could still serve her papers and sue her just to tank her public persona. You know how the media is. They’d have a field day with it. And, he has the option to sue for half of everything she owns.”

“So he’s going after this as if they were common law married,” I said. “How long did they have to live together for that?”

“In the state of California, it’s not about living together for a length of time. It’s about meeting certain criteria. I’ve been looking into it, and what I’ve found so far doesn’t look good.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, we know he was on her bank accounts. He also co-signed for her car, which eventually got repossessed when she lost her job. That meant paying for the car defaulted back onto him, which took $9,824.32 of the $40,000 he drained from her account. It doesn’t look like they filed any taxes together, but many of their finances were intertwined. Cell phone plans for example. They both used the same joint account. There’s all sorts of stuff of that nature which will hold up in court.”

“Fuck,” I said, groaning.

“It’s not hopeless, Mr. Murphy. Not by a longshot. Just give me some time to piece everything together. In the meantime, I do think you should tell Abby what’s going on, and I do think you should take her up on her offer to postpone the wedding.”

“I’m not telling Abby, but I’ll give the latter some thought,” I said.

“Be careful, Colin, okay? This is a sticky situation, and no one else needs to get hurt by it.”

“Just do your job, Arthur, and it won’t be an issue.”

I slammed the phone down and closed my eyes. Her ex was a sack of fucking shit, and if it wasn’t for him being a greedy bastard I’d be spoiling my fiancé instead of trying to shield her from more of his bullshit. He’d put her through enough and made her life a living nightmare last year, and I wasn’t going to allow him to impact her in any other way.

Protecting Abby like I knew I could was exactly what I was going to do.