Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(71)

“Check?” she asked. “Payment to the lawyer?”

“No, to her. She wouldn’t leave without a big, fat buy-off.”

“There’s nothing in here about a settlement,” she said. “Jesus, who the hell handled this for you?”

“Obviously some idiot,” he answered hotly. “Erin, she was f**king crazy, all right? I gave her money to go away! It was the best I could do at the time! Now I have to clean up the mess!”

“Don’t get mad,” she said, standing up and facing him. “You don’t have a mess to clean up, Aiden. You have to start over.”

“What?”

“This is an application for a dissolution of marriage, and it’s eight years old. There’s nothing about a settlement, so no record of a payment…”

“I have the goddamn canceled check!”

“Please,” she said as calmly as possible. “I realize you have the canceled check, stored in a ziplock bag in your strongbox. A check made out to Annalee Somebody—not Riordan—and deposited in a third party’s bank account. I’m afraid that isn’t going to mean much. If she isn’t incredibly cooperative—like a woman who wants out so she can get on with her life—you’re going to need—”

“That isn’t what she wants,” he said. And in spite of himself, his face took on a dark flush. “But she can’t be trusted, you have to understand that.”

Erin swallowed. “And what does she want?”

He fidgeted uncomfortably, his lips pursed. “She said she wants to reconcile. It’s nonnegotiable. I was done with her eight years ago and I’m more done now.” He took a step toward her. “Erin, ask Luke about her. He saw her in action when she was totally out of her mind. Luke’s the one who took her out of my apartment, put her in a hotel and gave her a fistful of bennies to keep her away long enough for me to find a lawyer. It might’ve taken me a while to be convinced she was completely crazy and dangerous, but Luke saw it in less than a half hour.”

Erin let the pages fall against her thigh in utter frustration. “Why’d you marry her if she was so crazy?”

“I told you—it was a mistake!”

“You’re raising your voice again,” she calmly pointed out.

“It was a mistake,” he said more calmly. “I was desperate for a little female company, met her at the officers’ club, drank a little too much and ended up in bed with her. It wasn’t until after that that I found out she was enlisted personnel assigned to my hospital. That kind of liaison is not allowed. Ever watch 60 Minutes? Fraternization is considered a crime in the military—court martial is usually followed by dishonorable discharge—and all this was after I’d invested years in the navy. All this right before my residency—the navy’s commitment to me—was just starting. I had to marry her to make it all look decent. Legal.”

Erin was appalled. “After one slightly tipsy roll in the hay?” she asked, stunned.

He couldn’t respond right away because he knew how it looked, how it sounded. In fact, he absolutely believed Annalee had taken all that into consideration when she picked him out, stalked him, blew his brains out with mind-bending sex that he’d been totally starving for, for a couple of years, and…He groaned. “It was more than once, but not much more. And before I could run for my life, it leaked, and it seemed everyone knew about our relationship. My boss gave me two choices—come up on charges for sexual harassment, fraternization and dishonorable discharge, which would make me look real goddamn desirable as a civilian woman’s doctor. Or just make it legal so it looked like true love, not something nasty and sordid. I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

“And your family? They know about this?” she asked.

“Sort of,” he said. “My brothers know. Luke and Sean were involved. Colin and Paddy heard about it. It’s not the kind of thing you explain in detail to your widowed mother.”

“Oh, man,” she said, shaking her head. “I wish I’d known this before you forgot that condom,” she muttered.

He’d moved on her too fast, he realized that. But this was only the second time his life flashed before his eyes—the first was Annalee and hysterical fear, the second was now, when he’d finally found the woman he’d always wanted and she was so close to denying him. A few hours ago nothing mattered but them being together, maybe forever, and now she was regretting that absence of a condom—the little slip that could possibly begin to build them a family.

He grabbed her upper arms, feeling scared and desperate. “Listen, she’s nuts, she’s a liar and she probably just wants more money to go away. Finding out the divorce wasn’t final was probably the best news she’s had in years—she can cut a deal all over again and make me pay. Erin, I love you! This woman—Annalee—she’s just a con artist! I’ll get this fixed! I swear to God, I’ll get this—”

“Aiden, Aiden,” she said softly. “Please. You’re hurting me.”

He let go at once. “God, I’m sorry,” he said, backing off. He crossed the room before he turned back to face her. “Listen, do you see?” he said. “I’m standing here in my underwear trying to make you believe that she’s the crazy one. That I couldn’t possibly have made this many stupid mistakes unless some huge con was in place—which cost me a lot of money and the respect of my colleagues. Come on, Erin, I’m smarter than that mess indicates. You have to give me the benefit of the doubt.”