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“You got it. Bye Nafan, bye Auntie Bat, I mean Auntie Nat.” Her face grew red with the slip-up.

We walk out of the room and head down to the third-floor cafe. “So what did he say to you?” I put my arm around Laney’s shoulders bringing her close while we walk towards the cafe.

“Well I’m sure you don’t want to hear the exact words he used, but basically he said that you made a big mistake and married some woman with a magic vag, and now she and her devil mother are going to take all of the family money and there isn’t a damn thing he can do about it.”

“Damn him.”

“Wow, Nathan, you weren’t kidding, your father is a piece of work. That man doesn’t even know me. Between him and my mom, I’m batting a thousand,” Laney says humorlessly.

“Don’t worry about it, sweet girl. He has no bearing on any decisions that I make in my life. He’s just a blip on the screen.”

We enter the cafe, and I grab a few coffees and Danishes while the girls take a seat. I can’t wait to be able to eat a decent meal. Waiting for the drinks, I watch as the two most important women in my life get to know each other. Natalie throws her head back and laughs while Laney reaches out and touches her arm with a smile on her face. They look as though they are lifelong friends. “What are you gals discussing?” I sit down next to Laney.

“Oh, Laney's telling me how she thought you drugged her to get her to marry you.”

“I am the Nathaniel Whitmore, there is no drugging needed to get a woman to marry me. I should be offended.” I give the girls a wink.

“Oh yes, stud.” She nudges my shoulder. “Women drop to their knees when you walk by hailing the sex gods, thanking them for the specimen that is Nathaniel Whitmore. I should be so lucky to have snatched you up. I should be worshiping at the altar of Aphrodite herself and sacrifice my first born for the precious gift she has bestowed upon my life and me. The gift that is the Nathaniel Whitmore, a.k.a. Mr. Sex God.”

“No, love, not Mr. Sex God, I’m Your Sex God.”

“Oh my gosh, you guys, seriously. Laney, you handle this stud muffin so well. I’m so thankful that he found you. You both have my support one hundred percent.”

“Thanks, sis, you know your opinion is probably the only one that matters to me.” Laney puts her head on my shoulder.

“Well, you'll always have a supporter in me, Nate. Father is another issue. Not to mention the media and whoever decides to come out of the woodwork. Have you heard from Diane since the news broke?”

I could feel Laney tense next to me. Her warm body now sits rigid next to mine. There’s no reason why she should be reacting like this. But of course it’s only natural when you don’t know the story behind a name. “I turned my phone off after I spoke with him. I haven’t turned it on and even if she were to call I have no desire to speak to her. She and I have been over for over a year now. She has no business in my life.”

“I know that, Nate, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to stir the pot.”

“Can you tell me who Diane is, please?” Laney’s voice is strained.

“Diane is someone who I was involved with after I came back when my mother became ill. I didn’t have the time for her because I was too busy caring for my mother. That didn’t stop Diane though. For the next few years, we saw each other on and off. I didn’t want to make the commitment that she wanted. I had this feeling that there was more to her than what she was telling me. So I had her followed. I don’t understand why she didn’t realize I would, since I own a security firm. Maybe she thought she had me snowed, but needless to say, I got dirt on both her and my father. Evidently my bed wasn’t the only bed she was occupying. She liked to keep it in the family, I guess.”

“No, seriously?”

“Yes, she was warming my father’s bed when she wasn’t in mine.” Laney gasps. “It seems he thought she could get me to marry her; then she could leave me and take what she got out of the divorce and hand it over to my father.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope, I told you he'll stop at nothing to get Whitmore Industries.”

“Like Nathan would even consider marring her, let alone doing it without a pre-nup. My brother wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Her plan didn’t work. The breakup was anything but pleasant. Even with the surveillance videos and photos, she tried to deny it. She tried to turn it around and blame me. She said that I doctored it all because I wasn’t a man who could stand by his responsibilities. That I was walking in the perfect footsteps of my father.”

“Holy shit. Wait—what responsibilities?”

I look at my sister and she gives me a nod. “She said she was pregnant and tried to say it was my baby.”

“She was pregnant?”

“No." I make certain that Laney understands. "It was never confirmed. It was just another ploy trying to get her hooks into me and my company.”

“Yeah, but even after all that, she still insists on going to every charity function our family throws." Natalie interjects. "She still thinks she has some sort of say in my brother’s life. It’s pathetic really. She's a sad, sad, woman, who has fallen flat on her face more than once. You would think she would learn by now."

"She’s in my past. There’s no reason why she should step foot in my present, let alone my future. There was never any love when it came to her. Not one time did I tell her that I loved her; that I saw a future with her. Not. Once. If she says anything else, then she’s a bitch liar.”