by J. M. Nevins
She sighed and spoke evenly. “Sully, please calm down and take a seat. We can discuss this rationally. There’s no need for a yelling match. We already did that before you resumed the tour.”
He slumped into his seat and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at her. “Why are you doing this to us?”
She stared at him. “Are you really gonna ask me that question? Was I the one that can’t stop using cocaine and God knows what else? Am I the one that’s been unfaithful in our marriage and has a girlfriend? Can you answer that for me?”
He shifted his gaze down, tightening his jaw, carefully considering his response. He knew denial wouldn’t fly about the drugs and he wondered why she was spouting the same accusation about a girlfriend as Spencer had the day before. His mind raced, wondering where they were getting their information from.
She raised her eyebrows. “Sully? Hello?”
He got up from the table and started pacing, desperate for a solution. He finally stopped and stared at her. “First off, you need to your facts straight, babe. There’s no girlfriend. I told you before, all I did was kiss that groupie and she meant nothing to me. There hasn’t been anyone but you, so this whole me having a girlfriend thing can be put to rest.”
He continued, more determined. “We can fix this Kit. We’ve been through shit before. We can get past this.”
He spun around and walked over to her, taking his hands in hers. He knelt down before her and gazed deeply into her eyes, as his welled up with tears. “The only reason I kissed that groupie on that one night was because I was lonely and I couldn’t be with you and I know that’s not acceptable. It’s a massive mistake and I regret it every fucking day. If I could take it back, I would. I’ve started cutting back on the blow. I can go to rehab when the tour ends. We can start over. I’ll do whatever it takes and more. I’ll work with a shrink. I’ll work with a marriage counselor. Anything. I’ll be a better husband, I’ll do anything, Kit… anything.”
She shook her head and wriggled her hands free. “It’s not gonna work this time, Sull. It’s over. I need to move on… for me. I’m different now. Things have changed since the shooting. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it and y’know what, we won’t. We’re on totally different pages now and I don’t think we can get back what we once had.”
He struggled to keep his tears at bay. “I love you so much, Kit. Please don’t do this. Please.”
She stared at him and felt her eyes welling up with tears. It was the same pattern all over again. She saw it clearly, yet it still hurt like hell and she felt like her heart was breaking in her chest. The pain was unbearable. He had been her life for the last nine years. She wasn’t sure what it would be like without him, but she had to try. She had learned that too much comfort and familiarity could lead to mediocrity and suffocation—exactly where she had been living for the last year.
As much as she wanted to give in to him and say yes to another chance, her iron will gave her the strength to move on without him this time. Despite the nagging prompt of her intuition screaming at her to stop what she was doing and work things out, she kept moving forward.
She did her best to compose herself. “Sully get up. Go sit back down. Go on.” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
He took a seat at the table. He collected the pages he had strewn across the dining room floor and put them back on the table in an orderly fashion.
He took a deep breath and then calmly started reading through them. He set them aside and faced her again. “What brought this on? I know you already found a way to take my inheritance away from me.”
She reminded herself to stay non-reactive to his digs, yet she could feel the rage start to simmer deeply within her. She smirked. “You did that one all on your own. Nana put that clause in there and you violated it. At no time did I put a gun to your head and tell you to do drugs or fuck someone else. You did that all on your own, babe.”
She leaned forward and continued seeing the look of shock on his face, not letting him get a word in. “I gotta say, Sull, I was on the fence about this whole thing. I had thought about divorce a few times in our marriage. When I got pregnant, I decided to see it through. I wanted us to have a happy family. But then the cracks really started showing. Maybe the shooting was a blessing. I almost died. And when I came to, I was as a different person. I started seeing things with a level of impeccable clarity I’ve never experienced before. You shared about your using and the groupie and then I found out about the girlfriend that somehow you won’t admit to and things started to unravel. With the miscarriage on top of that, more unraveling ensued.”
She sighed and shook her head. “When my divorce attorney’s private investigator discovered that your girlfriend, Kendalle Scott, lives in a 7-million-dollar beach house in Malibu that you bought for her in cash and she’s driving a brand new Lotus Esprit that’s registered in your name, that’s when the bomb went off, babe. Boom. Done!”
She shook her head again and cast her eyes down, not noticing that he had held his hand up to stop her, looking horrified. “And even with all of that, Sull, I can’t blame all of this on you.”
She finally looked up and met his troubled eyes. “I take responsibility for my part in the decline of our marriage and our relationship. I could have flown out more. I could have been more present for you. There are plenty of things I could have done differently. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. But when it comes down to it, if I had been more true to me from the beginning, we could have avoided all of this. And I take full responsibility for that.”
Her green eyes narrowed. “But not once did I violate our marriage vows. Not once. When I gave you my heart, I meant it. But I have to take it back, Sully. I cannot keep living like this with you. It hurts too much. We’re different people than we were when we first got together. I think you can agree with me on that. Life happened. And now here we are all these years later in a shitty-assed marriage where we cannot get along no matter what we do.”
He shook his head as tears started flowing from his eyes once again. He buried his head in his hands for a moment and then he ran his fingers through his shaggy, highlighted dark blonde hair.
His demeanor then shifted as he looked at her and stood up defiantly. “I don’t agree with you or any of this, especially the bullshit about Kendalle Scott.”
She shook her head and snorted. “Oh yeah? Is that ‘cuz I just busted you?”
He composed himself and then started chuckling. She frowned, confused by his reaction. He pulled out a chair and took a seat, facing her and meeting her eyes. “Babe, Kendalle Scott is not my girlfriend. Yes, she is a girl and yes, she is my friend, but I have never had sex with her and I never will. I can guarantee that. And I know she would definitely guarantee that to you too.”
Kit shook her head, unable to understand what was going on. “Then who the fuck is she? If she’s not your girlfriend why has she been out here on the road and why is she living in your house and driving your car? Sean told me he saw her backstage with you and you kissed her!”
Sully couldn’t help himself, he burst out laughing. He shook his head, seeing Kit’s confusion. He reached out to stroke her cheek and she recoiled.
He held up his hands. “Ok, ok. I can see why Sean may have thought something’s up and why that private detective made that assumption too. I get it. If you don’t believe me, you can head on over to Bryan’s room or call him and ask him about Kendalle. You can ask Giselle or my mom too.”
He met her eyes. “Kitty, Kendalle Scott is one of my oldest and dearest friends. She moved to Evergreen Park from Minneapolis when we were ten. She knows me and Bryan. She lived down the street from me…”
Kit wasn’t convinced. She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head, her green eyes narrowing as she interjected. “I heard she’s stunning.”
Sully snickered and nodded. “Oh yes, she is. She’s a blond haired, blue eyed goddess with a rocking ballerina body. She was my first crush. She’s a
lso very gay.”
Kit’s eyes widened. “What?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s always been that way. Long story short, she got a scholarship to ABT when we were sixteen and moved to New York. She became part of the company a year later and worked her way up to principal dancer. We’ve kept in touch all these years. We reconnected about six months ago in Minneapolis.”
He sighed and met her eyes. “She’s going through hell right now. Her partner of eight years, the love of her life, Magda, died suddenly last year and it left Kendalle heartbroken. Then shortly after that Kendalle found out she has stage four lymphoma. Her chemo treatments in New York weren’t going as well as she had hoped and she heard that there was a great oncologist in L.A. So, she decided to head there and get a change of scenery. Before she started her second round of chemo, she wanted to get out of the city, so Bryan and me encouraged her to stay on the tour with us that way we could help keep her spirits up.”
He met Kit’s eyes. “Has she stayed in my suite with me? Yes. She slept on the fold out sofa. I offered to take the sofa so she could have my bed, but she told me to get good rest so I’d be at peak performance. She gets it, being that she used to perform and tour regularly.”
He nodded. “Last time I saw her was in Malibu right before I went back out on the road. You were sleeping and I headed down there to check on her. She’d had a really tough reaction to her chemo a few days before and the friend who normally is there checking in on her had to go out of town unexpectedly. I’m letting her live in the Malibu house and drive my car there so she can focus on her healing and be in close proximity to her oncologist. She has a good shot at beating this and I want to help her do that.”
He shook his head. “And babe, yes, I’m affectionate with Kendalle—kinda like you are with Henri. I’ve been known to cuddle her, give her kisses, make her feel loved, but there ain’t no sex happening any time soon, honey. Never has been, never will be. She’ll vouch for that too.”
Kit was still suspicious. She silently reached for the phone and dialed Bryan’s room. When he answered, she spoke hastily. “Can you come up to Sully’s suite please now?” She met Sully’s eyes. “This better not be some fabricated story.”
He sighed and nodded. “I can understand why you’re thinking that. The trust is broken right now and I know that’s my fault because of the crap with that groupie.”
His steel-blue eyes pleaded with her. “We’ve worked it out before. We’ll work it out again. It’s just a little blip on our radar. We are not quitters, Kit. That’s not us. When we married we were crystal clear. Yes, things got muddled and fucking messy. We have some shit we need to clear up. I’ve been on the road for almost two years and we’ve been married three and a half of those years. We’ve let our careers get in the way and I think you won’t disagree with me on that one. We’re both guilty of that.”
He sighed. “So here’s what I’ll do. If you want me to kick Kendalle out of my house in Malibu I’ll do it. Let’s get something clear here, I didn’t buy it for her. It’s an investment property that I bought literally a month before I ran into her backstage. She’s legitimately renting it from me as a tenant and she’s done a kick ass job of furnishing it and decorating it. She takes good care of the place. If you want her to stay off the road, that can be arranged, although I don’t think she’ll be around much because she’s recovering from her latest round of chemo treatments.”
He sat back and surveyed her. “I’ll finish out this tour, I’ll get clean and we’ll start a new chapter. We’ll try to get pregnant again whenever you’re ready. We’ll have our family, Kit. That’s how it’s gonna go. That’s my vision and I’m sticking with it because I believe in us.” He then grinned. “And if you have changed, that’s great, babe. I look forward to getting to know the new you and learning what you’re all about. I would love to start all over—new slate.”
He leaned forward as his eyes narrowed. “But I will tell you this, I am not in agreement with this fucking divorce crap. I’m contesting every part of this separation. I won’t make it easy on you and your expensive divorce attorney. I’m going to be the ultimate pain in the ass. I’m gonna find a way to work this out for us, Kit. And I’m gonna fucking win this time.” He took the pages and started ripping them to shreds.
CHAPTER 13
Kit’s eyes widened as she watched him destroying the documents. She waited for him to finish. She raised her eyebrows. “Are you done?”
He glanced at the pile of shredded paper and sat back down, satisfied. “Yep.”
She shook her head. “Ok. Well, just because you ripped them up doesn’t mean they went away. They have been filed in the courts in L.A. You will receive a summons again and again and again asking for your compliance. You can keep contesting but it’s going to cost you a fortune. Also, I leased out the estate. Once the tour concludes, you’ll have one week to move your things out before the new tenant moves in.”
He looked horrified. “You leased out our house?”
She glared at him. “I leased out my house. Y’know the house I inherited and let you live in rent free since 1987? That house.”
A knock on the door cut the tension and Sully got up. He answered the door and invited Bryan in. Bryan exchanged looks between both of them and instantly felt uncomfortable. It was the last place he wanted to be.
Bryan looked at Kit. “You wanted to see me?”
Sully nodded and sat back down. “Bryan, answer this for us. Is Kendalle Scott my girlfriend? Meaning, am I romantically or sexually involved with her in any way?”
Bryan frowned and Kit noticed immediately, suddenly feeling that the possibility Sully was telling the truth was good. Bryan shook his head. “Uh, no.”
He looked at Kit, perplexed. “You’ve never met Keni? That’s odd. Hmm… I thought you had. I thought she was at your wedding. Hmm… maybe not. Maybe she was on tour or in Germany with Magda at the time.” He shrugged his shoulders and continued. “We all go way back. Kitty, she’s a lipstick lesbian. You know that, right?”
Kit’s eyes widened as she exchanged a look between both of them. She met Sully’s eyes. “Kendalle Scott is Keni? Keni the old friend of yours that you’ve always talked about since we met?”
Sully nodded slowly and Bryan chuckled as he responded. “Yeah. We hardly ever call her Kendalle—too formal. It’s either Keni or Ken.”
Kit let out a defeated sigh. “I always assumed that Keni was a guy.”
Bryan shook his head. “I get it. Understandable because Sull and I have talked about how we would go out with Keni in New York and admire all the pretty women in the room—this was before you and Sull got together. Keni and I lived together for a time when I was at Julliard. And then the three of us lived together for a bit too—before Sull went out to L.A. She was making good money from dancing and all at the time and we were struggling. She kinda took care of us. Now, we kinda feel like it’s high time we reciprocate.”
Bryan continued. “Kitty, she’s been out on the road with us. Did Sull tell you? She either stays with me or him. If I’m staying in Giselle’s room I’ve been giving Keni my room to have to herself. It was great to have her here when we did. I think it was good for her too. She needs the support. She’s not well right now, Kit.”
He then glanced over at Sully. “How’s she doing? Have you talked to her? Shit, I forgot to call her back yesterday.”
Sully gave him an annoyed look. “Not right now, Bry. We can talk later. Actually, maybe now would be a good time for you to go call Keni back.”
Kit’s mind reeled and she wondered how she got it so wrong. Sully was right, the trust between them had been broken and she wasn’t sure what to do next. Confusion clouded her mind.
Bryan looked at her. “Need anything else?”
She met his eyes. “No. Thanks, Bry.”
As he left, Sully shook his head and folded his arms in front of his chest. He was out of angles. He wasn’t sure what to do now. He didn’t want her to leave.
He didn’t want a separation or a divorce. He wanted to make things right. He had to figure out a way.
His eyes met hers. “So what happens now? Are you gonna leave here and keep giving me these fucking papers?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. We’re at the end of the road here, Sully. You won’t be speaking much to me. You can speak with my attorney. I suggest you get your own. It’s done. It’s filed. It’s public record now. We are legally separated. Assets divided. Separate addresses.”
“That’s bullshit!” He pointed to his wedding ring and chuckled. “I know you completely underestimate my intelligence. Here’s the thing, Kit. As long as this is on my finger we’re still married. I scanned these documents. I get it, separation, uh-huh. We’re still legally married, I noticed that, and I am not giving you a divorce. We’re gonna work this out. I’ll make it right. You’ll see.”
She shook her head and then stared at him. “Listen, it’s like I said earlier. We had a good run. We built a pretty amazing empire from the ground up and I won’t cut you out of that when we divide our assets. You worked hard too. We built it together.”
She approached him and stood before him. She gazed into his wild steel-blue eyes and gently put her hand on his cheek. “But, it wasn’t always wine and roses, Sully. I think you know that. We’ve struggled in this marriage. It’s been a power struggle. Working together and being in an intimate relationship was not a good mix.”
He gently lifted her hand from his face and held it, squeezing it as he shook his head, not willing to accept the reality of what was transpiring.
He stared deeply into her eyes. “It’s not over, Kit. I’m going to fight you on this one. You’ll change your mind. You’ll see. I’ll make it up to you and we can get this retracted or whatever needs to happen to erase it from the public record. We have millions. We can pay the best attorneys to reverse this.”
She sighed and shook her head. “No we can’t, Sully, because I don’t want it reversed. You’re not hearing me.” She let go of his hand and reached over to seize her tote bag, throwing it over her shoulder.
