“Felony battery?” I said softly.
“They’re required to arrest as a felony,” Margie said. “The DA can bump it down to misdemeanor, but if the Ice Queen remains trenchant, a reduction’s unlikely.”
I couldn’t look at Jonathan. It sounded so dire, and yet, what he’d done to her wasn’t a fraction of what he’d done with me. “I don’t understand how this will lead to getting her husband back.”
“Ex-husband,” Jonathan grumbled.
“Agreed,” Margie said, “especially not with the mandatory order of protection.”
“This is very simple.” Jonathan twisted his whole body to face me. “My ex-wife doesn’t want me back. At the time, I didn’t know what she wanted, and I was trying to get it out of her. You don’t have to like the way I did it, and if you want me to apologize again, I will.”
“You can stick your apology.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. You and I were broken up, but I knew you were coming back.” His face flashed with that cocky confidence then changed to something more sincere. “But what I wanted to tell you was that at the time, I didn’t know what she wanted. Margie and I figured it out last night.”
“She wants you, Jonathan,” I said.
“No. She wants money. She’s had trouble maintaining her lifestyle and her art at the same time. I set up a trust for her to pull from whenever she wants. It’s a few million a year and I don’t notice it, but that’s what she uses to finance her work. We were set to renew the terms after ten years, and I cut her off.”
Margie broke in. “It’s a revocable trust. He can do what he wants unless he’s declared incompetent. Then it automatically flips to an irrevocable trust. The terms will be reinstated. It’s a stopgap against hospitalizations, drug addictions, that sort of thing.”
Jonathan broke in. “She’s using my kink to call my sanity into question. She pushed me into spanking her and tape recorded it to show how out of control I am.”
They paused their tag-team routine, and I glanced from one to the other. Margie leaned forward with her elbows on the desk; Jonathan with his ankle crossed over his knee, leaning over the arm of the chair toward me.
“The cameras?” I said. “She was trying to get something to show you were crazy? How would it be admissible?”
“It’s all back room deals,” Margie said. “We think she might have counted on a little shame from you to corroborate, as well as my brother’s desire to protect you. Kinky shit on tape could have served a hundred purposes.”
“Fuck her.”
“That’s the spirit.”
He took my hand. “She came to me only because the cameras were a bust.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’ve met her. I’ll tell you one thing. She’d drop everything to have you back.”
“I’m spoken for.”
“Regardless. She always manages to get you to do things, doesn’t she?”
Silence built between us as we held hands and searched each other’s faces. I examined his for understanding that what he did was wrong, and I think he searched mine for forgiveness.
Margie cleared her throat.
He and I didn’t move.
“Monica,” she said. “I want to tell you why you’re here.”
“To verify that he’s telling the truth?” I said without moving my eyes from him.
“No. I need to tell you what to expect.”
I moved my gaze from him to Margie and leaned back in my chair. He didn’t let my hand go. She took that as her cue to continue.
“She’s probably going to contact you and ask you to verify that he hits you. Just know anything you say will be twisted. She has to prove that what he’s doing is impairing his ability to function. Barring that, since she’s after his money, she’ll threaten to go public and blackmail him.”
Jonathan squeezed my hand, and I turned to him. “If I spend even thirty days in jail, we go back to the old terms of the trust and she can drain it.”
“Arraignment’s next week,” Margie said.
I felt as if I was being played, as if those two had worked out a routine and delivered it. I couldn’t tell if I was being lied to or just manipulated, but I didn’t believe Jonathan gave a rat’s ass about a few million a year. Something else was at stake that they weren’t talking about, and I needed to shake things up.
“I think I should go see her,” I said.
The air went out of the room.
“No,” Jonathan said.
“I’m sorry?” Margie seemed keen for an explanation.
“Absolutely not.” Jonathan’s tone was definite and dominant.
“I wasn’t asking permission,” I replied without my submissive voice.
“Let’s hear it,” Margie said. “She might have something.”
“The only way you’re going to get an angle on what she intends is if I see her. If she makes an offer, I can take her up on it and go see her to get dirt on you. I’ll tell her I’m pissed at you because you spanked her. We’ll have tea and talk about what an ass**le you are. I come back here and report everything.”
“No.”
“Are you going to the Collector’s Board thing?” Margie asked Jonathan before turning to me. “She’ll be there. It can be a casual conversation.”
Jonathan’s tone was clipped, as if he didn’t even want to talk about it. “It’s all Jessica’s people, and they’re going to be snickering about this arrest. I won’t subject Monica to them, and I’m not going without her. So. Done.”
“What is it?” I asked Margie. “It sounds like a great idea.”
“Fifty of the city’s biggest art collectors drinking and spending money,” Margie said. “I went with him last year. It was like high school without the acne.”
“And Jessica will be there?” I asked.
“Four artists for every collector.” Margie smirked. “You never met a bigger bunch of whores in your life.”
Jonathan was right, I did like her. “I want to go.”
Jonathan stood up. “Margie, as usual, a f**king pleasure.” He looked at me and held out his hand. “Let’s go.”
Margie pushed her chair back and stood. We were done. I got up without taking his hand.
Chapter 5.
MONICA
I didn’t speak until the elevator doors closed. “You know I’m right.”