Balotelli-Bale Series Book #4: THE OTHER MAN PART 1

Chapter 38: A Bad Day

"...the first step to getting somewhere is to decide you won't stay where you are..."

Nick's POV
The day has come. She's ready to talk and her face speaks even before she opens her mouth. Her intimidating gaze is starting to get to me. She is the kind of person who walks into a room and unsettles everyone. I want to believe I have learned that from her but my father is also the same. It is safe to presume it's a Bale thing.

My father is quiet in the other chair. He only mattered a greeting when I walked in.

For a week now I have been suspended from Bale Industries. I haven't been working and it it's a strange thing for me not to work. I was raised to embrace a strong work ethic. Without work, I am a mess.

She is comfortable in the high backed leather seat I usually sit on. "Can we just talk? The silence is killing me. Let's just get this out of the way."

"You have broken two rules." We are getting right into it. "One, marriage without a prenup. Two, bad press. Let's start with the first one."

It is completely like my grandmother to explain a clear rule. She insists on hammering the consequences of breaking her rules so that all is left after she pulls the rug from underneath my feet is regret. I'll definitely have something to think about.

"What did we agree on when the issue of marriage came up?"

I was in my first relationship when the issue of marriage came up. I was around 17 years old then. She was clear that a marriage without a prenup is not allowed. She made me sign an agreement. The thing about Helena is that she makes everyone sign something so that she can trap you later.

"You said no marriage without a prenup."

"So what happened?" She frowned at me. "I can forgive you for eloping without telling anyone but a marriage without a prenup is stupid! You don't have two cents in the bank. You're not a barista in a coffee shop. You are my grandson. The only heir to my fortune. If I was to die today, you're my sole heir. No offense Nate."

"I stopped taking offense a long time ago." He shrugged.

"And that inheritance is not to be passed on to your wife just because you were stupid enough to marry without a prenup. You know it's enough that your father merged himself with a Balotelli and stained our family bloodline with the Mafia. I have made peace with it then you add the filth of the Deverauxs and it is just disappointing. I would have rather you pick a street rat over those social climbing witches."

"You consider me a stain because I resulted from a union between a Bale and a Balotelli."

Her pale blue eyes are unapologetic. I am indeed a stain. Perhaps a stubborn one she can't wash off and is stuck with so she lives with it.

"Yes. You're the kind of stain that becomes part of the cloth. That's not the point though. Why were you stupid enough to marry a Deveraux woman without a prenup? Where does this foolishness stem from? Your father?"

I am indeed foolish for marrying Margaux without a prenup. I trusted her blindly. When I offered it and she refused I should have known but it was done. There is no arguing with that. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't just stop there, you went on and had a baby! A baby!" She exclaimed ad she got up and started pacing about with her hands in the pocket of her pants. "Haven't you heard of protection? It's also known as a condom. Do you need a description of what it looks like and how it is used?"

"That I'm not sorry about. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"I should not have gone easy on you.  Your father was never there to kick you hard enough or smack the stupidity out of your head."