Loved by a Dragon (Mate Me Book 1)

17

Friday morning, Roxie was sitting in the law office of Howard and Sons.

"Roxie, it looks like you'll have to prove Mitch is purposely not selling your art. The agreement states he must sell, but there is no time limit," Jordan Howard explained, putting down her divorce agreement. He had dark blond hair and bright green eyes. She was curious what type of shifter he was, she'd ask Xander later.

"Can I ask for them back and give his gallery the five percent owed?"

"Possibly, I take it Xander has offered to host you?" Jordan asked, steepling his fingers.

"Yes, I have. I won't take a commission from any of the art from before her divorce," Xander piped up, Roxie grinned. He was taking an enormous hit financially to let her take over his gallery.

"It might work, call, and offer that scenario. If it doesn't work, I have a judge friend who will help. She hates ex-husbands who take advantage of their ex-wives. She'll give us a court order to release the paintings. It will also cause a stir in the art world if he refuses and police get involved." Jordan looked practically giddy at the idea.

"Let me call him now. I don't want to wait any longer for what is rightfully mine." She smiled in excitement. She pulled out her phone and dialed his office.

"The Gold Painting."

"Hi Mitch, it's Roxie." She felt nervous talking to him after such a disastrous breakup.

"What do you want?' he snarled. Both men raised their eyebrows but kept silent.

"I want my art. Another gallery has asked me to show my work. You've had them for over a year and haven't sold one."

"You ungrateful bitch! I've been trying to sell your awful paintings. They are taking up space on my walls."

"Then it will be no hardship to give them back and open the space for other artists." She tried to remain calm, Xander clenched his chair hard enough the wood groaned.

"No, our divorce agreement states I get five percent of each one sold." Xander held out his hand for the phone. She passed it over.

"Hello Mr. Wright, this is Xander Austin, director for Dragon Lore Gallery. Your ex-wife and I came to an agreement. I try to sell her art and the ones you hold at your gallery. If they sell, you get your five percent commission."

"How did you even find her? She is an unknown artist." Mitch's voice changed to business polite.

"My temp assistant went to art school with Ms. Jones. My other assistant has been traveling the U.S. in search of unknown talent. He called to tell me about a whole wing of paintings by an artist with the initials RJ. He made some interesting comments about your unwillingness to sell any to him, or give him the information to contact RJ." Xander kept his voice quiet, but his eyes blazed.

"She cannot have any of her paintings back! I'll destroy all of them before I let her make a dime!" Mitch hung up and Roxie gasped, she'd never heard such venom in his voice before.

"Court order it is. Did you record everything?" Xander asked, handing the phone back to Roxie.

"Got it, I'll talk to Sally. I'll ask for a police presence because of his threat." Jordan picked up his notes, phone, and keys.

"I'll call the minute I get a court order. Where is the gallery located?"

"New York City, Mitch lives in New Jersey. I moved home after we split," Roxie explained.

"My gallery is in D.C., makes sense to live away from the hustle and bustle of the city," Xander added, Roxie nodded and they left the office. She felt free. Finally, her art would be appreciated by the world.

"Mind telling me how you ended up married to Mitch?" Xander probed softly. She shook her head. The story no longer made her hurt.

"We met through our moms, actually. They were best friends growing up in New Jersey. My mother came from money until a stock market venture went bad for my grandfather. He was a well-known politician, and the scandal broke when he was arrested for insider trading. My mom was in college to become a lawyer, with the money gone she couldn't complete school without going into major debt. Long story short, she moved here and met my dad and Anderson. She married him and had Elizabeth and then me. Well, my mother always wanted to go back to her old life. She resented being stuck here where my father's firm lived.

She introduced Elizabeth to Mitch first; they got along like oil and water. Then she introduced me; I was nineteen and a naïve virgin. I let Mitch manipulate me into transferring schools to New Jersey. We married when I was twenty-three and divorced at twenty-six. He said my art was interfering with my ability to be his housewife, party planner, and sexual partner. He'd found all of those things in his twenty-year-old secretary. I moved back here with Evvy and he gets to marry Barbie." They had driven home and were inside her apartment by the time she was done telling her tale.

"Wow, that is awful. Didn't Mitch know what you were like before you were married?" Xander led the way back to her room, he reached to open the door, and she stopped him.

"Sort of, I don't think he understood what happens when I get into the zone for painting. Everything else disappears and I don't respond to anything. I am warning you, my room has become mostly an art studio and is a mess. I know last time you were here you needed it cleaned up, but that's not who I am and if we mate, it will be messy." She waited for him to get upset, but all he did was look at her confused.

"Why would I get upset? I know how artists are, they make a mess." Xander opened her door and smiled.

"Come, show me what you've gotten done this week. I'm eager to see your work." Roxie had refused to let him see anything until she felt she had a series on their time in Rome She painted throughout the day and went on dates and spent the night in Xander's luxurious bedroom. He owned a modest four-bedroom home with three full bathrooms. The outside made it look like a quaint cottage, but as soon as she stepped inside it exuded money. All the furniture was top quality, the art rare. The first time she'd been afraid to touch anything.

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