Chapter 6 Back Into the Lions' Den

After a three-hour dinner, Matthias tucked Darya into bed, then headed into his study, where he went over Avery's plan again.

The first item on the agenda was a grand banquet to welcome Darya home and introduce her to the world.

"Make sure the Cavanaughs get invited," Matthias reminded his son.

"Of course." Avery exchanged a fearsome smile with his father.

Two minutes before six o'clock the next morning, Darya was jolted awake by the thundering roar of a powerful engine in the driveway.

Five minutes later, the door to her bedroom banged open.

"Dolly!" Bianca Zimmermann charged into the room, jumped into bed where Darya was just sitting up, and crushed her best friend in a fierce bear hug.

Darya struggled to suck in air as her face was buried between the mounds of Bianca's impressive breasts. "Can't... can't breathe."

Bianca pulled back, grabbed Darya's shoulders, and ran her long-lashed hazel eyes over Darya's sleep-creased face. "You look like hell."

"And I've missed you too, bestie." Darya smiled. "How did you know I was back?"

"Uncle Bill texted me." She stabbed a pink-nailed finger at Darya's chest. "Which is something you should have done the minute you kicked that Cavanaugh man to the kerb."

"I didn't exactly kick anyone. I just kind of walked out."

"Lemme see it!"

"See what?"

"The divorce papers. I have to see them to believe it's true."

"All right." Darya obliged, dug out the paper from her purse on the nightstand. "Here."

Bianca sat on the bed cross-legged, perused the document, nodded sagely. "Looks to be in order."

She tossed it aside and hugged Darya again. "So, you are finally back!"

"I am."

"The halo finally wore off, huh? You got to see his true colours."

"I did." Darya yawned and stretched.

Three years ago, Bianca was one of the most vociferous opponents to Darya's idea of marrying Micah Cavanaugh under an assumed name.

She did her best to talk Darya out of it, said it could be just a crush.

But Darya, stubborn and madly in love, refused to listen.

"Good riddance." Bianca walked over to the closet and started picking out an outfit for Darya. "I mean, I get that the man's handsome as sin and has a killer bod. Easy to see how girls would drool all over him. But like I told you, you should've just slept with him. Get it out of your system, then move on. You didn't have to marry him."

"I know." Darya padded into the bathroom, left the door open as she brushed her teeth.

Bianca came in after her, held up the white Dion Lee minidress to Darya, then shook her head. "You need new clothes. You've lost weight."

She strolled out, returned two minutes later carrying a crushed velvet mini-dress and a pair of knee-high boots. "We should celebrate. Let's go to Pangaea. Party time!"

Darya raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going clubbing at six o'clock in the morning."

"Come on! You are young, gorgeous, rich, and finally single. Time to get out there, party it up. And scope out the fish in the sea, so to speak."

Darya gargled, spat, and laughed. "My dad said the same thing to me last night. Not the party thing. The fish thing."

Bianca tapped a finger to her temple. "Great minds think alike."

"I may not be in the mood to party just yet, but I could use your help."

"Sure. What is it?"

Darya walked to the closet, picked out a twist-back ribbed-knit midi dress, and shimmied into it. "I need to get the Certificate of Final Judgement from the family court. To make the divorce official. It's probably already been mailed to the Cavanaugh house. And I've a couple of things I need to pick up."

"So you want to go back to the lion's den." Bianca frowned.

"Just to get my things. Won't take more than five minutes."

"Okay, I'll go with you. And if your ex-husband happens to be there, I'll help you kick his well-toned ass."

After a quick breakfast, Darya climbed into the passenger seat of Bianca's canary yellow Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and gave her directions to Micah's house, which was all the way across town.

Almost two full hours later, the car zipped into Hyacinth Park, an exclusive gated community.

One of the security guards took down their names and gave directions for guest parking.

Darya led the way to the three-storey house where she'd spent her last three years.

Micah wasn't there.

But Judy Cavanaugh was.

Darya's pugnacious ex-mother-in-law stood on the front steps, arms akimbo.

She rolled her eyes unceremoniously at Darya. "Where the hell have you been all night? You didn't finish doing the dishes. Or the laundry."

Her gaze flickered to Bianca, then back to Darya. "Didn't I tell you not to bring the riff-raff into the house?"

"Who are you calling riff-raff?" Bianca rolled up her metaphorical sleeves and shifted into combat mode. "Old hag."

Judy's face flushed scarlet. "What did you say?"

"So you're not just old, ugly, and mean. You're also hard of hearing." Bianca smirked. "Must be a side effect of aging."

Darya made a heroic effort to hold back her laughter.

She'd forgotten what a clever mouth her bestie had.

Bianca wasn't done.

She copied Judy's posture, gave a dismissive once-over to the manicured lawn and the ornately carved oak door, then scrunched up her petite nose. "What a dump."

Judy's chest heaved.

When confronted by someone smarter and meaner, she did what she always did-she backed off and picked on the weak.

Judy rounded on Darya. "Is this how you let your friend talk to your mother-in-law? No respect! No manners! And you wonder why Micah never looks twice at you."

She pointed a red-nailed finger at Darya. "I should never have allowed him to marry you. Luckily, he's finally come to his senses. My boy's going to divorce you, I heard."

Judy crossed both arms across her ample bosom. "Good riddance."

Darya didn't react, didn't want to waste time arguing with her.

Over the past three years, Judy had said a lot worse to her, in a tone a lot meaner.

To Judy Cavanaugh, no woman was ever good enough for her boy, not even real royalty.

"I'm just here to pick up a few of my things." Darya started to move past Judy.

"You are not allowed to come in!" Judy shot out an arm and gave her a forceful shove.