Page 37 of Zero Divergence
The senator nodded. “I hope you’re better at making friends than Vivian was, Sawyer.” Vincenzo winced. “Should I refer to you as Detective Key under the circumstance?”
“That won’t be necessary, Senator,” Sawyer replied. “When did you find out your attorney never filed the dissolution paperwork with the courts? And forgive me for asking, but how did two aspiring attorneys fail to notice they’d never received final paperwork?”
Vincenzo quirked a brow. “Come on, Sawyer. Surely, you remember what law school is like. You don’t eat, you don’t sleep, and you only think about the next class or exam. The grueling schedule prevents most law students from working unless it’s clerking for a judge or fetching coffee and making copies at a law firm. That wasn’t Vivian’s and my reality. We would’ve starved. She waited tables at a popular diner while I delivered pizzas in addition to clerking. We were lucky our bosses worked around our schedules as best they could, but it left no time for us as a couple. I bet we only carved out a few hours a week for one another. We made the best of our time at first, but then, outside influences interfered, and it wasn’t long before we spent all our time fighting instead of… Well, you get the picture.”
Sawyer did get the picture and nodded.
“Outside influences? Like an affair or pissed-off families?” Royce asked.
“No affairs,” Vincenzo said, shaking his head. “Regardless of how angry she made me, Vivian was the only woman I wanted. I was referring more to our circle of so-called friends. Vivian and I attracted and bonded with different groups of people. My buddies used to claim Vivian carried my balls around in her backpack, and her friends accused me of repressing her. They never understood how much we loved one another and how hard we craved our bond. It was pretty hard to reinforce the connection when we only had an hour or two together each week, and it wasn’t long before their ugly words and jeering began to wiggle into our psyches, creating doubt where there’d never been before.” Vincenzo hung his head, and his shoulders began to shake with another round of tears. “The day Vivian told me she wanted a dissolution was the worst day of my life…until now.”
“I’m sorry we’re forcing you to relive painful memories, Senator,” Sawyer said kindly.
The man raised his head and met Sawyer’s gaze with bloodshot eyes. “But you’re not finished, right?”
Sawyer shook his head. “I’m afraid not, sir.”
Vincenzo’s posture stiffened with resolve once more as he braced himself for another emotional onslaught. “I didn’t agree to the dissolution right away, but after six months of living apart, I knew Vivian wasn’t coming back to me. I gave in and signed the papers, hoping we’d find our way back to each other again someday if I made it easier for her to leave me then.” The senator sighed. “Dissolutions are easier and often don’t require the parties to appear in court, so I thought everything was above board when I received final paperwork containing the judge’s signature and the county clerk’s filing documentation. I was too upset that my dream girl got away to realize they were forged. I just never questioned it.”
“Until you recently got engaged?” Royce asked.
Vincenzo paused for a minute, then nodded. “We found out when we filed for a marriage license.”
“Did your fiancée know about your marriage to Ms. Gross prior to that?” Sawyer asked. He’d met the woman the previous year but couldn’t remember her last name.
“Lucinda knew about my past with Vivian from the very beginning.”
“How?” Sawyer asked as a follow-up.
“I told her early on in our courtship when we discussed past relationships,” Vincenzo said. “I’ve never tried to hide the fact that I’d been married. It just wasn’t something that came up in conversation. My campaigns focused on how I could serve others and achieve the dreams I had for my district. While I certainly didn’t act anti-family, marriage never entered the conversation.”
“Never in an interview?” Royce asked.
“Reporters would ask if I was in a relationship, and I would answer honestly. I have dated over the years, but I hadn’t found another woman I wanted to share my life with again until meeting Lucinda Fairchild.”
“How did Ms. Fairchild take the news that you were still married to Vivian?”
“About as well as you can imagine,” Vincenzo replied dryly. “She was disappointed at first, which grew into outrage when Vivian refused to play nice.”
“Did you meet with Ms. Gross in person or speak to her over the phone at any time to discuss the situation, or did you handle everything through your attorneys?” Royce asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
Vincenzo hesitated as Sawyer expected a smart attorney would. “I asked my attorney to do all the communicating in the beginning, thinking it would expedite the situation.”
“It didn’t?” Sawyer asked.
“No,” Vincenzo said somberly. “I thought showing up at her office or front doorstep after all these years would make matters worse. Vivian was a cunning lawyer who eschewed emotion in favor of facts, after all.” He released a deep sigh and shook his head. Sawyer couldn’t tell if he was reliving the moment they’d reunited or chastising himself for his error. “Vivian was still a human, and we can only run from past hurts for so long before it catches up to us.”
Sawyer nodded “What happened?”
“About eight weeks ago, I set aside my pride and self-preservation and went to speak to her.”
“Where?” Sawyer asked. Vincenzo opened his mouth as if to answer but quickly closed it again. “Senator, it’s better to tell us now if we’re going to find your fingerprints or DNA inside her home.”
He sighed and nodded. “I didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing us in a public place or at Vivian’s law firm, so I surprised her at home one Saturday evening.” When Kendall would’ve been working.“She opened the door, our eyes met, and I realized my mistake.”
“Going to her home?” Royce asked.
He shook his head jerkily. “No. My mistake wasn’t that I’d communicated through an attorney or showed up unannounced and uninvited at her door. My error was thinking I’d ever gotten over Vivian in the first place.”