Irresistible Boss Succumbing to Your Touch (Maria Anita) novel Chapter 463

Flavian’s POV

Tonight was girls' club meeting night. I dropped Manu off at Catherine's and headed to Patrick's house to meet the guys for our sacred weekly poker game.

"Finally, the detective is here!" Patrick welcomed me with his usual cheerfulness.

"Hey, man." I greeted my friends and collapsed into a chair. Henry placed a beer in front of me, which I immediately drank.

"What's going on, detective? Why so stressed?" Rick asked, and I gave him a sideways glance.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked.

"Oh buddy, it is! And we know that look very well because Henry and I have had the same look, and it was because of our women," Alexander went straight to the point. I really needed to get this off my chest.

"It's not exactly because of Manu, but it might make her leave me," I explained.

"Uh-oh! That can't be good." Patrick looked at me intently. "Did you tell her about Sabrina?" In our group, Patrick was the only one who knew about Sabrina; he knew me back then and was one of the wedding guests.

"No. And it's much worse than that," I replied and took another sip of my beer.

"This isn't going to end well, Flavian!" Patrick wasn't telling me anything new.

"Who's Sabrina?" Fred asked, narrowing his eyes. "There was a Sabrina in town, but from what I remember my mom saying, she was some rich girl who married some big shot, got a fortune from him, and moved to London." Fred spoke as if it were just an unimportant memory, but he was an expert at random comments.

"Nice to meet you, I'm the big shot!" I said, and the guys' eyes went wide.

"Holy-mother-of-god!" Rick couldn't contain his surprise.

"Exactly," I agreed with him.

"And you didn't tell Little Key that you're divorced?" Henry looked like he wanted to rip my head off. "Flavian, what a mess! She's going to kill you."

"The problem, my friend, is that I found out I'm not divorced," I finally revealed, so they could start their string of reproaches.

"Ha!" Patrick laughed. "That's a joke. You're divorced, the day you got divorced you were showing off that divorce decree at your house like a badge of honor. I was there with you and Raul."

"I thought I was divorced. Sabrina showed up and rubbed the annulment documents of the divorce decree in my face," I explained.

"Holy-mother-of-god!" they all repeated in unison.

"Wait, explain first, you were married?" Fred was detail-oriented, I knew he would want the whole story, so I started telling it.

"Sabrina is the daughter of my father's friend. We grew up together, studied together, were inseparable. In our youth, we started dating, and I married her when I was twenty-five. It did not last long. I thought I had been divorced for seven years until she rose from the dead to make my life hell. Somehow, she managed to nullify the divorce decree without my knowledge. So, I am still married and had no idea," I explained part of the story.

"How's the investigation into the divorce fraud going?" Rick asked.

"It's stuck. The lawyer who orchestrated everything has vanished, and the judge who signed the annulment has retired. The forensics have already declared that my signatures on the documents are forged, and the lawyer requested to reinstate the divorce decree, but the judge is on vacation," I explained.

"Tell Manu, Flavian, she might surprise you," Rick said, and I took a deep breath considering his words.

"But in the middle of all this, there's still her crazy mother," I argued.

"Ah, that one is the devil incarnate," Rick lamented. "Little Manu doesn't deserve this, she's such a good person, so positive."

"Manu is indeed amazing," I smiled thinking about my little one. "But I can't tell her before I'm officially divorced."

"Man, this is going to go badly," Fred spoke again. "Melissa treats Manu like a little sister..."

"Afraid of Melissa, Fred?" Henry laughed. "Because I am too."

"Guys, don't scare me," I lamented.

In the end, the guys agreed to keep my secret and cover for me. I knew they were risking a lot to help me, but I needed to count on them.