Rick left the loft fairly early the next morning. He had an appointment with his lawyer. Part of him knew that he should just leave it to his and Meredith's lawyer's to work out, but he honestly wanted to confront his ex-wife.
Sitting in Matt's office, he smiled when his secretary asked, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
He smiled, "I am. Honestly, I'm tired of giving her everything she wants. I'm going to start dictating the terms from this point forward. She's going to realize that her actions have consequences."
Helen had worked for Rick's lawyer for as long as he could remember. She had been there when Rick had filed for divorce from Meredith. She had heard the fights the couple had behind the closed door. When it was over, he'd been stronger for it.
She handed him his usual cup of coffee and he had smiled at her, "You know, you should just leave her alone. She's not worth it Rick."
Shaking his head, he told her, "She endangered the lives of my wife and children Helen. Normally I wouldn't give her the time of day, I can't let this go. She has to learn that there is a price to pay."
"If you think this is the best way.."
Nodding, "There are only two things that Meredith cares about. Herself and money. I can't do anything about her, but I'm going to damn well make sure that she pays for this."
Helen suppressed a chuckle and watched as he walked back to the conference room. He was definitely different than the man he had been all those years ago. Somewhere along the line he had grown a set. She was glad. She had never liked Meredith. Had found the woman shallow and superficial. A man like Rick deserved someone that loved him for him and not for the money he had in the bank.
Taking a deep breath, Rick walked into the conference room and wasn't surprised to find that Meredith and her lawyer were there. He had thought that he was over the majority of his anger at his ex-wife. However, seeing her sit there in the room brought back the rage. She didn't look worried or upset. No, she looked bored.
He sat down across from her and his rage tripled when she asked, "Was this meeting really necessary Richard? I mean,what's done is done. She's fine and the babies are fine. Can't we just sweep this little matter under the rug?"
Rick's lawyer had wanted to do all the talking, but he couldn't control his voice when he told her, "You honestly don't get it. Do you Meredith? You think that you can just pretend like you have no responsibility in what happened to us. You could have killed us both. Killed our unborn any of that matter to you? Of course it doesn't. Nothing matters to you except you."
"Don't be so dramatic Richard. Everything turned out fine in the end. So, lets just forget this whole thing."
"It's so easy for you to sweep this under the rug. Honestly, you will never change. Here's what's going to happen. We are going to file a lawsuit against you for ten million dollars."
"What?! You can't do that."
Castle turned to his lawyer and said, "Can we Matt?"
Nodding, his lawyer said, "According to the divorce agreement, he can. When you divorced, there was a clause to protect his Richard Castle identity. Which, upon you releasing that news to the media, you violated."
"I didn't. I forgot."
"Well, you know what Meredith? Maybe you should have thought about that before you ran to the press and ran your mouth. Oh and don't even think about going to the press now. Because if you do I can promise you one thing."
"What's that?"
"I will ruin you."
"You wouldn't?"
"Oh I would. You forgot one thing Meredith. You forgot how fiercely I love and protect my family. So, if you will excuse me, I have another meeting to go to." He turned to his lawyer and said, "Matt, I'm sure you can handle filing the paperwork."
"I can Rick. I'll let you know if we need anything further from you."
Turning to Meredith's lawyer he said, "I will also be filing for a restraining order. She is not allowed within 300 yards of me or my family."
"Including Alexis?"
"Yes. Including Alexis."
Rick hurried out of the office and checked his phone. He smiled when he saw a text from Kate. It was a text reminding him of the interview that they had with the New York Times reporter. He had just enough time to get to the loft. He flagged a cab and hurried home.
When he arrived home, he heard Kate's laughter ringing out through the loft. He walked inside, kissed her on the cheek and asked, "What's so funny?"
Kate smiled and told her husband, "Apparently Meredith sent Alexis a text message. Asking her to get you to drop the lawsuit."
Rick sighed, "That woman will never learn. What did Alexis do?"
"Apparently she sent her a message back letting her know that she won't do that. Because you promised her a new car."
Rick rolled his eyes, "I did no such thing. I…"
"Relax dad. I just did it to make her realize that I'm on your side. Really dad, I can't believe that she wants me to talk to you. She must think I'm stupid."
"It's okay Pumpkin. Your mom just hates having to pay for her mistakes. This is one time she's going to realize that every one of her little attention seeking acts has consequences. Ten million of them in fact."
Kate looked at her husband and asked, "Is this all about the money or something else?"
"It has nothing to do with the money. In fact, I'm going to donate the money to various charaties. No, this is about teaching her a lesson. A lesson about how she needs to think about her actions before someone gets hurt again."
Nodding, Kate smiled and leaned over and kissed him softly, "I love you. You have such a big heart Rick."
"I try. Are you ready for this interview today? I know that you aren't famous and I hate that we are having to do this…"
"I'll be fine. I just want to get this over with. Then we can concentrate on the babies and put this behind us."
"I love you."
They pulled back and laughed when they heard Alexis making a gagging noise behind them. She smiled and said, "I'm going to go upstairs. I have some homework to finish. Call me if you need me."
There was a knock on the door and Rick went to answer it. It was the reporter from the New York Times. The woman smiled and said, "I'm Andrea Wright."
Nodding, Rick shook her hand and they walked into the living room where Kate was sitting. Shaking Kate's hand the reporter sits down and she told them, "I don't want to do a hit piece. I would like to get your back story. How you were able to keep your Richard Castle persona a secret for all these years."
Before they could start the interview, there was a knock at the door. Kate got up and said, "I'll get it."
Opening the door, Kate was surprised to see both Gina and Paula standing there. She crossed her arms and asked, "Yes?"
Paula smiled and told her, "We are here to sit in on Rick's interview. To make sure he doesn't say anything he shouldn't."
"What makes you think he will say something stupid?"
Gina laughed, "It's Rick. Eventually he will say something crazy. So, we should probably sit in. Just to listen. We won't say anything unless he goes off topic."
Thinking that it might be a good idea, she smiled and let them into the loft. They walked in together and Gina and Paula sat down at the breakfast bar together.
Rick's eyebrow raised and Kate shook her head. Letting him know that it was okay. That the women were only there to watch. Kate whispered, "Can we get this show on the road?"
Rick could tell that she was exhausted, "So, the reason I kept this a secret was because I wanted to protect my daughter. I thought that it was for the best. Keeping it hidden and making sure that only a select few people knew. I trusted very few people with this secret. People that I thought I could trust. It turns out that one of them betrayed me."
The next few hours was spent giving a very in depth interview to the reported. As soon as she was done, she stood up and shook both of their hands. Telling them that the interview would run within the next few days.
Kate watched as she walked out the door and then she stood and told her husband, "I'm exhausted. I'm going to lay down."
She kissed him on the cheek and headed towards their bedroom. Leaving Rick alone with Paula and Gina. The women walked over to him and Paula said, "Good interview Rick. Have you decided what you're going to do about your teaching career? I can't imagine that they are going to let you continue teaching."
Rick honestly had no idea. He had a meeting with the dean of the school the following morning. He hoped that they would let him continue teaching, but he had a plan and hoped that Kate would agree to it. Either way, he knew that they would be okay in the end. He loved teaching, but he had always known that he wouldn't do it forever. Maybe, just maybe this was his way to something bigger and better. A character based on his wife. However, it wasn't something he was sure that she would ever agree to.
He would go to the meeting with the dean and depending on what happened there, he would talk with his wife and see what the future held for them….