Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.
Chapter Eight: Family Dinner.
"Have you heard from the jackass?" Marcus asked handing Gianna a drink, he was eager to hear that she was done with her ex and she would not have to deal with him again. It was bad enough in his opinion that she had gone to the charity even that Nancy had thrown, he had tried to talk her out of going but Gianna had not listened to him.
Out of the two sisters that he had left, he was closer with Gianna and Marcus hated that her husband had left her for another woman; it hit a little too close to home for him. Their mother had cheated on their father and walked out on him to be with this other guy, she had started a new family and Marcus had never been able to forgive her for that. Then she had tried to waltz back in with the other man's children as if she had done nothing wrong and expecting them all to be one big happy family; he could never understand why his father had continued to love her.
"Not yet," Gianna replied with a shrug of her shoulders, she had expected nothing less from Michael after the incident at the charity ball and she did wonder if he would keep his promise. It had been a couple of days since she had attended as his 'date' and there had not been any news on their divorce or the cheque that he had promised her for going with him.
Sipping on her drink, Gianna looked around the living room and found herself smiling at the sight of her nieces; if there was one thing that she had missed while in New York it was this. Friday night dinners at her Grandmother's house had always been a staple of her family especially after her parents' divorce, her father had struggled to put food on the table when he was wasting his money on alcohol. The approach of her sister-in-law snapped Gianna from her musings and she quickly looked away when Marcus kissed Adrianna; their happiness was a little much for her in face of her own disappointment.
"How is the apartment search going?" Adrianna asked with a smile when Marcus wrapped his arms around her, the two had been married for ten years now and together for four years before that. They lived not that far from the house where Elizabeth lived with their two daughters with Adrianna expecting a third daughter in a couple of months' time.
"I actually found a place," Gianna revealed smiling, she fished out her phone to show them the listing that she had found for a nice place that was not too far from work and it was also not far from where her family lived. It was just what she was looking for and Gianna was excited, she had been looking for a place like this since she came back to Chicago and had even been able to pay out the deposit already.
"It's not far from here, it's got two bedrooms just rehabbed with new stainless-steel appliances including dishwasher, hardwood floor, granite countertops, fireplace, living room and dining room, plus a place to do my own laundry," Gianna explained with a grin on her face. It ticked all of her boxes and the sooner that she could move in the better, she would need to buy a couple of new things but she could handle that once she moved in. The date was set and Gianna was already starting to prepare for the move, she was looking forward to having her own space again; somewhere that she could call her home.
Adrianna squeezed her husband's arm while she stared at Gianna, she had been worried about her especially with Gianna throwing herself into work and working herself to the bone. Even Adrianna could see that Gianna had lost a little weight since returning to Chicago, she did not want to say anything that might further upset Gianna but maybe she would find a better balance when she had her own place.
The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted whatever Marcus was going to say and Gianna climbed down from her seat before making her way to the door. Standing on the other side of the door was Nancy and Gianna was a little surprised to see her here, she had not expected to see her again after the charity ball. In all the years that Gianna and Michael had been married, neither Nancy nor her husband had been to this house; she was rather surprised that they were even aware with her grandmother lived.
"Can I come in?" Nancy asked, she looked rather out of place especially in this neighbourhood, she looked like she had stepped off the runway. Her clothes were probably worth more than the car parked in the driveway and Gianna slowly stepped aside to allow Nancy into the house, still rather stunned that she was here and she could hear the silence that had settled inside.
Marcus appeared in the doorway and stared at Nancy, a frown set upon his face and he could not believe that she had come here after everything that her son had done to Gianna. Leading Nancy somewhere quiet so that they could talk away from prying eyes, Gianna could not help but hope that Marcus would not cause any problems; she did not want to fight with Nancy when she was not the one that had wronged her.
"I wanted to hand these over in person, rather than have the lawyer do it," Nancy stated reaching into her Parada handbag and fishing out the documents that she was sure that Gianna had been expecting sooner than this. Michael had tried to resist even with his mother asking for him to hurry along since he wanted Gianna to suffer for humiliating him like that, it was never his fault and all his issues often fell at the feet of others.
"I am sorry for the delay. You know what Michael is like, he's a stubborn fool," Nancy replied handing over the documents, she had sorted things out herself and was heading for the airport from here to join her husband on a vacation. Neither wished to be around for the fallout, their social circle already whispering about the fact that their son had not only cheated on his wife but left her for his pregnant assistant.
Gianna stared down at the documents in her hands and slowly thumbed through them to see that Michael had signed them and that she was now divorced. Tears filled her eyes and Gianna looked back at Nancy not sure what to say to her, the two had been fond of one another and the last four years of marriage had come to an end like this. A small part of her relieved that she did not have to face Michael after how he had acted at the ball, to never see him again was all that Gianna wanted especially after he had tried to leave her life in ruin.
"And this, I wanted to make sure that you got this," Nancy stated producing the cheque that had been written for Gianna, she would not see her son rip her off when she had earned every penny of it. She passed the cheque over with a smile and she watched Gianna's face, her jaw nearly dropping when she saw the amount that was written; no one could say that Nancy Nixon was not a generous woman. The amount on the cheque that she had been given by Nancy was not what had been agreed upon between her and Michael, there were far too many zeros on it for that and she looked up from the paper wondering just what was going on.
"You deserve every penny of this," Nancy told her with certainty and she gave Gianna's shoulder a squeeze before moving to let herself out sure that the young woman needed time to process this. It was more than she deserved after all that Michael had put her through and she would not have her struggle because her son was an idiot who could not see that he had just lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Gianna continued to stare down at the cheque, she had more than enough her for her new apartment, to get furniture and then do whatever the hell she wanted with the rest. Never had she thought that this was what she would get, she had dreaded getting money from Michael and she imagined that he would be petty about giving her anything.
"Is that $900,000?" Marcus asked peering over her shoulder, he had never seen a cheque worth so much and he had to admit that he was a little taken back that the Nixon's were being this generous. At most he had thought that perhaps Gianna would get $490,000 which was what had been agreed upon for her to attend that stupid charity event or perhaps even the original $245,000 that had been promised to her. Gianna could only nod her head, words failing her and she wished that she could have thanked Nancy as this was certainly her doing but she had been too surprised to say anything.
"I'll pop some champagne since we can celebrate, you're officially free from the asshole… wait until I get Adam on the phone and tell him," Marcus announced pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He wanted better for his sister and he would not allow her to get hurt, he had failed one sister and while he was not close to Isabel there was not much, he could do for her. It was his responsibility as the man of the family to keep his sisters' safe especially since their father had checked out and seemed more interested in getting drunk than his own children.
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