Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
She nodded and set her teacup on an empty white-clothed table.
There were actually a lot of things I admired about Madison. She was exceedingly good at her job, she didn’t make small talk or gossip, and she’d worked with Hank King long enough not to be shocked by anything.
That was all going to come in handy today.
Once we were in the study I closed the door behind us. I hated this room, but I knew Ronnie wouldn’t come back here unless she had to. I opened up an app on my phone and began to draft a letter.
“Clayton,” Madison said. “There is, of course, plenty of paperwork, but I’m not sure Hank King’s funeral is the—”
“Does Dylan know about the will?” I asked while still writing the letter.
“I’m working on it. He’s not an easy man to track down. His email address is out of service. He shut it down after finding out about Hank’s death. But I am trying to notify him through his former unit. I think they pass his mail to wherever he is.”
“Does Veronica know his email address has been shut down?”
“I’m not sure. My notifications regarding the will bounced.”
Which meant that whatever effort Veronica was making to email him was fruitless.
I finished the letter, read it over and forwarded it to Madison. Her own phone, in the purse hanging off her shoulder, binged.
“I need you to send him the letter I just sent you.”
She stiffened. “You have an assistant for that, don’t you?”
“This is…” What was this, exactly? A bribe, certainly. Insurance. We’d go with insurance. “A different kind of letter. I am offering Dylan King 2.5 million dollars to stay away from The King’s Land.”
She didn’t even blink. Her mouth didn’t fall open in shock. Nothing.
“The objective being that he does not come back and stake his claim on the inheritance?” she asked.
“Precisely.”
“What you’re asking is…” She couldn’t quite finish the sentence, like she didn’t have the words.
“Illegal?”
“No. But it certainly sits in a rather gray area.”
“Do whatever you need to do,” I said. “And the letter is from me, not the law offices. Not from King Industries. Me. Send me a final copy and I’ll sign it. You can notarize it. Whatever needs to happen.”
She looked at me long and hard, and if I’d been a different kind of man—or perhaps a man with something he didn’t feel so driven to protect—I might have felt guilty.
“The inheritance is worth a lot more than two and a half million. He might show an interest when he learns that,” she said.
“The inheritance is also a lot of work, running an empire he’s never shown any interest in. He can have two and a half million for doing nothing. And I don’t plan on offering him an opportunity to come back.”
“You understand that I will have to tell him the terms of the will.”
“I do.” But I also had other plans. She was reading the letter.
“Part of this isn’t even true,” she said, her cool veneer cracking just a little as she laughed.
“It will be.”
“Why offer the money?” she asked.
“Insurance,” I said. There was a quiet tap on the door and I crossed the office to open it.
“I don’t know Veronica King very well,” Madison said, “but I believe that if she found out about this, she’d be…upset.”
“She’d be furious. But she won’t find out.”
Madison nodded and I felt bad for pushing her into a space where she wasn’t comfortable, but her discomfort wasn’t my first concern.
I opened the door of the study and Madison walked out with a softly murmured goodbye. And then the server was there with a plate full of food.
“Thank you,” I said and took the plate. It was piled high with cheese puffs, the tenderloin, and shrimp. It was perfect.
VERONICA
Behind the house, in the opposite direction of the stables, there was a pond where we all used to catch frogs and get bitten by mosquitos. The summer Dylan stayed with us, Bea and I used to climb though the long grasses at the edge of the water pretending we were orphans running away from Dylan who was pretending to be a bad guy who meant to do us harm.
Sabrina used to follow us, pretending to be our pet unicorn.
At the edge of the pond I pulled up the email app on my phone and took a deep breath.
Beside me, Thelma rested her head against my leg, pushing me just a little off balance. She was trying to be a comfort, so I just pushed back until we were sort of propped up on each other.
Dylan, I typed. We’re in a state of emergency around here and I need your help. We all do. Your sisters.
Pouring it on a little thick, I thought, but these were desperate times.
Dad changed his will two years ago and Dylan, you lucky guy, you inherit everything. If you’re not here in six months to claim your inheritance, it goes to Clayton. And we get nothing. Bea is in some serious financial trouble and Sabrina isn’t as secure as she needs to be. I don’t have enough resources to keep both of them afloat.