“But why? I don’t understand what Brett and Eric had to gain. Don’t they already have enough money? Why get involved in this?”
My throat felt dry, so I gestured to the water cup on the table again. Rory handed it to me and helped keep it steady.
Saint was the one who answered. “It’s early still, but thankfully Brett couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Apparently, Marco and his dad have Eric and Brett over a barrel. The Duvalls threatened Eric and Brett to make this deal happen or he’d expose them for their involvement in CSP.”
My head hurt just thinking about the complexity of the situation. I gingerly laid my head back on Saint’s shoulder. “But wouldn’t Uncle Eric have been able to expose them too? They’re the ones running a fraudulent non-profit.”
“The Duvall’s brought Eric and Brett into CSP eighteen months ago. According to the researcher at Landen, Community Surge Properties is joint owned by Marco, Katrina, and David Duvall along with Eric and Brett Kohli. I didn’t get that tidbit till earlier today.”
I locked eyes with Rory. Kohli was Aunt Prima’s maiden name.
“Shit.”
“Yup,” Rory said with an exhausted sigh. “And before you ask, Mother didn’t know anything about it. She just thought they needed her help making an important deal for the foundation.”
“Well, that’s something,” I muttered. “I guess.”
Saint pressed a kiss to my head. “Brett is in Cross County lockup for the armed B&E, and Marco is in custody here at the hospital for the same. He had to get his shoulder stitched up. Seth is handing over the CSP stuff to the IRS and FBI since it involves tax fraud. It’ll be up to the US Attorneys Office to determine whether or not to indict Eric, Kat and David. Meanwhile, your grandfather was lucid enough to contact the chairman of the board to have Eric removed and a temporary CEO put in place. They’ll order an external audit of the company to help defend Stiel Corp from any blowback.”
I wanted to pass out again and bury my head in the sand. The entire situation was so fucking ugly.
Rory sighed. “We’re not sure if this is what happened exactly, but Mother recalled a conversation Grandfather had one night when he was kind of out of it. He told her that he’d set aside your building for you in his will and put all the supporting documents, including the actual deed, into Melody’s writing slope.”
“No. Not the deed,” I said.
“Right. But that’s why she wanted to get her hands on the box. To recover the deed and whatever other evidence of his dementia before you had a chance to realize he intended to gift you the building. She thought his decision to give you the building was something he’d decided after his diagnosis. She didn’t want to get your hopes up just to have the will blocked after they realized he had compromised cognitive ability.”
“Pfft. Not sure I believe that,” I muttered. “That’s awfully kind of her.”
Saint let out an mmpfh. The supportive suspicion made me smile.
“Well, we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, let’s get you out of here and back to the ranch. Saint said there’s room for me to stay over if you don’t mind me leeching onto you two. I don’t want to go back to Dallas right now.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Saint. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want. Hell, you can move to Hobie and come work for us at Twist if you want. Your brother told me the self-defense lessons were your idea in the first place. You could learn how to teach them.”
Rory smiled for the first time that day. “Don’t tempt me, Saint Wilde. Living away from my brother this past year hasn’t exactly been a cake walk.”
“She’s a paralegal,” I added. “Has a really good job in the city.”
Saint snickered softly. “My sister MJ is an attorney starting at a practice here in Hobie. I’m sure she’ll need some help…”
My heart was so fucking full that seeing Rory’s face light up with possibility made me spring a leak from my eyeballs.
I thought maybe I’d made the best decision ever when I decided to stick with Saint Wilde as my self-defense instructor. I’d agreed to Rory’s suggestion of the self-defense class to feel empowered and strong. I’d thought the lessons themselves would bring that about, but they hadn’t. Instead, they’d brought me friends and a new place to belong.
And that was what made me feel empowered and strong.
Saint shifted off the bed and reached for the button to lift me to a sitting position. He reached his hand out to help me stand up.
“Come on, slowpoke. It’s time to get you out of here. Let me help you up.”
So I did. And I always would.
Epilogue
Saint
There was someone in the house, and it wasn’t any of the Wildes. The sound was completely different from the usual creaks and groans of Doc and Grandpa’s ancient rambling farmhouse, and I felt in my gut it was an intruder.