"That doesn't sound good." I giggled.
"I better go see what they broke." He placed his mug down on the counter and went running to see what the guys had done.
I laughed to myself as I watched him dart off and opened the book I had been reading. I had just gotten into the book when the phone rang, causing me to jump. I reached for it and saw that it was Malone Law. I was still dealing with much of my grandfather's stuff, but after Kendrick had died, I had asked Hunter to look into things with Kendrick's lawyer.
"Hello," I answered.
"Jessica, it’s Hunter Malone. How are you doing?"
"Oh hello. I'm good, thanks. Yourself?"
"Good thanks. So I have some news for you. I finally got in touch with Kendrick’s lawyer. We had a long talk, and he finally got back to me with some answers. So, apparently, Kendrick had a will. The excellent news is that you're named sole beneficiary, so everything is yours. Granted, that no one contests it. However, there is one caveat. You need to go back to LA to sign everything."
I couldn't believe my ears. Everything was mine? The condo, the furniture, the money, everything!
"Any idea on the worth?" I questioned.
"Overtwenty million, taking into account the business and properties."
I just about choked. Really, it shouldn't have been an enormous surprise, but it was. Kendrick had never told me about the business. Honestly, he had never told me anything. He had popped me onto my weekly allowance and led me to believe that things were tight. "When would I need to do that?"
"Honestly, the sooner the better. The quicker it's done, the less chance that someone will come out of the woodwork trying to claim things."
"Is this something that I can do on my own, or do I need you to be there."
"Well, if it is something you are comfortable doing on your own, go. However if you feel that this lawyer isn't too honest and you want representation then I'd have no problem meeting you there."
"Do I need to decide right now?"
"The sooner the better, honestly. He wanted me to call him back after speaking with you and confirm a date. My schedule as well is getting a little hectic."
I looked around at all that still needed to be completed on this place and bit my lower lip. I could always just give Ben a key, I thought. I trusted him to get everything done. "I guess I could meet with him next week. Perhaps on Tuesday."
I glanced at the calendar. I would need to arrange a flight as soon as possible.
"Did you want me to meet you there? I can clear my Tuesday."
"Might be best. I know how corrupt Kendrick could be," I uttered. I wasn't lying. I knew Kendrick and the games he could play. For all I knew, he could have slipped in a document that gave up everything just as easily as owning everything. I knew nothing about legal terms.
"All right, Tuesday. I will fly out Monday night and meet you at his office Tuesday morning."
Hunter went over a little more information with me before I hung up the phone and quickly booked a flight for Monday night.
* * *
The following Tuesday I met the very handsome Hunter Malone for the first time outside of Kendrick’s lawyer's office in Malibu. We had an extensive meeting, and Hunter sat beside me explaining things as we went. We broke for lunch around one, and while I sat there eating a salad with grilled salmon, Hunter took his time going over all the legal documents. Once he was satisfied that nothing was amiss, he had me sign everything.
"Did you want to know what you just signed for?" he asked, gathering up the documents.
I nodded as I sipped some water.
"Well, you know about the business."
"Yes, and I don't want to own it, so..."
Hunter held his hands out to stop me. "No worries. We can dissolve it. I figured that might be easiest for you anyway and planned to talk to you about that once we had returned."
I nodded, smiling. "Thank you."