“Yeah, but we don’t need the money,” Clio demurred.
“How much does Chance earn? How much is he worth? Clio, ten million dollars is a fortune,” I said, horrified. Not even money was tempting her.
“Chance has more than that. We don’t need ten million dollars. Share it out amongst the others,” Clio said airily.
“Clio, ten million dollars of your own money. Just for you, you could do anything with it. Think of where you could visit, places to go,” I tempted, but Clio shook her head.
“If you insist on giving it to me, then maybe I could donate it to the Trust property in the state?” Clio asked Chance.
“Baby, I’ve donated for this year, and I know Phoenix is on track, but if you wanted to, sure, baby. Phoe would never turn money away,” Chance agreed.
“Hey, I don’t think you understand. That’s ten million dollars cash. That will go into your bank account, and you can escape, do anything,” I said as Chance’s eyes narrowed.
“Thank you, but I don’t need to escape,” Clio said stiffly. “Honestly, you don’t understand shit. So, I’ll spell this out one more time. Thalia, I love my husband. Chance saved my life twice. And I’m with Chance because I love him, and it’s the safest place for me to be. Chance isn’t blackmailing me into being here; I’m here by choice. And as for your money? Chance has over fifty million in the bank. We don’t need your ten million, although thank you for the offer,” Clio said.
“Bet Chance got that through drug running and arms shipments,” I hissed, and Chance snorted.
“Seriously, bitch, let it go. Hellfire is clean. You want to know how I earned that fuckin’ money? Look up online how much a car designed by Hellfire sells for. And check the reputation of PT Investments. They’re run by a guy that Phoe helped set up in his own business, and the guy has a reputation for being Midas. Nothing criminal attached to my money.
There was no pre-nuptial between Clio and me. Instead, when we married, I signed a document that if Clio ever divorces me, she gets half my fortune straight off. Plus an extra one million a year for our children. So fuck you, lady, drop the insults and insinuations and shut the fuck up or play nice. Clio and I don’t gotta take your shit,” Chance said rudely.
“How dare you?” I exclaimed.
“No, how dare you?” Clio hissed. “I warned you once, warning you one last time. Play nice or fuck off.” My back bristled, and Kelly placed a hand over my knee.
“Thal, you are being judgmental, and I hate to say it, acting like your grandmother on your dad’s side. And Grandmother didn’t bring you up to act like this; she taught you to be human and humble. Chill out, baby,” Kelly drawled. I gazed at Kelly with a wounded expression, and Kelly shook his head.
“I apologise,” I said stiffly, and Chance and Clio relaxed a little. Being a bull in a china shop wouldn’t work. Clearly, I had to be patient and work in minor ways to claim my sister.
“Are you staying locally?” Chance asked.
“Yes, we’ve been moving from hotel to hotel while searching. We can extend our stay here in Spearfish,” Kelly replied.
“No jobs?” Chance asked.
“I work from home, a finance investor, so yes, I’ve heard of PT Investments. Even applied there and got slapped back. They are the best and very exclusive with their clients,” Kelly replied as I stewed silently.
“Play nice and don’t upset my wife; I might be able to get you an intro,” Chance said. Kelly nodded, but I knew he couldn’t be bought, and that is what Chance was trying to do.
“What about you?” Clio asked, staring at me.
“Well, I’m between jobs,” I said, and Clio’s eyes narrowed.
“Suppose as a trust fund baby, you don’t need to work,” Clio said. Hey! There was no need to be judgemental. And I bit back the hypocrisy in my thought.
“Actually, I worked at a youth centre as the manager. Lack of city funding closed it, and I’ve been looking for another place. The centre worked to get the youth off the streets and give them fun things to do while ensuring they got an education. We also looked into weird and whacky jobs for them; nothing perks the imagination, such as being a lighting coordinator for a theatre or food taster, etc. The centre had a good success rate,” I said snappily. How dare Clio insinuate I sat on my ass doing nothing?
“Spearfish could do with something similar,” Clio said, gazing at Chance. “Perhaps we could use my ten million and set something similar up?”
“Haven’t you got enough on your plate with the tearooms, Tati’s shopping expeditions and mothering the brothers?” Chance teased.
“I hate shopping!” Clio moaned, and Chance chuckled.
“You do?” I asked, surprised. Clio turned a dark frown on me.
“Bet you love shopping,” she said.
“Thalia loves shopping,” Kelly chuckled. Clio and I stared at each other.