Page 26 of Burned

Chapter Ten

“You’ve got a lot of damn nerve coming here like this. I thought I told you last time I saw you to never darken my doorstep again. I don’t want you here and I’m sure Carys feels the same.”

Lacey smirked not seeming a bit bothered by his hostile tone. “Did you even tell her I’d stopped by last week? I bet you didn’t.”

Rhys flared his nostrils. He could feel the vein throbbing in his forehead. It wouldn’t take much for him to wrap his fingers around her throat and squeeze. After he’d found her in his driveway last week and told her in no uncertain terms to get lost, he thought he’d seen the last of her. He should have known better. Lacey didn’t do anything without an ulterior motive.

Her scarlet painted lips curved to a near sneer. “You don’t have to say anything. Your face gives it away. But that’s okay. I guess I’ll just have to keep coming back, I mean, after all, you can’t be here twenty-four, seven can you? Eventually, Carys and I will talk and I have lots of tales to tell her.”

He wanted to slam the door in her face, but Rhys realized not only would she make good on her threat, she’d enjoy doing it. The evil bitch. “Come inside and don’t make too much noise. You have ten minutes to tell me what you want. When you’re done I want you to leave and never come back.”

“How generous of you,” she murmured, pushing her way past him when he opened the door enough to allow her entrance. He’d probably regret letting her in his home, but if he didn’t deal with her now, there was no telling what she’d do later.

She looked around with an accessing eye. “Nice place. It’s much bigger than the little shack you had us living in when we were together.”

“I’d hardly call a three-bedroom house a shack,” he huffed. “That was your problem. You were never satisfied with what we had.”

Lacey shrugged an expensively clad shoulder with the same air of nonchalance she gave any topic that wasn’t about her so-called greatness. “I didn’t realize a professor made the kind of money to afford and keep a place like this.” She picked up one of the valuable knick-knacks as if examining its value.

Rhys refused to discuss his financial status with her. “In my study. Follow me.”

“But I’m parched. Won’t you offer me a drink, darling?”

He whirled around to face her. “As you weren’t invited, no I won’t offer you a drink and your ten minutes is now seven. Now you can follow me or you can waste more time before I kick you out.”

Lacey pursed her lips. “I see you’re just as obstinate as ever.” She sighed. “Very well take me to your study.”

This time she followed. Once inside, he rested his rear against his desk, his arms crossed as he glared at his ex. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, not a hair out of place and dressed immaculately, yet the coldness that surrounded her put him off. And on closer inspection, he realized her beauty was carefully constructed with makeup and possibly plastic surgery. She didn’t possess the natural loveliness of his Sadie, making him wonder what the hell he’d seen in Lacey in the first place.

“Tell me what you want Lacey.”

“Perhaps I’d like to see my daughter.”

“When you walked out of her life twelve years ago without a backward glance, you forfeited the right to be in her life. You’re a selfish bitch and you always will be, so pull the other one because I’m not buying it. What the fuck do you really want?”

Green eyes flashed fire briefly and it looked as if she wanted to return his angry retort for one of her own, but instead, she exhaled deeply. “You always were an unfeeling bastard, but I had hoped I could count on you for a loan. Well, maybe not a loan. I need money.”

“You need money? And why in the world do you think I’d give it to you? After we divorced, you forfeited alimony because I got custody of Carys. I owe you absolutely nothing. Besides, don’t you have a husband to take care of your financial needs?”

Lacey clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides. Her bottom lip quivered as if she was about to cry. “That son of a bitch left me for a kid barely out of high school. He’s decided he wants an heir even though when we met he mentioned not wanting children which was fine with me. Said, he didn’t think I was young enough to carry a healthy baby. I gave that son of a bitch the best four years of my life.”

“Aww yes. This is husband number four right? What happened to number three by the way? I’d heard number two died of old age and left the bulk of his estate to his adult children.”

Lacey rolled her eyes. “Roderick is old news. He made some bad investments and lost most of his money. I couldn’t live like that. Besides, Elgin had come along by then and promised to take care of me.”

Rhys raised a brow. “Elgin, I assume is the one who just dumped you.”

“You don’t have to be so crass about it, but yes. Once I get my hands on a good attorney, I’m going to make him pay. That’s where you come in. I need you to provide me with the money to procure a good divorce attorney and perhaps enough money for me to rent some suitable accommodations while this is going on.”

“And why can’t you obtain your own attorney?”

“That bastard has stopped all my credit cards and wiped out our joint bank accounts. I’ve been cut off. I can’t even buy lunch for myself in a nice restaurant,” she whined. “I’ve had to sell jewelry I managed to take with me when he kicked me out. I could get an attorney who’d wait for payment after settlement, but any lawyer worth his degree wants a retainer and I’m going to need a good one to break the prenup that jackass made me sign.”

“I can’t say I feel sorry for your predicament but just for shits and giggles, how much money do you think you’ll need?”

“I think fifty grand should be enough to get by on for a while.”

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Was she insane? “You’ve got to be kidding me. You have a lot of damn nerve coming here after all this time demanding money from me as if you weren’t one of the worst fucking people in the world. Are you really that stupid to think I’d just give you a large amount of money just like that?”

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