Page 34 of Royal Pain

Gage

“I need a huge favor,” I hissed as soon as Valerio answered the phone.

“Well, hello to you too.” My brother chuckled. “How is paradise?”

“The usual. Now, listen to me. You have better connections back east than I do.”

“Jesus. What’s wrong?”

“Just answer me!” I was pacing my office and had been for hours.

He whistled. “I’ve never seen you like this. Yes, I do. Up and down the East Coast. What do you need?”

“A hit man but I’ll settle for full disclosure and a dossier including any secrets that can be unearthed about a man named Joseph Hargrove. He and his influential family are out of Connecticut.” I’d spent the last two hours discovering as muchas I could about the man. I’d found a single tiny article about his marriage to Evangeline. But his family was very much like mine in that they likely paid someone to sweep the internet, removing any unwanted items. Most were glossy items, photographs of smiling faces attending posh events.

At least my father had enjoyed giving some of his wealth to various well-deserved charities. That had flowed down to the three of us. We even served on several foundations and a couple of boards of directors. We felt it our honor to do so.

There was no doubt everything about the Hargrove family was different.

Or maybe I was just so angry I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Whoa. A guest? A recent member?” Valerio asked.

I rubbed my eyes. The fact I felt so protective as well as possessive over Evangeline couldn’t matter in this instant. What I had been able to learn was that her mother and father weren’t like the others in a very staunch, posh neighborhood where residents were either highly respected neurosurgeons, people from old money, or Fortune 100 company owners.

The house she’d grown up in had been modest by the standards of the neighborhood, one of the first built. Her father was a doctor but not making the kind of money the others did. Plus, they didn’t come from old world money or trust funds. They’d wanted a better life for their daughter.

That included a school that took a lot of their savings.

But Evangeline had put herself through college, where she’d met the asshole, although from what I could tell, he’d grown up in the same large community association. The kind where people’s shitdidn’t stink. I respected her, but good people could make very bad decisions.

I almost snorted. I knew that better than most.

“Just an abusive asshole bothering a guest.”

His hesitation made me roll my eyes. “A girl?”

“What does it matter? Yes, a woman. I caught a phone call and asked questions. They weren’t pretty.”

“Uh-huh. I know there’s more to that little story. Whoa. I just brought the family up on the computer. It’s like the Hargroves own half the state.”

“That’s the issue.” Yes, our father had been influential throughout California, but there was a significant difference in how tight and old money families were in the northeast versus a place like California where more people came from every walk of life.

This was old-world American politics too.

Which meant they were closely knit and tight-lipped.

“Are you sure you want to go up against this guy?”

“Valerio. We are from one of the most powerful families west of the Colorado River. I have billions of dollars at my disposal and seeing an innocent woman being railroaded by little more than a thug because she and her family don’t have money to defend themselves isnotgoing to happen. Do you hear me?”

Another thirty seconds of silence.

“All kidding aside. You like this woman. I’ve never seen you this way and before you start on me, I’m not saying that’s bad. Ifsomeone sparked you, finally allowed you to live again, then go for it, brother. Just know you could be in for a fight that you might not want.”

“You underestimate me, Valerio. I might seem mild and meek to you and Braxton but I’m like a panther in the wild. You never know when I’ll strike but I will.”

“Oh, trust me. The two of us know. You have not only our father in you but part of your mother Gilly. She is one amazing woman. And tough. Tougher than nails. Let me see what I can find. It might take a couple days. You know how wealthy families are.”

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