Page 18 of Richard

She had been calling him for the past two days and he had put off talking to her. He knew he would be subjected to the usual lectures and persistent questions.

“Mother.” Waving his assistant out of the office, he settled back against the chair.

“Darling, I wish you would tell me a particular time I can call and get to speak to you. That Rodney has been giving me the run around–”

“Rodney only acts on my instructions.” A smile curved his lips at her disgruntled tone.

“And I have been very busy. Where’s the fire?”

He waited while she paused. “I am missing some money from my bank account. You know the trust that was set up for me by your dear father? The one you took over?”

Richard’s mouth tightened in irritation.

Ruth McBride was the typical helpless female. When she was married to his dad, she had left everything up to him. Richard recalled instances when the man would barely refrain from patting her head and shooing her out of the room whenever there was a discussion that pertained to business.

And she had never seemed to mind.

“Who has access to the account?” He strove to keep the impatience out of his voice.

“You are upset.”

“Mother.”

A theatrical sigh sounded in his ear. “Gary. He said he just needed a loan that one time, and I forgot to ask you to change the card.”

“You gave him the account number?”

“He wanted to make an electronic payment. You know how I am when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Richard could just imagine her waving a dismissive hand. “How much?”

Silence again, and this time, he closed his eyes wearily. He had been meaning to limit access to her account but had not gotten around to doing so. The lawyers had warned him that she wasprone to making bad business decisions and he had agreed. He just could not bear the thought of her asking him each time she needed something.

“Ten thousand.”

Richard felt anger splintering throughout his body. Gary was her latest husband, and even though his mother had filed for divorce, the son of a bitch who was five years younger than Richard still managed to play on his mother’s soft and vulnerable side.

“That’s embezzlement and I am going to get the lawyers on this immediately. When did this happen, and why wasn’t I alerted?”

“I convinced Mark to let me handle it. Gary said that they were some very dangerous men after him and were going to kill him if he didn’t come up with the money.”

Leaning against his desk, he rubbed his forehead wearily. Even though he had had to assume responsibility for her for most ofhis life, Richard couldn’t find it in his heart to be upset with her.

It wasn’t her fault that for her entire life, men had treated her with scant regard for her feelings. Her father, his grandfather, had spoiled her and treated her like a Dresden China Doll, keeping her sheltered from everything.

She had left straight from his house to her husband’s, and Richard’s father had been a terrible husband and a worse dad. He had women all over the place. Even though he never flaunted his affairs, he did not believe in hiding it either.

His wife had endured the bitter shame and humiliation of his constant affairs with a smile and head held high. And she had continued to love him, even when he suffered an aneurysm in another woman’s bed. The girl had been young enough to be his daughter.

“Richard?” He hated that her voice was anxious, as if she was expecting to be reprimanded.

“I will deal with it.” He willed the anger away and decided there and then that he was going to do what he should have done from the beginning. She was going to have limited access to the accounts. And he was going to have words with Mark, who should have called him immediately to let him know what was happening.

“Will he go to prison?”

From the tentative sound of her voice, he knew that was the last thing she wanted to happen. If it was up to him, the bastard ass would be nailed to the frigging wall.

“As long as he makes arrangements to have the money returned, he will not serve any jail time. Mother–”

---