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Bea rolls her eyes. "I'm going to go find Maggie and Ed." I watch her leave, trying not to focus on the sway of her hips.

"You're so fucking gone," Ridge comments.

"I know I am." I run a hand through my hair and ask. "What's wrong?"

"I screwed up last night. Big time." I stride into my room, waiting for him to follow. "I knew Violet had climbed into my bed. I panicked and wanted her to leave, so I called her Dolly." He winces as I stare at him in horror.

"Oh man! That’s bad."

"I know. I feel like shit. Violet admitted that she lied about using Galen's name, but I kept quiet about using Dolly's. I'm an asshole."

I laugh.

"That's not funny!"

"It is." I grin. "Look, if you really like Violet, tell her. Admit that you knowingly screwed up. She's almost eighteen. Legal. I may be all in with Bea, but I have eyes, and Violet is a gorgeous girl. She won't be single for long... Galen likes her too, even though he pretends not to." I laugh. "Just like you, though Galen is more convincing than you."

"What the hell is wrong with me taking advice from my younger brother?" He turns and disappears from the room—downstairs, it seems.

29

BEATRICE

Maggie and Edact like they don't know I’ve just had sex with Essex upstairs. That doesn’t stop me from blushing.

Ed catches my eye. "I really want to punch your dad in the face. I probably wouldn't be able to stop myself." He slaps the papers Essex handed him on the kitchen table.

"There's probably a long list of people willing to do that." I pull out a chair and join them. "I take it you've made sense of the papers?"

"Yes."

Essex comes into the room and leans against the cabinet behind me, but not before giving me a kiss on the top of my head. "What did you find out, Ed?"

"Richard wants control of everything Beatrice has until she's twenty-one, which I'm sure you caught."

I nod. "Yeah. What else?"

"Buried in the fine print, it gives him the right to use your money and sell assets as he sees fit... Meaning by the time she turns twenty-one, there will be nothing left. However," he pauses, "by signing this document, you would also be giving up your thirty percent ownership of the construction company along with your mother's thirty percent."

Essex moves and sits beside me, one hand clasped with mine. "He wants to take my freedom," I say quietly. "I don't know anything about the business. How can I have shares without my knowledge? He always told Mom and me that it was a man's work. My lawyer never mentioned it either. I don't trust anything Richard says or does anymore."

Ed smiles. "What this document tells us is that you are the majority owner of Lincoln Construction." He laughs. "The bastard's panicking... Keep these." Ed hands me the papers. "Show them to AJ." Ed is silent for a while, then gives me a look. "Elisabeth was my only sibling, Bea. After you were born, I had a big fight with Richard. I left town. A few times over the years I tried to get Elise to move in with me in the city. Miles away from here. She wouldn't."

"I know she stayed for me. Richard doesn't like to lose."

"The fact is, Bea; if you hadn't been born, it would have been Elise he'd have gone after. So don't blame yourself. Neither you nor Elise were to blame. It’s all Richard's fault. In the end, though, I stayed away because Elise begged me to.

"As an agent, I looked into Lincoln, but there is no evidence that he was ever involved in illegal activities. We need a forensic accountant to look at the company's financial accounts. I can't do that."

"Whatever you are doing," Maggie says to Essex, "I want you to stop. Right now." Maggie glares at me, and my heart squeezes painfully. "This is your fault! Your father killed Joshua, and there is no way I am letting him have Essex!"

"Mom!"

"I'm going." Tears hover and slowly fall as I get to my feet. Essex tries to grab hold of me, but I slip past him. "I'm sorry."

"Wait a damn minute!" Essex shouts and I freeze. "Mom, I understand why you're scared. You have to understand something. I love Bea. She's mine and I'm not going to let her do anything by herself."

Essex pulls me into his body and strokes my tears with his thumbs. "It's going to be okay, baby."

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