Page 31 of Inevitable Inheritance

What a poor choice of words for this situation, Taylor mused, “So let me guess—police, the whole bit?”

Charlie nodded, “Yes. But she hadn’t been to the place for several days, and there were already empty bottles there when she found him. We merely added the ones we had found to them.”

Taylor opened her eyes and looked at Todd and Charlie. She decided that her new motto was “Move forward.”

“Well, that’s done. Now what?”

“You need security, Taylor,” Charlie said.

Taylor thought briefly, “No.”

Derrick made his way over to Taylor. “Tay, the press is going to be all over you. They know that Cedric’s death means you are coming back. You were so off-limits from the media as a child that they will be eager to get a glimpse of you now that you’re in charge … and add the engagement to that—”

“Which, by the way, your future sister-in-law has already tweeted, posted, and snapchatted to the world about,” Todd informed them.

“What?” Derrick and Taylor asked in unison. Taylor knew Marty liked gossip, but that was fast even for her. And what the hell was a tweet chat or whatever the hell Todd had just said?

“Not exact names,” Todd said, taking his phone out again and reading, “but she put, and I quote ‘Just got awesome news! Hate being in the dark, but this was worth finding out about two months late! #gorgeousring #perfectcouple #weddingbells.”

“What the hell is a hashtag?” Taylor asked.

All of the men turned to her slowly.

“What?” she demanded.

“I will pull you out from under your rock later,” Derrick told her.

“Just from her tweet the Internet is abuzz,” Charlie said, “and there was a paparazzi photo of her coming here before she dropped that loaded shell.”

As if on cue, Derrick’s phone rang.

“Shit,” he muttered, sauntering over to the phone. “Fletcher,” he barked in salutation. Everyone was silent as Derrick took in whatever was being said through the phone. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said, walking over to a wall of windows and then looking down. “Okay. Yes, I will take care of it.”

“They have shut the damn street down, nobody can get anywhere,” Derrick said.

“Who?” Taylor asked.

“Paparazzi.”

Taylor walked over to the windows he was looking out and gasped as she saw the street in front of the high-rise filled with people.

“We need to get you out,” Derrick said to Taylor.

Taylor shook her head, “Can’t we just stay here?”

Just then Derrick’s downstairs buzzer started ringing like crazy. “No, Tay, we can’t. They will find some way up, and it’s a safety thing for the other people in the building. No one can get in the doors, and no one can go out.”

Taylor couldn’t let anyone be hurt.

“Well, where do we go?”

“The mansion is—”

“No,” Taylor said firmly, cutting Charlie off before the idea was out of his mouth. She turned back to Derrick. “Don’t let them take me there,” she whispered to him, hoping she was quiet enough that Charlie and Todd couldn’t hear her. The horrors that she was fighting back just hearing them mention going back there again almost had her leaving the room. She had to look like she was keeping it together; she needed to be in charge.

Derrick nodded to her, “I won’t, Tay,” he assured her, but his face reflected complete confusion. Just then his phone rang again, “Hey,” he answered this time after seeing the caller ID. He was silent as he listened to the caller and answered, “Yeah, I think you’re right. Thanks.” Derrick disconnected, “We are going to my dad’s.”

Taylor’s eyes widened. That place had been like a second home to her and held lots of emotions. She wasn’t sure she could handle that place either.

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