Page 76 of Seven of Hearts

I laughed.

Mr. Holloway stumbled back, like the breath from my lungs had pushed him off kilter.

I wasn’t cowering and he didn’t know what to do with that.

“Put your checkbook away,” I said. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Don’t be foolish,” he scoffed, spewing spittle with each syllable. “A kid with two parents serving time would call this a lucky break. You fucked up and you’re getting off scot-free.”

“I’m the son of a billionaire. I don’t need your pennies.”

I didn’t give him a chance to respond as I slammed the door and locked it for good measure.

When I got back to my computer to continue some semblance of a normal, measured workday, Will was in the kitchen helping himself to the remnants of the coffee pot.

“How much of that did you hear?” I asked.

“Doorbell camera caught it all,” he said as he yanked open the refrigerator door and reached for the bottle of cinnamon creamer. “I tuned in to the season one finale of your love life when I got off the conference call. It was more entertaining than all the streaming apps out there. I should have made some popcorn.”

I just shook my head as I pulled out the kitchen chair so I could get back to work.

“So,” Will said as he topped off his coffee with the creamer. “You’re the son of a billionaire, huh?”

I stiffened, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It had been a great line to whip out as a slap in the face to Mr. Holloway, but I was sure Will felt differently.

“Sorry,” I grumbled as I sent the rest of my notes to Paisley so she could get on with her day. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why?”

“Because you never talk about your net worth. You probably didn’t want me dropping that kind of information to him.”

“I don’t give a shit what someone like that thinks. But I do give a shit what you think.” He pushed the kitchen’s sliding door open. “You coming?”

Apparently, I didn’t have a choice.

Will led me down to the dock and assumed our normal seats, side-by-side. “Explain something to me.”

“What?” I said as I snapped a cattail that was growing up by the thick wooden post.

“Why did you make it about me and not you? I know you’ve never touched your trust fund. You’re not hurting for money yourself.”

I looked down at the cattail in my hands, bending the stem so I had something to focus on.

Before Will had married my sister, he set up savings plans specifically for me and my siblings—Kristin included—to go to college if we wanted. Between the five of us, he had set aside ten million dollars.

It didn’t even put a dent in his bank account, but it changed our lives.

The deal was that when someone graduated, he would move the leftover money into a trust fund for that person, with a matching contribution on top of it.

He knew how to create one hell of an incentive.

“Because he kept saying I was the product of my parents, and it’s not true,” I said as I peeled back one of the cattail leaves.

Will nodded. “You’re your own man. I’m glad that you understand that.”

I shook my head. “I’m the manyoushowed me how to be. I wanted him to know that.”

Will snapped his head to the side. He stared at me, but I kept my eyes trained on the water.

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