Page 74 of Breakout
I wait until he comes to open my door, helping me out. Then I step into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.
Without hesitation, his arms drop around my shoulders, holding me to him.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I don’t. I will keep this one.”
Pulling back from him, I look into his eyes as I say, “Nothing is ever certain. You can’t promise everything will be okay because tomorrow you might get hit by a bus or drop dead from some medical mystery never to be solved. I wouldn’t be okay with that. So please don’t make that promise.”
He cups my cheek. “I will still make the promise because even if I were to die tomorrow, you wouldn’t be alone. You have our friends. It might take time, but you would be okay eventually.”
“I haven’t felt okay since my parents died,” I admit to him.
Not until you.I don’t add that last part.
He looks sorrowful as he presses a kiss to my forehead. “Then I have my work cut out for me. Let’s get inside before they close.”
I let the subject drop as he walks toward the building, his hand in my own.
When we get to the door, he holds it open for me. I thank him as I pass, finding Mary at the desk.
“Hello, Peyton. We weren’t expecting you. I’ll see if Mr. Piper is available.”
I nod, but Beckett speaks up. “Let him know Janis made contact at the estate just now.”
The older lady looks troubled as she nods, picking up the phone to dial.
Moments later, Mr. Piper walks out. “Good afternoon. Come into my office.”
We follow him down the hall into his office. Beckett helps me sit first before taking his seat.
“Tell me everything.”
So we do. We tell them how she showed up out of the blue using a key no one knew she had. How she verbally attacked us. The threats she was throwing at us. Even how it seemed like she might become physical.
After we finish, Mr. Piper sits back in his chair, not looking surprised at all.
“Your grandfather believed that Ms. Anderson had copied his key. We had no proof, of course. I advised him to change the locks, but he wanted to be sure he made the right choice. In fact, I wasn’t allowed to say until the events unfolded, but had she not shown up, he had set up an additional trust in her name with three billion dollars.”
I gape at him. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t worry. That will be folded into your inheritance now. Had she passed the test, he had others set in place as well, but now that she’s failed the first, she forfeits all the others. Very sad,really. He wanted to believe your cousin wasn’t the conniving woman she is. Your grandfather truly wanted to see the best in everyone.”
I shake my head. “Maybe that was his problem. He allowed toxic people to taint his life. Why am I fighting for this again?”
He shoots me a sympathetic look. “You still haven’t read the letter. I can’t tell you why you are fighting for it. Maybe it’s all motivated by the money. I wouldn’t blame you for taking it and running. I’m hoping it is because you feel a connection to your grandfather, though. A connection to your past that you want to explore. That’s what your grandfather hoped as well. That you might take on the family name and make something of yourself with it.”
“I can’t answer it either. I don’t even know what we are doing anymore.” I run my hand over my face, trying to peel away the stress.
If only it were that easy.
“Where do we go from here?” Beckett asks, taking the lead.
I reach out, grabbing his hand. I don’t miss the twitch of a smile on Mr. Piper’s face when he notices.
“Nothing. We will handle Ms. Anderson. I can get someone out there to change the locks for you. We will get this sorted. The staff have already been informed that you are the new head of household. You may want to reassure them of their jobs, but they are still being paid from the trust at this point.”
