Page 5 of Painting Together a Family
“I think this is the one, Mr. Marx,” she noted.
“Figures. Grant likes them pretty.” He nodded, though, the guy was clearly looking for them.
She raised her hand to get the man’s attention, and he looked over and nodded, heading their way.
“Ms. Watson?” At her nod, he held out his hand and continued, “Bryan St-Vincent.”
She shook it, then nodded toward him. “Please, take a seat. And this is Devlin Marx.”
Bryan thrust out his hand. “I’m so sorry he did this to you too.”
“Yeah. I was the first idiot. Congratulations on being the second.” He winked to keep the meanness from it.
“So I heard. Until today, I thought I was the first and you came second. I didn’t realize he’d already done it to someone else before he got to me.” Bryan shook his head. “How many of us are there?”
“Married to three, engaged to one more,” Valerie answered, the words clipped.
Bryan shook his head. “Jesus Christ.”
“Not quite, but he sure thinks so…” Dev had to grin.
Looking startled for a moment, Bryan blinked a couple times. Then he chuckled. “Yeah, you got that right. So. You’re suing him—good for you. I hope you win and it breaks him. What can I do help?”
“We need more victims to testify as to what he did to them,” Valerie told Bryan. It wasn’t difficult at all. Just tell the truth.
“I hate that word—victim—but I know it’s pretty damned accurate. And two’s not enough? Hell, one isn’t enough? How much proof do you need?” Bryan sat back, chewing on his lower lip. “This whole thing is fucked up.”
“It is, and I want him to pay. I have two daughters. He stole part of their future.”
Bryan nodded. “Two boys. My late husband’s insurance should have seen us set, instead we had over a year of genuine hardship. And I don’t know if we’ll ever be back to where we were.”
Motherfucker. Dev kept hating Grant more and more every day. “I hate that bastard. Let’s get it back. Let’s make him pay.”
“You know you might not get the money back…” Valerie warned. Lawyers.
“I might not.” And he could live with that. He’d built himself back up so that money wasn’t a worry. “But he’ll be bankrupt and embarrassed.” And that was something at least.
Bryan shook his head. “I don’t think the man has any shame in him. I mean, I was a widower mourning the loss of my husband for fuck’s sake. And he took that and used it to steal every last penny.”
“Then we’ll continue to plaster his name all over the earth to protect everyone else,” Dev suggested. He didn’t want Grant to be able to even show his face in public, let alone steal anyone else’s money.
“Whatever I can do to help make that happen, I’m ready to do.” The guy turned to him, eyes so blue staring into his own. “It’s not even the money—I mean, yes, that’s a part of it, but the worst of it is how it made me feel. Taken advantage of, like an all sorts of a fool.”
“I understand completely.” But he was pissed as fuck, and he intended to kick the son of a bitch’s ass.
“I’d like you to come into the office and give me an official statement,” Valerie told Bryan.
The man nodded slowly and grabbed his phone, bringing up a calendar. “I can do that.”
“Excellent. You busy tomorrow?”
Dev was glad she was on the ball with this, eager to get it done quickly. This whole ordeal seemed like it was dragging on forever and he wanted it done.
“I could come in sometime around ten, or eleven.”
“Let’s go with eleven, then.” She had her own phone open, and she made a notation before handing Bryan a card. “That’s the address. I’ll see you there.”
Bryan pocketed the card. “Thanks.”
