Page 33 of Four Love (Ever and Always 2)

“As best I figure, this isn’t over. And it won’t be until I cut all ties, like Holly just said.” Trent gulped in some air and then blurted out the truth. “If I keep this money, I’m radioactive. None of you can be near me safely. And if I have to choose, I would much rather have you than a big fat bank account. I’m going to give it back.”

“You can’t!” Holly shot to her feet.

Trent stopped breathing. Was that it? Would she leave if she knew he had nothing to give her? Would she reject him like everyone else he’d ever cared about had too?

“I know you stayed with me this past month because of our deal. And the cash.” Trent swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

For a second he thought she might slap him. But Lorenzo was there behind her to clasp her and put his arms around her waist, keeping her in place. His friend should have let her take a swing, he deserved it. For crushing her dreams. And because part of the money was spent.

They weren’t going to cut the kidney out of Holly’s mom, so at least something good had come from this temporary insanity, where he’d actually believed his dreams—for his company, for the girl next door, and for all his desires—were coming true. He should have known better.

“Before you get too carried away, can I ask if you’ve spoken to your mom?” Owen asked, too calm for the rage seething in his eyes. There was too much anger, hurt, betrayal, and disappointment zooming around the room for Trent to sort things out on the fly, but he didn’t see how any of them were going to come out of this unscathed.

He shook his head. “What’s the point?”

Owen shrugged, “Maybe there’s some other answer than something this extreme. And if not…then you can move ahead like you intend to anyway.”

“No!” Holly struggled, but Lorenzo settled her with murmurs that Trent couldn’t quite make out.

Trent pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at it long enough that Moose came over and put his head on Trent’s thigh, his worried gaze shifting between the four masters he had wrapped around his tail.

“Okay, fine.” Trent pulled up his contact and used the one for his mother, which he hadn’t touched in years. After this, it would be time to delete it for good. But for them, he would try one last time.

“Savannah speaking,” came his mother’s cold greeting, so different from Holly’s mom. There would be no hugs offered, even if they were in the same room. He already knew this was a terrible idea.

“Hello, Mother.” Trent gritted his teeth.

“Cut the nonsense,” she snipped. “There’s only one reason you’re calling. And it’s not to chit-chat.”

Trent hated the part of him that still, after all this time and proof that it wasn’t ever going to happen, wished that he had a mom who would value that sort of relationship. Damn it.

Holly put her hand on his forearm and squeezed before he pulled away, her comfort too hard to bear in the face of his mother’s disdain.

“No. I was hoping you could be reasonable, for once.” Trent slammed his eyes closed, unable to see the pity in his friends’ and lover’s faces when he asked, “Do you hate me that much? That you would attack your own son over money?”

“You walked away from this life and everything it held for you.” His mother’s best down-her-nose glare was obvious, even over the phone. “You gave it up for fun and filth, and now you want to eat your cake, too.”

“Ironic, coming from you.” Trent was wasting his breath, he knew it. “Then again, what would you know about love? About passion for people instead of status and estates?”

“Are you that stupid, Trent? I thought I raised you to be more cunning. This woman you’re tangled up with wants your money so bad she’s willing to spread her legs not only for you, but to whore herself out for your friends too, and indulge your perversions. What other reason would someone as kind, and sweet, and smart as your lawyers tried to convince me she is, sign up for that sort of life? Who would choose that sick existence when they could have anyone they wanted?”

His mother was right. Holly was way out of his league. For a moment, Trent wondered if she saw things more clearly than him.

His glance flicked to Holly, and she recoiled as if he’d struck her.

The more time he wasted on his family and their fortune, the more she got hurt. That was unacceptable. “You know what? Fuck this. I don’t want your money. I’m sending it back, minus five and a half million dollars or so, which I’ve already spent.”

“How the hell did you waste that much money so fast?” his mother shrieked. “I told the police, and I’m sure they told you, that if I don’t have every penny back by the end of the day tomorrow, I’m charging you with fraud. Your sham marriage won’t stand up in court. Withoutmymoney, that bitch will be gone before your cell door slams shut. Hell, maybe I’ll even pay her to flip on you so you’ll wake up once and for all. You can thank me later.”

“That’s enough!” Holly swiped his phone from his hand and said, “The only thing that could make me leave is if your son listens to your bullshit, you diamond-studded cunt.”

Then she hung up with a stab of her finger that put Trent’s phone screen at risk of shattering.

Owen and Lorenzo whooped as Trent’s stomach knotted itself.

Because he couldn’t stop replaying his mother’s speech in his mind and wondering…why would Holly want someone like him? He had nothing to offer her anymore and might not even be around to love her for years to come.

“Why the hell do you look like you’re actually listening to anything that bitch said?” Holly sliced her hand through the air.

---