My hands wrapped around her possessively. “Daniel, I think she likes me more.”

Her laugh echoed through the room again. “You two are crazy.”

“Yeah, probably,” Daniel grumbled.

“Hold on,” she pushed herself from me. I instantly felt the loss, as her soft body stepped away from my arms. “I forgot. I have some capital too.” Then realizing how she got it, she blushed. “Ummm… it’s not from my grandparents,” she quickly justified.

Daniel quirked his eyebrow. “Where did you get it?”

She turned crimson red, her eyes darting to me, begging for rescue.

“None of your business, Daniel,” I told him. He knew very well where she got it from.

“That would only be fair, right?” she questioned us both. “That I put in capital too.”

“I think you should hold on to that money,” I told her. “Daniel and I don’t intend to work much on nonprofit. So it would be all you working on it.”

Her eyes darted to Daniel, silently asking for his thoughts. “I agree. Like Maxim told you, the two of us don’t have a knack for nonprofit. We are much better at our other businesses. You should keep your capital, and it would make us all even. Your third will be running this business and only pulling us in when you need us.”

She smiled back. “That’s fair enough, I guess. Although, it seems like I am getting the better end of the deal.”

“You keep thinking that, doll.”

Grinning at both of us, she nodded. “Okay, then. Partnership it is, and I get to keep my capital. But if I suck at it, you two will have to fire me.” Both Daniel and I nodded. I had no doubt in my mind, she would do great.

“Well, we never hear that from the candidates,” I joked.

“Oh, and one more thing,” she added quickly. “I’d like to keep on my job with Wounded Uniform, please. If that’s okay.”

“I agree,” Daniel told her. “The question is whether you’ll have time for Maxim with all that on your plate.”

Pulling her closer, I wrapped my arm around her waist. “We’ll find time,” I told her. She nodded, happiness making her glow.

“Wonderful, we’ll have all the legal documents drafted next week.” That was the reason Daniel and I got along so great. Once we decided something, we rolled out a plan and implemented it without a delay.

“Have we heard whether Henry and his wife have been arrested?” Daniel changed the subject.

“They sure have.” Daniel would have rather settled it his mafia way, but then we’d be out all those millions they stole. And really, the ones that ended up hurt if we don’t get that money back were families of all those killed soldiers. They mattered more than making that sleazebag of a grandfather suffer. His time in prison wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Not for an aristocratic, self-entitled jackass like him. “Their paperwork is being processed as we speak.”

“Even my grandmother?”

Daniel nodded. “Yes, even her. More than likely, her charges won’t stick, but with their assets frozen, it will allow us to file a claim against her for retribution of money stolen. Are you okay with that?”

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly.

“I wouldn't say okay, but I won’t run to her and save her. If she didn’t know what my grandfather was doing, then I wish her a happy life, but knowing them and all they shared, I suspect she knew it and just didn’t care.”

I watched her shake her head. “It’s just such a waste, you know. Instead of scaling down their way of living or selling their ridiculously expensive homes, they just decided to-”

She searched for the right words, but truthfully there were none. The bottom line was that they were greedy. Just like her mother was.

“It’s greed,” she finally muttered. “So ironic that I’ve heard my grandfather call me that for as long as I can remember, but he was the greedy one. Honestly, I’m not sure why my mother and grandparents didn’t get along. They really are the same.”

Daniel gave her a sympathetic look. “Yes, greed rules most in this world.”

“It is almost over, love.” The last hump we had to get over was her mother and the blackmailing. “Are you still okay with seeing them and your mother?”

Honestly, I thought she should see her mother. Get her answers, lash out if she had to but then put it behind her rather than simmer in anger and bitterness. Layla knew that too. But she was also scared. Her mother’s betrayal hurt her worse than her grandparents.