Page 132 of The Hallows Queen

I almost think I imagined her getting into my bed last night, so I check every room of my suite for her. When she’s nowhere to be found, I look for her purse and shoes, which I find are gone too.

Checking my phone, I’m hoping maybe she’s left me a message that she’s just gone out for breakfast or something, but there’s nothing. While I drink a glass of water, I try to push the thought of her to the back of my mind, instead shifting my thoughts to my father and the meetings I have booked on my schedule. I check in with Serena while I do some yoga on the patio again, and she confirms that the lawyers have made it here and that they’ll meet me in the hotel restaurant for breakfast by 11.

I find an email from the funeral home, requesting a location for my father’s ashes, and I punch in my uncle’s address in New York. I certainly don’t want them – I figure his brother knew him better than I did, and his resting place shouldn’t be with someone he only recently got to know. He deserves to be with the family he actually spent his life with. I have Serena send an email to my uncle, who I’m not on speaking terms with, and call it a day.

I head for the hotel restaurant around 10:30 and grab a table. I like to be the first one there and the last one to leave, as it gives me more control over a meeting.

When I’ve ordered a cup of coffee and a bagel, I see the two lawyers I’m meeting walk in the front door, and I raise a hand to greet them. I don’t stand up. I’m too tired from being up most of the night, and I don’t necessarily need to show them any respect, so it doesn’t bother me.

“Mr. Monroe,” my personal lawyer, Josh, greets me, pulling out a chair to sit across from me.

“Good morning,” my father’s lawyer, Mark, says, sitting down to his right. “We’ve gone over some of the documents you need to sign already, but we can look through them again.”

“I want to start with his will, you have it?” I say, nodding at the waiter who places my coffee down in front of me. “You want anything?”

They both order cups of coffee, and I drink a mouthful of mine before the waiter walks away and we can start talking again.

“Yes, I have the will. I read it on the plane if you’d like me to summarize it,” my father’s lawyer says, pulling his briefcase from the floor and flipping through some documents.

He hands me a copy, as well as my lawyer, and I nod at him as my eyes search the paper. “Go ahead.”

“Your father has made it simple, I’m glad to say. Everything was left to you.” He flips through some papers. “Properties include his penthouse in New York, the house in Luxington, a vacation home he recently purchased in Newport, California, as well as a home in Colorado and the condo in Mallorca.”

I take a sip of my coffee, and he slides a piece of paper to me, pointing to a line at the bottom. “I’ll just need your signature here to put the deeds into your name.”

I read over the document as the waiter returns and serves their coffee, then pick up the pen he’s set beside me and sign my name.

“I’ll need copies sent to my office by morning,” Josh adds.

“Other assets? What about the company?” I ask, tapping the pen on the table.

“Yes, I have started the process of getting Monroe Financials transferred to you, and all the assets that come with it. As far as personal assets, there’s quite a few vehicles and boats that I’ll need you to sign for, then the bank accounts and stocks.”

“Anything else?” I ask, taking the sheets of paper he’s handing me over the table.

“For right now, that is everything we need your signature on, and you will be kept up to date as everything is handled with the business. I’ve partnered with the corporate lawyers, both in L.A. and New York to get everything switched over, but since you’ve been the CEO for a few months now, it will be an easy and painless transition,” he says, watching as I sign the rest of the papers he’s handed me.

I clear my throat when I’m done, putting the cap back on the pen and straightening out the papers before I hand them back across the table.

Looking at my Josh, I thread my fingers together on top of the table. “When you get all the documents you need, sell it all.”

“All of it?” he asks, tapping a finger on the table.

“All the properties and vehicles,” I clarify, drinking some of my coffee. “They were never mine, and never will be. I don’t need any of it. I’ll contact you if anything changes.”

“Yes, sir.” He nods. “I’ll call you when everything is done.”

“Is there anything else?” I ask, looking at both of them.

Mark clears his throat. “That’s everything, Mr. Monroe. I’ll be in contact soon.”

I stand, and they both mirror my action, knowing they’re dismissed. I hold a hand toward my father’s personal lawyer, and he shakes it. “Thank you for flying out here. We’ll talk soon.”

He nods. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Mr. Monroe. Your father wasn’t just a client, he was a longtime friend.”

I give him my best smile in thanks and drop his hand. “Have a safe flight back to New York.” Looking at Josh, I nod. “We’ll talk soon.”

When they’re gone, I sit back down and order some breakfast, opening my email to aimlessly scroll through everything I’ve received in the last day. My mind is too busy to respond to anyone, though. All I can think about is Penelope.

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