by K. Webster
“You think they’ll really deal with the triplets?”
“They have no choice and Lucian knows it. Leo fucked them and it all goes away if they play nicely. I’m sure the Morellis have bigger fish to fry than our little guppy, Ash. A truce with us is worth its weight in gold. They’ll bring those twatlets to heel.”
“Well done,” Perry says, holding up his fist.
I bump it with a roll of my eyes. Thankfully my phone buzzes saving me from further brotherly bonding weird-ass bullshit.
“Constantine,” I bark out in greeting.
I listen for a bit and then grunt out my agreement before hanging up.
“I’m dropping you off so you can get your car,” I tell Perry, “and then I want you to get to Ash and Keaton. Find out what happened and make sure they’re okay. Something just came up at the office.”
It seems the night just got a little more interesting.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ash
I’m overjoyed at getting to see Win’s mom twice in one day. Completely ecstatic. So excited I can barely contain my giddiness.
My attempts to convince myself are squashed the moment Keaton leads me into the living room where Caroline and Tinsley are seated. Caroline, in a leather armchair, is no longer wearing her smart suit but has changed into what must be considered casual for her—a rose gold velour tracksuit. It’s such an old lady thing to wear but of course she looks like a million bucks. Not a billion because, well, it’s a tracksuit. Tinsley is comfortable on the couch in a pair of white, fuzzy pajama pants and a giant Pembroke Prep rugby hoodie, that if I had to guess based on the sheer size of it, belongs to her brother.
“A little late for an unannounced visit,” Caroline says, setting her iPad aside on the end table beside a lamp, her tone cool and bitchy as always. Though she also seems a little more high-strung than usual. As if she’s worried. “Winston at his Morelli meeting? They’re taking a long time. I told him I wanted this shut down. Now.”
Keaton saunters in and plops down next to his sister. “He’s there, and I got stuck babysitting his girlfriend.”
I could smack him right now. While his mother’s attention is still on him, I scratch my face with my middle finger earning a smirk from him.
“Someone explain,” Caroline clips out, clearly not in the mood for games.
That makes two of us.
“After you dropped me off today when we went shopping—”
“Wait,” Keaton interrupts me, “you went shopping with Mom?”
Tinsley’s brows lift in surprise.
“Yes,” I mutter, continuing on. “Win needed new salt and pepper shakers.”
Tinsley smothers a laugh while Keaton shakes his head. Caroline is not impressed. She flicks her fingers at me in one of Win’s signature moves, indicating for me to keep the story moving.
“This reporter was waiting for me by my door. I, uh, tried to call my dad but…” I chew on my bottom lip to keep from crying. “I called Winston. He didn’t pick up, so I left him a text. The reporter accidentally pushed me or fell into me, I’m not sure, and I bumped my head. When I came to, he was taking pictures.” A flood of heat burns my cheeks. “My dress had ridden up and—”
“That’s enough,” Caroline bites out, thankfully ending that disgusting retelling. “Keaton, call Ulrich.”
“Already two steps ahead,” he says waving his phone. “I called him earlier while Francis made me dinner.”
Caroline’s glare is back on me, searching for answers.
“Winston showed up,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face, “and he ran the guy off. We were, uh, hanging out when he got a call from my stepbrother. It must have been threatening because Win then helped me pack my stuff up and my bird so we could go back home.”
“Home,” Caroline repeats as though the word is sour on her tongue.
“He made some calls,” I continue, “obviously to Keaton and Perry. I’m not sure who else. When we arrived at Winston’s, they were there waiting for us. Keaton stayed with me while they went to their meeting.”
Keaton’s features grow stormy as he takes over. “I was talking to Ulrich when I heard banging. Nate was trying to get into Win’s place.”
Caroline’s brows pinch together. “And you didn’t let him in?”
“Win said no one was to come inside,” I explain. “Nate started freaking out about how Win would be angry I didn’t let him in. Then, he accused me and Keaton of being together. Oh, he also called me some choice names. But, when I threatened to call security, he left.”
“He knew I was there,” Keaton chimes in. “He knew I didn’t leave with Perry and Winston. Nate’s always been cool but he was flipping his shit. I got a weird feeling by some of the things he’d said like maybe he could see us.”
I pace the floor, guilt eating at me. “A couple times before, he’d tried to come in and wait for Winston. He said he had a key. I’d believed him. I’m sure he planted a camera during one of those visits.”
“A camera?” Tinsley asks, eyes wide with shock.
“We pretended to be getting drinks to watch a movie,” Keaton says, “and found it stuck to a liquor bottle.”
Caroline’s expression is unreadable. “What does your brother think of this tidbit of information?”
“Still with the Morellis,” Keaton answers. “Decided this was our safest place to lie low until they finish.”
“I don’t understand why Nate would put a camera in Winston’s house,” Tinsley says, a frown of confusion on her face. “He comes to family brunch a lot and is like a partner or something at Halcyon.”
“Not a partner,” Caroline and I say in unison.
“I think Nate hates me,” I admit with a sigh. “He’s probably trying to get proof that I’m just some poor maid after Winston’s money. Then Win can be free to date Layla.” I make sure to say her name in the distasteful way so they know exactly how I feel about the rich widow who sometimes goes to lunch with my boyfriend.
“You’re not poor,” Caroline says, ignoring the Layla comment altogether. “Not by a long shot.”
“I’ve earned some money,” I admit, not meeting her gaze because how I earned that money isn’t something you want to tell your boyfriend’s mother.
“I’m not talking about that money.”
That money?
As though I have piles of it lying around.
“I was having a little chat with Ulrich when I dropped you off today,” Caroline reveals. “He found some interesting information about Winston’s new little…” She trails off.
“Lover? Obsession? Girlfriend?” I offer with a shrug. Future love of his life and mother of his children?
“Distraction.” Caroline flashes me a predatory smile that makes me shiver. “You have many secrets, don’t you?”
I frown at her. “My only secrets were revealed this week.”
“Tell me,” Caroline says, iciness in her tone, “since you couldn’t have your inheritance, you thought to go after something better?”
I glance over at Keaton in confusion. His brows are furrowed but he says nothing. Tinsley is just as lost as I am.
“I don’t have an inheritance,” I explain slowly. “I had a college fund but Dad blew through that when he was wooing the stepmonster mommy.” I sigh, waving my hand in the air. “That’s what got me into this whole mess in the first place.”
Caroline’s probing stare peels me apart, flaying through every miniscule expression I make. She can probably even hear my heartbeat because she’s creepy like that. I wait for her to find whatever it is she’s looking for—whatever it is she thinks I’m hiding. I’d like to know about it too if it’s there.
“This ‘mess’ being a relationship with my son.” Her brow arches.
I stifle a grin, biting on my bottom lip so hard it hurts. “‘Mess’ is the polite way of putting it.” The Winston Freak Show is more like it.
“Sit down, girl, you’re giving me a headache having to
crane my neck up to look at you,” Caroline finally says in exasperation, her veneered façade cracking slightly. “Keaton, make us some tea.”
He elbows his sister. “Go make some tea.”
“Isn’t that what Agatha is for? I don’t know how to make tea.” Tinsley scowls at him.
“I could make it,” I offer with a shrug.
“Sit,” Caroline commands.
She doesn’t have to say anything else to Keaton because he stands, yanking Tinsley up to her feet, and mutters, “You have to help me figure this shit out.”
Once we’re alone, Caroline’s grimaced features smooth out. “When I began looking into—the poor maid who was distracting my son—imagine my surprise when I learned who your grandmother was.”
Mom didn’t talk much about her. My grandmother died when I was little, but Mom didn’t take me to the funeral. I’d always guessed there was bad blood between them, but never asked since Mom never brought her mother up.
“Barbara comes from one of the oldest families in the city,” Caroline tells me. “Old money.”
“Mom didn’t like her all that much. I think they had a strained relationship. From what Dad told me the other day, though, Mom gave up her inheritance to be with him. Kind of romantic, really.”
“What do you think became of the money?” Caroline asks. “When Barbara died?”
“Went to charity?”
She laughs, cold and mocking. “Silly, naïve child. No.”
“It certainly didn’t go to me,” I grit out. “Dad wouldn’t have had to rob my college fund if so.”
“That’s because it’s still tied up in stipulations.” Her blue eyes harden as she sweeps her critical stare over me. “Do you know what those were?”
“Umm, no.”
“Don’t slouch,” Caroline bites out, waving an irritated hand at me that has my spine straightening. “You can have all your grandmother’s old, old money. Your entire inheritance.”
“If?” There’s always an if.
“Marry a Morelli.”
All the blood drains from my face and the room spins. “W-what?”
“According to what Ulrich and Anthony uncovered for me, you’re able to have your inheritance if you take the same deal your mother said no to. Marry a Morelli.”
“Ew,” I snarl. “Never. They’re evil, scary rats. They’re the enemy.”
She glowers at me, continuing to peel me apart. “Anthony is still looking into a number, but, darling, it would make you rich. We’re talking millions and millions.”
An image of Leo’s handsome but frightening face fills my mind. A full-bodied shudder wracks through me. I’d rather die poor and living under a bridge than willingly marry one of those mobster creeps.
“I would never marry a Morelli,” I grind out. “I don’t care if Win and I break up. Nothing would ever make me marry one of those monsters.”
“The Morellis have money too,” she reminds me, her gaze fierce and calculating. “But you’re playing a long game, hmm? Why have your grandmother’s money and the Morellis’ money when you could be…how do you put it? Team Constantine?”
“I have no long game. I don’t care about the money.”
“It’s a gamble.” Her blue eyes blaze with challenge. “You could lose both.”
“I said I don’t care,” I growl. “I’m going to college to make my own damn way. Winston and I started as some sort of game, but we’re not anymore. It’s complicated to others, I’m sure, but something the two of us understand.” I pin her with a hard stare. “I don’t plan on losing Win, and honestly, I don’t think he’d let me go.” A smile curves my lips up. “He put Shrimp in the will.”
She blinks hard several times.
“Our bird,” I elaborate, enjoying the way her sculpted eyebrow twitches.
Ignoring my comment, she grabs her iPad, swipes it on, and then hands it to me. Her perfumed scent wafts around me, threatening to choke me. I snatch the device from her and stare at the document in front of me.
A will.
My grandmother’s will.
Curious, I read through it. Caroline was right. I’m to be the sole heiress to the Huffington fortune as long as one certain provision is met. I must marry a Morelli. If I don’t marry a Morelli by my twenty-first birthday, or if I marry someone else, my money goes to the next of kin. There’s a lot of legal jargon that I don’t understand, but that’s the main gist.
“Like, if I got pregnant?” I ask, confused on the “next of kin” part.
Caroline Constantine shudders, actually shudders. “Dear God you better not be pregnant.” She rushes along as though that thought is too horrifying to consider. “Since you have no siblings, your next of kin is your father.”
I don’t like where she’s going with this.
“Dad can have the money,” I grumble. “I said I don’t care.”
“I’m sure he was counting on that childish attitude,” she bites out, stinging me with her words. “He probably thought he could manage the money on your behalf as well. Such a noble father. But you just said he blew through your college fund on Manda Mannford. Hmm. Something doesn’t add up. That doesn’t seem very noble at all.”
Tears prickle at my eyes. Dad couldn’t have known about this. He and Mom gave up the inheritance so they could be together. If he didn’t care then, he certainly doesn’t care now. Right? Dread pools in my stomach. Ever since Manda came into the picture, Dad has been different.
“Baron knew,” Caroline says, eerily reading my mind. “There’s documentation of him reaching out to your grandmother’s attorney when you were still a minor to obtain the newest copy of the will. Not long after he started his relationship with Manda.”
My blood runs cold. “What are you saying?”
“That you may not care about money, but every single person around you does.” Her glare is icy cold. “If you’re so set on my son, surely you’ve noticed that money is the driving factor of everything he does.”
“No, his family is,” I interrupt. “Then the money.”
She studies me for a beat before continuing. “My point is, if you have any hope of being with him in the long run, you’re going to have to start to care. His fortune is his legacy. It’s what makes him a Constantine. Ignoring his money is ignoring a part of him.”
“Manda is loaded.” My brows scrunch together as I try and figure out what all this means. “She wouldn’t care about my inheritance. I don’t understand it, but she really loves my dad.”
“Does she?” Caroline asks. “Or was this some scheme? The woman has a history of getting what she wants.”
“Dad wouldn’t allow himself to get manipulated.”
“No?” she asks, arching a brow. “Then that means he’s a co-conspirator.”
Anger surges up inside me. “A co-conspirator to what?”
“To defrauding you out of your fortune.”
“I’m not going to marry a Morelli,” I grumble. “According to the will, it’s his if I don’t. That’s not defrauding. That’s just life.”
Caroline shakes her head, pursing her lips together. “Read the extenuating circumstances clause again. Or better yet, let me sum it up for you. That fortune is yours and your father forfeited it to you by marrying Manda.”
“That makes no sense.”
Keaton bursts into the living room holding his phone up. “Ulrich just called. Clay sang like a canary. The person who leaked that you were at the whore apartment to him was Manda Mannford. Your stepmother. That’s how Scout must have found out, too.”
A sick feeling of dread has bile creeping up my throat. “W-what?” It was supposed to be Nate or Deborah. Not Manda. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s trying to do everything in her power to destroy your relationship with my son,” Caroline reveals.
“Why though? If I get married to Win one day, the inheritance goes to her and Dad. She should be happy I’m taking care of it for her.”
“No, sweetheart,” Caro
line says in a condescending tone that makes me tense with unease. “Manda nullified the will by marrying Baron. Her children are the sons of a Morelli. You can’t marry someone of relation, by blood or legally binding marriage certificate. It cancels out the intent of the will.”
“What?” Keaton and I both demand at once.
“The triplets are test tube babies,” I murmur, my voice so soft I’m sure she barely hears.
“So naïve,” Caroline says with a frustrated sigh. “You don’t really believe a woman in college studying to become a doctor would willingly get pregnant during that time with triplets?”
Okay, so that doesn’t sound plausible at all.
“It means your inheritance is owed to you. Now.”
“Oh.”
“Why does Manda care, then, if I get with Winston? I would be out of her hair and I’d never have known about the money. She could have let it play out.”
Caroline smiles, almost prettily at me, but then I realize it’s the same smile Win has when they’ve won something hard earned. “Because she knew we’d find out her dirty secrets. When you got involved with Winston, that put my spotlight on you. In my effort to know every little thing about you, I’d uncover her secrets and the will.”
Manda tried to keep me under her thumb. Let Dad drain my college fund so I would be reliant on her for my education. Probably why she had her sons chase off all my friends and Tate in effort to keep me from accidentally getting knocked up or something. And when I started randomly seeing Winston, she pretended, at first, to be thrilled by the idea, but it wasn’t long that she was telling me I wasn’t deserving of it. She’s always hated me and now I know why.
Money.
She’s always wanted money.
“How did Manda even know about the will and my grandmother?” I ask, accepting the fact that Manda really is the evil stepmother I thought her to be and Dad is either compliant or just heavily under her spell.
“We all have secrets,” Caroline says, with a mysterious and slightly sad cast to her tone. It makes me think she has secrets, too. “But actually, Manda knew Maggie. In fact, they went to the same retreat together many years ago.”