“Everything in me wants to take him down.” He’d have the money to run the ranch without Roxy’s help. He could provide for himself and Sonya.
They could have a life like nothing she’d ever experienced.
He’d had dreams of traveling. He’d like to tour Europe and especially Italy. He’d love to go to Mardi Gras and eat Louisiana gumbo. He’d never been to a big city. Maybe Sonya would like to visit New York or San Francisco.
They’d never have to worry about money.
Now that he knew what his father had done, how petty a reason he had for pushing Austin out of his life and treating him like shit, could they repair their relationship?
Would his father even want that?
Or would his father follow pattern and lash out? The fight had been his doing, not Austin’s. His father only knew how to take. But he’d have to give if they even had a chance of fixing this.
Austin couldn’t find any optimism that would happen. Not when it seemed beyond repair.
“Austin? What’s wrong?”
“If I take back what’s mine, then what? I push my father out of the company and run it myself? I’m not sure that’s what I want to do. I like what I’ve got going now. My own ranch. A life I put together the way I want it.” He cupped her face. “You.” He kissed her, needing the connection they shared to settle him. “I want a future that isn’t about the things I have but the people who make me happy and a life worth living and enjoying.” Sometime over the last year he’d fundamentally changed. Money didn’t mean as much to him as the people in his life. Friends like Noah, who had stood by his side. And Roxy, who took a chance on him.
Sonya, who saw potential in a broken man.
With no evidence that he could do it, she believed in him. He wanted to be the man she saw in him. The man she deserved.
And he wanted to give her everything.
Sonya hooked her hands over his wrists at her shoulders. “Before you talk to your father, I have a few more things I want to research. Let’s go chat with Mr. Foster about the accounts.” Sonya pressed her lips to his, not quick, but lingering for a few seconds to let him absorb her closeness. She fell back on her heels, gave him a reassuring smile, then gathered up the papers and handed them to him.
He tried to focus on what they needed to do and not giving in to his desire to pull her back into his arms. “What more are you looking for?”
“You’re the one who knew about the mineral rights. I would have never thought about that when selling a piece of land. When I pulled the property records, I thought that was all the information. It wasn’t. All I know is follow the money and you’ll find the truth about how much someone is hiding.”
Austin put the empty box back and locked it up. He waved to Mr. Foster to let them out of the vault.
“All finished, then. I’ve pulled the records for Alan Jones and Austin. Let’s go to my office and review them.”
They followed the bank manager and sat in front of his desk.
Mr. Foster turned the computer monitor toward them. “These are Alan Jones’s accounts. Checking, savings, and the box. The financial accounts were closed by Austin.” Mr. Foster clicked a few tabs and typed in Austin’s name to bring up his accounts. “As you can see, Austin has an open checking and credit line account with the bank in his name only.”
“I wish the numbers were flopped on the accounts and I had the amount I owe on the credit line in the checking account.” He hated seeing that dismal amount in his checking account.
Mr. Foster pointed to the other checking account. “This is the account Roxy Cordero set up for the business partnership. Austin signs on it, along with you, Sonya. I assume you are this Sonya.”
Sonya nodded. “That’s right. What’s that other savings account?” Sonya pointed to another block on the screen.
Mr. Foster clicked the account number and pulled up the information. “Strange. This is a custodial account. It should have been changed over to Austin on his eighteenth birthday. His parents are the custodians.” Mr. Foster glanced at Austin. “I apologize for the oversight.”
“No worries. Looks like there’s a couple grand in the account.” That would help him pay his credit card bill this month.
“I can change the account to your personal savings, or transfer the balance to your checking account.”
“Hold on.” Sonya held up her hand. “Can we see the activity on the account?”
Mr. Foster clicked on the statement tab. “There’s been no recent activity.”
Sonya pointed to the statement links going back years. “I want to see the opening statement.”
Mr. Foster obliged.
The statement came up on the screen and Austin had to lean forward to be sure he saw the original deposit amount correctly. “Is that right?”
Mr. Foster adjusted his glasses and stared at the amount. “Yes.”
“I started with one hundred and fifty grand and ended up with only about two grand. Where did the money go?”
Mr. Foster pulled up one statement after the next until they saw the withdrawal for all but fifteen hundred dollars. The account had been earning interest, which brought the balance up very slowly over the last twenty-plus years.
“Can you determine if the money was transferred to another account?” Sonya pulled a slip of paper and a pen from her purse and wrote down the amount and date of the transaction.
“The fee below the withdrawal amount indicates to me the money was paid out by cashier’s check. This happened quite a long time ago. I’m not sure we have the records for who the cashier’s check was made out to, but the money could only have been withdrawn by—”
“My father.”
“Or your mother as custodians,” Mr. Foster confirmed. “The thing is, once the money is put in a custodial account, the money irrevocably belongs to the child. A custodian can only withdraw money for you, the minor, for your direct benefit. They can’t use it for themselves, say to buy a car.”
Sonya turned to him. “The letter. What your father stole.”
Austin nodded. “He took the money my grandfather put in my name to start the mining business.”
Mr. Foster leaned forward. “Unless you own the business or a reasonable share of it, you have a case for him raiding your custodial account.”
Austin clenched his fists. “My dad doesn’t share, he takes.”
Sonya shook her head. “Based on my research, he’d been mining his land long before this withdrawal. My guess, he didn’t hit the mother lode he’d expected, so he bought the surrounding land.” Sonya came to the same conclusion as Austin.
“In the early days I worked for the company, I remember him telling me the new land produced far more than he ever got from the original mining operation.” That’s when his father actually shared things with Austin.
Mr. Foster chimed in again. “Most of what he originally mined probably went right back into the business.”
Austin had worked for his father as a teenager as his father drew him slowly into the business. But when he finished school and went to work full-time, he’d gone through some of the records to see where they’d found the biggest sapphire deposits, thinking it might be worth going back to those sites and looking for more. “He hit the big score on the new property about a year into mining the new land. Almost a year after he took the money from my account.”
“Land that he bought with your money.” Sonya stared at him, silently asking what he wanted to do next.
Austin never expected to find all this, his father’s betrayal spelled out in land deeds, mineral rights, and bank accounts. “Can you make me copies of the records, please?”
Mr. Foster nodded, turned the monitor back to face him, and typed on the keyboard. The printer spit out pages of information that documented his father’s theft and betrayal.
Mr. Foster peeked over his glasses and frowned. “I’ve found the original transfer of the one-fifty from your grandfather’s savings account to the custodial a
ccount in your name as well. I’ll include that for you.”
“Thank you for all your help.” Sonya stood and put her hand on Austin’s shoulder. “The courthouse is a couple blocks up. I’m going to head up there and get the records for the purchase of that land.”
He took her hand and held her still. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone.” He didn’t want anything to happen to her like the last time. “What if he’s still having you followed?”
Mr. Foster handed over the copies. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Transfer the money from the custodial account to Austin’s checking account and close it out.”
Austin had already forgotten about that. His mind swirled with thoughts about what his father had done and what Austin should do now.
“Of course. Austin, if you’ll give me a moment to complete the transaction and get your signature, I’ll have you out of here in a few minutes.” Mr. Foster went to work on his computer again.
Austin stared up at Sonya. “Wait for me.”
She cupped his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his skin. “You can’t let him get away with this. Your grandfather wanted that money to go to you.”
He nodded and hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ll take care of it.”
This meant another confrontation with his father. The upcoming battle would be nothing compared to what he’d already endured listening to his father’s harsh words and put-downs. Walter wouldn’t go down without a fight.
If nothing else, he wanted his father to know that Austin knew what he’d done: cheating, stealing, and deceiving his only child.
He could forgive, but he’d never forget and allow his father to affect him the way he had this past year.
Austin was done taking it. For once, his father was going to know what it felt like to be at the mercy of someone who could take everything from him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Austin followed Sonya into the courthouse, but swept his gaze over his shoulder and side to side, making sure no one had followed them from the bank. It seemed implausible and a little like some spy movie to even think his father had them under surveillance, but after Sonya’s attack, Austin wasn’t taking any chances.
“You’re back.” The woman behind the counter addressed Sonya. “Man, that looks even worse than when it happened.” The woman pointed at Sonya’s bruised forehead.
“Thank God it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Sonya folded her arms on the counter.
“What can I pull for you this time?”
Austin set the highlighter-colored map they’d brought with them on the tabletop. “We’d like a copy of the deed to this land.” Austin pointed to the green highlighted area.
The woman took a defensive step back. Her gaze bounced from him to Sonya and back. “Um, why do you want that?”
Sonya shifted, setting her shoulders back and cocking her head. “Darla, it’s a public record. Why can’t we have it?”
Darla bit her lip and seemed to try to think of a logical reason. “Um . . .”
“Did my father, Walter Hubbard, tell you not to give us a copy of the deed?” Austin wouldn’t put it past him.
“He did come in the day after Sonya got hurt.” Darla’s gaze did that tennis-match bob between them again.
“Darla, get the copy of the deed and the mineral rights. Now,” Sonya ordered. “Don’t make me go over your head to your boss.”
Darla scrunched her lips, then spun on her heel and went to the computer on the desk behind her. “I don’t know why he didn’t want you to have it, but it can’t be good if he came all the way down here to tell me not to give it to you, or else. You got your face bashed in. What’s going to happen to me?” Darla snatched the papers off the printer and slapped them on the counter in front of Sonya. “You’re putting me in jeopardy, you know.”
“Oh, for the love of . . . Get over it. You did your job. That’s all.” Sonya turned her attention to the papers.
Austin read over her shoulder. “The land is in his name, but the mineral rights are in mine.”
Sonya stared up at him. “Oh. My. God. This means . . .”
“Everything he ever pulled out of that land is mine.” Austin swore and raked his hand over his head.
“Why would he put the mineral rights in your name?”
“Like Mr. Foster said, to use the money from the custodial account, I had to directly benefit. Legally, this satisfied that condition.”
“But you didn’t benefit. He kept it all.”
“Which means I have to fight to get it back.” Austin sighed. “But I think this has more to do with my mother. She probably insisted, since he stole the money from my account. She wanted to protect me and this did it. At the time, he thought I’d grow up and work beside him and worship him. I never did. Not the way he expected. I respected him as my father and boss, but we were never close. He kept a distance between us. The harder I tried to get close to him, the colder he got. I understood early on if I wanted a hug, I went to Mom. My father doled out unsympathetic lectures, not kind words or praise.”
Sonya narrowed her gaze. “So he starts Blue Mining under the five-year lease on the property your grandfather gave him, then buys another piece of land with your money and puts the mineral rights in your name. Years later, you go to work for him. You help him run the company and the ranch. Your grandfather dies and all of a sudden your father wants to keep you from discovering this.” She pointed to the papers. “What the hell? Yes, most of the wealth is yours, but he’d be compensated for starting the business and running it. So what? He just didn’t want you to have any of it while he was alive? That doesn’t make sense. As his only child, you’d inherit the company anyway. Everything he has would go to you.”
“None of that accounts for the fact my father is an egotistical narcissist. He doesn’t care about the law or hurting me or anyone else.” He traced his finger lightly around the bruise on her head. “He doesn’t have a conscience. He wants what he wants and he isn’t going to give it up. He worked his whole life building that company and his wealth. In his mind, it’s his. And he’s not going to willingly share.”
“You need a lawyer, Austin. This isn’t right. You can’t let him take what is rightfully yours. This came from your great-grandfather down to you and was meant to be shared by your whole family. Your mother knew that. It’s why she made your father put the mineral rights in your name. Your grandfather wanted you to have it. They couldn’t fight your father, but they knew you would because this is your birthright.”
He’d been fighting his father a long time now. He didn’t want to keep fighting. It drained him. He hated feeling like his father made him come down to his level. Even worse, he hated the way his father made him act. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t how he wanted to be, or how he treated people.
“Austin, if you don’t take care of this, your father could cut you out completely and leave his estate to someone else. He’s already trying to have another child. Short of that, he could donate everything. If you don’t claim it, everything your family left you will be gone.”
His anger boiled over. “Is that what this is about? If I take it back, I’ll be rich. I won’t need Roxy or anyone else to bail me out. I can bulldoze the house like you suggested and build a newer, better, grander one in its place. Money, a bigger house, is that what you need?”
Sonya stepped back like he’d struck her. “Your mother fought your father for years. Your grandfather tried to make him do the right thing for you. They were treated to his abuse for years. You were cast aside like trash and made to live on nothing and left out in the cold. And he’s gotten away with it. No one stood up to him and put him in his place. He’s never had to account for his behavior or his crimes. How can you possibly let him get away with that? Because you’re tired of fighting with him. That’s how he wins!”
Sonya raised her hands out to her sides and let them fall and slap her thighs. “If you’re done and want to
run your ranch and have your life, fine.” She pointed her finger at him. “But don’t put it on me that you think you’re only worth being with if you have money.” She pointed to herself. “That’s not me talking, that’s your father and Kelly in your head.” That finger pointed right at his face this time. “They made you feel worthless. I only ever wanted you to believe you’re the man I love because you’re strong and resilient and kind and so much more than I ever thought possible.”
He hooked his hand around the back of her head and drew her in for a long deep kiss. He put everything overflowing his heart into letting her know how sorry he was for letting his doubts creep in between them and how much her words meant to him.
Her initial hesitation faded and her arms wrapped around his neck. Her body pressed close. Not close enough. Never close enough.
He didn’t want to ever give her a reason to leave. But she’d never do that. She’d stay by his side and have his back because Sonya didn’t love or trust easily, but she did with him.
Over the last year he’d learned that things didn’t hold as much value as those intangible things you couldn’t buy. Like the love of a good woman.
A woman who’d seen too many people get away with being mean and breaking the law.
Her great-uncles had never answered for their crimes.
Her mother had never gotten justice.
Sonya spent her life trying to fight for her mother.
Now she fought for him to get what his father had stolen.
He kissed her one last time, holding her tight, and silently letting her know just how deeply she touched him. All the way to his soul.
He didn’t deserve her. But he’d never give up trying to be worthy of her.
He cupped her face and ended the kiss. It took him a second to find his bearings, but then he opened his eyes and everything in his world aligned and centered on her. “I love you, too.”
Her eyes went wide with surprise, then softened and filled with joy and wonder. “You do?”
“With every cell of my body and every breath of my life.”
A phone clicked beside them. Austin glanced over at Darla, who snapped their photo.
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