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“Fine, for now. But Iwillconfront that bitch, and I can promise you this – shewillpay for what she’s done. Dad taught us all to hunt, and no prey has ever escaped me.” Natalie got in her car and shot out of the parking lot with tires screeching.
Michael rubbed the back of his neck then pressed his fob to unlock his car. “If she doesn’t show up at my place, call her. She listens to you more than me,” he told Douglas over the hood before sliding behind the wheel.
Settling on the passenger side, Douglas replied, “I doubt she’ll listen to anyone right now. They were close.”
“Yeah, I know.” Not only as twins, but there was a ten-year gap between him and his youngest siblings, two separating him and Douglas. Yet he remained closest to his longtime girlfriend, not his wife or brother. He gave a mental shrug.It is what it is, he’d always believed, and wasn’t about to change now that he’d reached forty-two. “She needs time, but the arrangements won’t wait. We’ll handle them, with or without her.”
“And what if Nicole is there? Do you want me to talk to her before then?”
Michael started for home, groaning at the thought. Seeing Nicole Wells at the service would be akin to lighting a firecracker under Natalie. “Yes, in a day or two, after everything is finalized. His will won’t be read until afterward, but I doubt Tony changed anything. Fred never mentioned him making any changes.”
“Fred’s an attorney bound by confidentiality first, not friendship.”
***
“TRUE. I’LL GIVE HIMa call, if for no other reason than to be prepared. That news would derail Natalie.” Michael didn’t need anything else to rile his sister.
“Let’s hope Tony knew enough to keep his holdings in the family.” Douglas shook his head, as if befuddled. “I’ll never understand how he could be so happy staying home all the time with one woman. That’s so contrary to the Renaldi men.”
Their father and uncle were never faithful husbands and didn’t hide that fact from their sons. If their mother or aunt had known, they never let on, the same with his wife, Susan. “Tony lived his life by a different set of values. I always admired that about him.” Michael would miss his little brother. He was the best of them.
***
NICOLE LIFTED THE LASTbox of things she’d left in the bedroom she’d shared with Tony after moving in with her parents six months ago and took one final look around, her heart still aching. She couldn’t believe Tony had changed his will and now this was all hers, along with everything else that was in his name only. He never let on about doing that, swearing the Renaldi lawyer to silence until he showed up at the door a day after her hospital dismissal and she was debating where to go from here. She could only imagine the reaction from Michael and Douglas, surprised she hadn’t heard from them about it. Natalie remained vocal in the press, claiming she got away with murder, citing the inheritance as motive. Nicole had become numb to her accusations.
“Here, let me help you with that.”
Ooops, spoke too soon.
Douglas entered the room and reached for the box, but she stepped aside, irritated and curious all at once. “I’ve got it, thanks. What are you doing here?” Of the three brothers, he was the best looking with his chestnut hair worn long and curling around his nape and his flirty blue-eyed gaze. She’d never met anyone more conceited.
“Straight and to the point. I admire that.” He smiled and ran his fingers down her bare arm.
She didn’t move fast enough that time and hated his creepy touch. “That’s funny,” she stated, heading toward the door. “You wanted nothing to do with me before today. If you don’t mind...”
Blocking her way, he brushed her cheek with his knuckles, his look and voice cajoling as he replied, “Come on, baby, don’t be that way. Or are you playing hard to get?”
Nausea churned in Nicole’s stomach, and she resisted the urge to kick him. Instead, she stomped out of the room, speaking over her shoulder. “Get out of my house, Doug.” Except for Tony, the Renaldis hated it when she called them by the shorter version of their names. But then, Tony hadn’t been a pompous ass like Doug.
Without warning, Nicole found her arm in his bruising grip, his cold, contemptuous look replacing his teasing leer. “You may have fooled my little brother, but neither Michael nor I are as gullible. If you want to keep all this”—he spread his free arm out to indicate the spacious house—“I suggest you be as nice to me as you were to Tony.”
She tried to pull out of his hold, resisting the urge to tell him the house was already under contract with a Realtor, but he tightened his hand with a scornful laugh. A shiver of unease crept down her spine, his behavior so contrary to his usual indifference toward her, she didn’t know how to respond. Luckily, she didn’t have to.
“Get your hand off my daughter.”
Nicole caught the fleeting surprise in his eyes as Doug dropped his hand and turned to face her father coming up the stairs. “Your daughter, huh? So, you’re the one responsible for raising this money-grubbing bitch.”
A small smile flitted at the corners of her dad’s mouth as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they exchanged a quick, conspiring glance. “I couldn’t be prouder of my daughter. Now, as she said, get out of her house.”
Douglas spun on his heel and stomped down the stairs without a word, his rigid back talking for him.
“I’ve never seen him like that. People handle grief in different ways. Maybe that’s his way.” Nicole shrugged, hefting the box in her arms to gain a better hold.
Taking the box from her, Carl Wells said, “Don’t make excuses for the likes of him. I should have thrown your charitable intentions in his face. Is this it?”
“Yes, and I’m not just pointing out how uncharacteristic his behavior was.” Strolling with him toward the stairs, she added, “I’m glad you didn’t mention my plans to give most of the money away.” Nicole favored her father with the same black hair and blue eyes, but her penchant for stating her mind in blunt terms came from both her parents. It made for stimulating arguments, especially when her brother came home on leave from the Navy.
When they reached the foyer, he faced her at the door. “You’re sure about all this, including moving so far away?”
