I wish his words were enough to convince me. “So you’re saying my uncle opened a bank account in my name and didn’t tell me about it? How much is in it?”
“A lot.” Hayes winces. “From what Legacy can tell, he hasn’t touched the funds since he put them in there. He’s using it as a holding account, setting it aside for safekeeping. That way, if he ever got into legal trouble, he’d have liquid assets available for quick access. Since it’s in your name, they wouldn’t be able to touch it.”
“But if it’s in my name, he would need—” My mind races as I put the pieces together.
“He would need you to access the funds.”
I swallow hard. “You don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? I swear, I had no idea about theaccount. I didn’t think I had any money in general. That’s one of the reasons I never left.”
“I already know you had nothing to do with this.” Hayes reaches forward, cupping my cheeks. “Zane is a manipulator, Emery. A con man. He played you the way he plays everyone else, and he probably already worked out how to use you to access the money without you ever finding out about it. I hate that you dealt with him for so long.”
“I survived.”
His expression darkens, and he drops his hands. “Yeah… about that.”
“What?” I ask when Hayes pulls back a little more.
The warmth of the evening has settled around us, but in my core, my temperature drops. Ice shoots through my veins, realizing there’s something Hayes has yet to say. Something I doubt I’ll like if his expression is any indication.
“The accounts aren’t the only thing that we found.” His grip is gentler now. “Legacy found another transfer at the same time as your account was opened. A wire sent to a trust in the name of the Williamson family.”
Williamson.
That name still turns my blood cold.
When I close my eyes, I can still see the car barreling toward us—not slowing. It happened so fast, I didn’t scream. At least not until after I opened my eyes and was met with blood. With my mother’s empty eyes.
My heart thunders. “The same Williamson family of the man who killed my parents?”
Hayes nods, squeezing my hands. “Right after the accident, your uncle sent a large payment to the family of the man who caused it.”
“That doesn’t sound right. Why would he do that?”
“There’s only one reason I can think of.”
My eyes widen, and I shoot out of the lounger. “You think my uncle set it all up.”
A rush of blood swims between my temples, and I almost lose my footing as I stumble back. Hayes is on his feet, grabbing my shoulders the moment before I drop to my knees on the patio. But I can’t breathe. I can’t see. His face is a blur as he squats before me.
“Why would he do that?” A tear slips down my cheek. “He and my father were close. That’s why I trusted him, even when he did horrible things. I knew he was a bad man, but he was my uncle. He wouldn’t—”
Bile rises in my throat as my stomach flips.
The darkness is no longer just the night around me. I’m losing focus.
“We don’t know what happened exactly.” Hayes’s tone is so steady. “Our best guess is that he and your father had a falling out over something with the casino. But they were co-owners, so Zane couldn’t just push your father out. The only way for one of them to take control of the empire would be if the other was dead.”
“And what about me? Should I be dead too?”
“No,” Hayes snaps, curling back like the thought of that is vile. “I don’t think that’s what he intended. When your father died, his assets technically went to you.”
“But I was only six…”
“Right. And as the only living relative, Zane became your guardian, giving him access to all of it.”
“It was all for money?” My tongue sours. “He killed his own brother over a disagreement? An inheritance?”
“It seems like it.”
