Page 26 of Worth of Waste

Karen parked her car, still staring at the house.

Mike had already gotten out of his vehicle, and he patiently waited for her to do the same. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the large entrance with its massive pillars once as she came to stand at the lawyer’s side.

“Well, what do you think?” Mike asked. “Thirty acres, private, three-level home with attached garage.”

Karen just gaped.

Had Dino done what she thought he had done?

How?

“It’s … beautiful,” Karen admitted.

“He thought you might like it,” Mike said with a smile. “‘Homey,’ he said. You appreciate that kind of thing, apparently.”

Karen still wasn’t sure she knew what was happening. “Did he buy this?”

“Signed the final papers yesterday, actually. Only a few of his accounts haven’t been frozen, and those were ones related to businesses the feds haven’t touched yet. We assume they will after he’s released, because they’ll be opening up everything in an attempt to get him pinned down again.”

All Karen had heard in those statements was that Dino might be going back to prison after he was out.

She really didn’t want to think about that.

“I can’t take this,” Karen said, more to herself than to Mike. “This is too much.”

“He thought you might feel that way, and if you want, you can wait. You don’t have to take it right now. After all, his name is on the deed, not yours. Dino just wanted to show you, in a way he was capable of, that he is trying to plan beyond his current situation—that he does want to be … well, a family, I suppose.”

Yeah, Karen got that.

“I don’t think I could just move in here without …”

She didn’t finish her sentence, letting it hang in the wind.

Mike nodded like he didn’t need her to continue. “I get it. There’s one other thing, though.”

Karen looked to the lawyer, warier than ever. “What’s that?”

“The cabin on the lake he owns—he said you would know what he was talking about without me needing to go into details.”

Her mouth went dry.

Of course she knew.

It was where she had fallen in love with Dino.

“What about it?” Karen dared to ask.

Mike pulled a large envelope from the inside pocket of his blazer, handing it over to Karen with a smirk. “Non-negotiable, the property is signed over to you. He’s not arguing about it, it’s an asset he doesn’t want claimed—the papers make it look like it was sold to someone else, who then put it into an auction, where you’ve then purchased the home and property. It’s all yours, Karen, just sign before we leave.”

Karen was thunderstruck.

“But—”

Mike gave her a look, quieting her. “This one is already done, and he’s not changing anything about it. He’s going to take care of his son in one way or another, whether you want to be with him or you don’t. This is one way he’s chosen to do that. Sign and the lake property is yours.”

How in the hell was she supposed to say no to that?

Dino