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“I still think she’s a fake.”
“Of course she is.” He threw another dart and just missed the red bull’s-eye. “We’ll watch her and she’ll trip up.”
“I’m going back to the ranch.”
“Not now.”
“Tonight.”
A tic developed beneath Jason’s eye. “Can’t it wait? Manny seems to be more than capable—”
“I’ll be back in a couple of days. I just need to do a few things. Check what’s going on at the ranch and in the office.”
Jason looked about to argue, but held his tongue at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Trisha didn’t bother saying a word to either of her brothers, just ambled over to the bar and poured herself a straight shot of tequila. “Where’s Nelson?” she asked as she hoisted a hip onto the stool and sipped her drink.
“He’ll be here.”
“I heard Mother was invited, too.”
“Hell,” Zach muttered, placing the cue ball back on the table.
“She was included in the will,” Jason said.
“Part of her deal with Dad when they divorced.”
“Nonetheless, she counts.”
“Christ.”
Trisha motioned to the bar. “Maybe you need a drink, Zach?”
“Not tonight.”
She glanced at Jason. “And the girl’s coming, too?”
Zach’s neck muscles bunched. “Adria? You invited her here?”
Jason checked his watch. “She should be arriving any minute. Didn’t want to leave her out, you know. I thought maybe we could hammer out a deal and send her packing back to the farm.”
“I don’t think so.” Zach was irritated. He didn’t want to see Adria again, didn’t want to smell her perfume or get lost in her eyes.
“Look, even if she is a fraud, she looks too much like Kat to let it pass. The press will go crazy. There will be pictures in the paper—old photos of Kat put up against new ones of Adria. Comparisons are going to be made whether we like it or not and unfortunately, we all have to admit that the girl does look a lot like our late stepmother.”
“I’m not admitting anything.” Trisha tossed back her drink and poured herself another. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“The newspapers and television reports are just the beginning. Then she’ll get herself a lawyer, a good lawyer who wants some notoriety, someone who’s willing to take a risk just to score big and get his face in the papers. A lot of attorneys are more interested in fame than money.”
Trisha snorted.
“Well, nearly as interested.”
“So, what do you plan to do?” Zach asked, his gut twisting a little. Talking about Adria behind her back, plotting against her, bothered him more than it should have. Maybe Trisha was right, maybe he needed a beer.
Jason’s lips curved into a smooth smile. “What’s the saying from The Godfather—I’m going to ‘make her an offer she can’t refuse’?”
“There is none.”
“I think a hundred grand will do it.”
