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Cassia’s gaze goes from Kai to me and back to my son again. “Then I’ll make different oatmeal cookies next time.”
Kai grins happily. “Can I help? Or maybe we can make cupcakes or chocolate chip cookies. Or pie. Apple pie! And spaghetti. Lots and lots of spaghetti now that we’re going to live together.”
“We’ll all chip in and throw in some healthy variations as well,” Cassia says with a load of laughter in her voice.
“And there will still be oatmeal raisin cookies,” I grumble.
Cassia shoots me a stern glance. “You really made a deal with your own kid to make him lie about liking my cookies?”
I shrug. “I really liked them and you were still biting my head off at every turn. I didn’t want to wait a hundred years to get another bite of such deliciousness.”
“Such deliciousness,” she echoes and shakes her head.
Kai yawns and I can tell he’s tired. He’s not completely recovered from the stomach bug and he had quite the eventful day.
“I think it’s time for a bath and some sleep,” I tell him.
“But Daddy,” he whines. “I’m not tired.”
Of course, the last line he adds on a yawn. Cassia’s mouth twitches and she grabs the mugs sitting on the table in front of us to put them in the sink. Another thing I appreciate about her; she doesn’t interfere when I’m talking to Kai.
Even my mother sometimes jumps in when I’m having a talk with Kai if he does something he’s not allowed or has to know about certain rules. But not Cassia. She will raise an eyebrow or bug me once Kai is out of earshot, but not in front of my boy.
“Tomorrow is another day. And I assure you now that Cassia and I are together she will teach you how to ride a horse and we’ll spend more time here at the clubhouse but also at the ranch,” I tell him, hoping it’s enough to settle the argument.
His shoulders sag. “Okay. But can I check on Melody before I go to school tomorrow?”
My phone starts to ring, preventing me from answering his question. I pull it out and notice it’s Atticus.
I slide my gaze to Cassia. “I have to take this.”
“Come on, sweets. Why don’t we check if you like my selection of bath bombs?” She holds out her hand for him to take.
“You have bombs to throw into a bath?” Kai says in awe.
Cassia grins. “Oh, yeah. Let me show you a whole new way of taking a bath.”
I chuckle while I answer the phone, watching those two stroll out and head for the bathroom. “Atticus, what do you have for me?”
“You sound cheerful. Almost makes me regret calling but there’s no way around this shit so I’m going to tell it to you straight.”
“Shoot,” I grunt, my mood souring by the damn microsecond.
“Elvira’s parents were murdered. Someone made it seem like the boat blowing up was an accident but the explosion had nothing to do with an accident. Also, the coroner’s report says they were dead before they exploded. No signs of smoke or anything in their lungs and her father has blunt force trauma to the head and the mother has a crushed trachea. Fisher read the will. They changed it a few months before they died and I’m guessing Elvira didn’t know anything about it or maybe she does but this shit is tricky either way.”
“Just spit it out, dammit,” I growl.
“Kai is sole beneficiary. Everything goes to him when they die and he will receive a royal monthly allowance until he’s twenty-one and will have it all. Until then the parent who holds full custody will oversee his finances but is not able to touch a cent of that money unless Kai needs it in some way. For school, sports, medical, that kind of shit,” Atticus informs me.
My ears start to ring and I can’t believe what he’s telling me. And if what he just mentioned is true then, “Kai’s got a fucking bull’s-eye on his back.”
“He sure does,” Atticus says with a load of anger in his voice. “For fuck’s sake what was the man thinking when he skipped his daughter? You know Elvira stole money from her father any way possible when she was growing up, right? She never wanted to work and did nothing in school and was expelled. For a very successful businessman it was a thorn in his side. He wanted her to change her ways and this was how he thought he could motivate her.”
“I know he had her arrested a few times for stealing money when she was growing up and when she tried to sell his coin collection to score money instead. It was all in her file when I did a background check when she showed up pregnant. First I thought she might want to blackmail me with the pregnancy to get cash but the paternity test and knowing about the terms of the trust fund made it clear she had other motivation.” I sigh and stare out the window.
“Money is what drives her for sure,” Atticus murmurs.
“If she’s the one who planned all of this and realizes it’s all for nothing and she won’t get a dime…shit is going to hit the fan.”
