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“That, and she’s only taking this course because she wants to prove to her brother that she can do it,” Diana added. “She’s not even sure she wants to practice. She just knows that she wants to piss her brother off.”
I hummed. “I know that feeling.”
“You have a brother?” Etienne asked curiously.
I nodded. “Unfortunately.”
His lips quirked. “I sense a story there.”
“Mattie doesn’t have a story. She has a soap opera’s worth of stories,” Diana scoffed. “You really have no idea how bad this family of hers is.”
I could sense that he wanted to ask, but he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
But Diana didn’t.
“Maybe we should ask your stepmom to fund this,” Diana joked.
I knew she was joking. The rest of them at the table didn’t.
I didn’t know what spurred me to do it, either. Maybe it was the confusion on Bain and Etienne’s faces. Maybe it was my mood. Maybe it was the phone call from my father today. Whatever it was, I was freakin’ over it.
“Here, let’s ask.” I grinned.
I hadn’t annoyed my stepmom in a while. It would be fun…
“Matilda Jane,” my stepmother answered on the second ring. It would’ve been the first, because she always had her phone in her hand. But she hated me, so she always hesitated. “What can I do for you?”
I rolled my eyes. “My father called and yelled at me about my bank account being overdrawn today. Yesterday it had over ten thousand dollars in it. And today, it had nothing. Do you know what happened?”
There was silence from Etienne and Diana.
“Your brother, Garth, needed a little extra, and you were the only one that had it at that moment in time. I’ll have Garth replace it the moment that he has it to spare,” she replied.
Meaning, never.
“Well, there was an overdraft fee of two hundred dollars. Do you think, possibly, he could spare that?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “So it’s at least zeroed out?”
“No, dear,” Judy Elizabeth, the lying whore of a stepmother, said. “Sorry.”
I rolled my eyes.
“We’re building a new clinic in town,” I started. “I was wondering if I could have access to my trust fund from Daddy, the one that I’m supposed to get this year, early.”
“That’s out of the question,” she answered almost immediately. “We’re in the process of getting that reversed, anyway. It’s frozen.”
I snorted.
Why was I not surprised?
“I thought that the trust fund was mine, legally, due to my last name,” I said. “Grandpa Eric left it to me.”
“He did, but you know how Garth needs it more.” I could practically see her waving her delicate hand in the air.
“Does he?” I asked. “Why?”
“Because, you know. He’s just so delicate,” she lied.
He was not delicate. He was the devil himself.
“Because he needs the money now more than ever. He has children on the way.” She paused. “And Grandpa Eric isn’t cooperating. So we’re having to go through the courts.”
I honestly felt like she thought I actually considered myself to be inferior to her just because of my mom’s heritage.
Truly.
She thought I thought I was a piece of shit.
But I didn’t think that of myself at all. In fact, I thought very highly of myself.
“Well,” I hesitated. “That’s unfortunate. But last time this happened, it was denied. And there’re only eight months to go for you to fix this ‘mistake.’”
“I know, we have a lawyer working double time,” she answered. “Anyway, hope to not see you at Sunday’s dinner.”
Then she was gone.
Diana had a smile on her face, as if that entertainment was actually what it was—entertainment.
The men, on the other hand… they looked disgusted and confused.
“What the absolute bloody hell was that?” Bain asked.
“Bloody?” I asked.
“Putain,” Etienne muttered darkly in his sexy Cajun French accent.
Even though I knew the word to mean something vulgar, it still sounded pretty coming out of his mouth.
That was one thing that I’d noticed, however. Etienne didn’t have an accent… until he wanted to.
Knowing how I was raised, I bet that his family was very careful about what he sounded like to the outside world. Money was funny like that. They wanted their family to sound cultured. They didn’t want kids to sound like they were Cajun French… or a Southern Belle.
I raised my brows at him. “What does that mean?”
“Whore. Or possibly fuck,” he answered instantly. “Guess it works for both in this situation.”
“That is kind of cool,” I said. “Have any other swear words?”
He didn’t answer that question. But he did have something to say.
“She can’t just take your money like that.” Etienne sounded pissed. As if he actually cared. “That’s not how this works.”
I snorted. “She’s a Deveraux. And my dad can’t do anything about her attitude. She’s going to do what she wants to do, and I won’t be able to stop her.”
