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CHAPTER 3
If you see me wearing a dress this summer, mind your business. I’m not trying to look nice. I’m just trying to air out the undercarriage.
-Text from Matilda to Etienne
ETIENNE
“What the fuck was that?” I asked as I watched Matilda drive off in her van with my cat in tow.
“That,” Diana, my buddy’s girl, said, “is Matilda’s life. That’s why she can’t offer to pay for anything, because her family takes advantage of her, and she can’t do a single thing about it.”
“That’s not right. Nor does she have to put up with it. She needs to find…”
“A good lawyer?” Diana interrupted me. “Trust me, she’s looked for one. But Deveraux, Inc. is a massive conglomerate that pretty much owns shit in every single aspect of the world. And Judy Elizabeth is a complete and utter bitch. She’s also a vindictive cow. She’ll go out of her way to make sure that Mattie is humiliated and stuck with the bill.”
The fuckin’ nerve of that bitch…
“Fais Chier,” I grumbled under my breath.
“I think that one means ‘that pisses me off,’” Bain offered.
I rolled my eyes.
The guys had spent enough time with me over the years to know most of the curse words.
“Why is it like that?” I finally asked. “What’s her story?”
“Other than it not being mine to share…” Diana hesitated. “Her stepmom and dad were married when her dad decided to cheat with Matilda’s mom. Matilda’s mom had no idea that he was married. She only fell in love. When she found out, she broke it off, but Matilda had been conceived. Matilda’s mother almost died during labor, and was fairly sickly after that. Couldn’t quite regain her health. She died when Mattie was nine. Then Mattie had to move in with her father, who was still married to his current wife. We refer to her as her stepmother for lack of a better term. From there, it was just a bunch of living hell for Mattie until Mattie moved out at the age of eighteen.”
I might have money. And my parents might seem like they were pretentious assholes to the outside world, but they were far from it.
They were great, gracious people that went out of their way to help those in need. But they were quite protective of their own.
As evidenced by me going to jail.
It was a stain on the LaFayette name, but it certainly wasn’t something that my parents would ever get mad about. Family took care of family, no matter what.
Though, that didn’t always extend to extended family.
As evidence by Conrad, my nephew, not really being allowed into the fold. Which bothered the holy hell out of him.
Conrad might be taking over for me as head foreman of my construction business someday, but he couldn’t make decisions that would affect anyone—or me—without first getting the approval of my mom, dad and my sister. Mostly because they thought he couldn’t make an informed decision because he was ‘special.’ He might be able to sway my sister—though lately, not even my sister would agree with him—but he’d never get my parents. My parents loved their business. No way in the world would they ever put it in jeopardy. Not even for their only grandson.
“You got names for these people?” I asked. “I have friends in high places.”
Diana narrowed her eyes. “She won’t be happy if you make things worse.”
I snorted. “That’s definitely not my intent.”
“Then I’ll give you the names.” She paused. “Just be really careful here. She gets attached easily. If you butt into her life, expect to stay there.”
Expect to stay there.
Did I want to stay in her life?
I mean, I gave her my fuckin’ cat, didn’t I?
And the fact that she understood my nephew… that was a gift I wasn’t going to overlook.
“I gotta get going,” I finally said. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I have some info to share,” I looked at Diana. “If you have any changes that you want to make before I send these notes to the architect…”
“I thought you were the architect?” she asked.
“I was. Before I lost my license.” I grimaced. “And we need to do this by the book since it has my name on it and all. But trust me, I’ll be pretty much finalizing the plans. There won’t be any problems.”
“How long will you be in Louisiana?” Bain asked after a bit.
I shrugged. “Couple days maybe. When I get back, we should be able to get started on breaking ground at the new clinic. I’ll get Geno to start working on it as soon as I get there this afternoon.”
“Gino?” Diana questioned.
“Geno, short for genocide.” I paused. “That’s what I call my sister Jenna. It’s a long story. Don’t ask unless you have fifteen minutes. Which, at this point, I don’t. I gotta follow behind her to make sure she doesn’t steal my cat.”
