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“Bottom line is the business has paid Lance eight hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars in the past five years and Neil has received eight hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars. Your third of the business, on todays' valuation totals six hundred thousand dollars each. Matt said a decent wage for the two of you would have been sixty thousand per year, but I would have paid seventy thousand so adjusting the figures to take this into account—Lance, you are owed one hundred and eighteen thousand dollars and Neil, you are owed ninety-six thousand dollars.”
My brothers gasped in shock but before they could protest, I stood, pushed the papers in front of them, and stormed from the room. As I closed the door behind me, I heard Neil say, “Fuckin' hell. What are we gonna do now?”
“Everything okay?” Rita asked.
“No, but in time it will be. I'll be at the O'Brien place for the rest of today and will be back in tomorrow. Can you place an ad in the paper for two qualified builders to start immediately?”
“Are you sure? Won't you give them some time to think about things?”
“They've had enough time and more than enough of my patience.”
The door slammed as he left.
Chapter Nine
Natalie
I answered the phone on the first ring, it was late afternoon and Zack had been in my thoughts all day. “Yes, Stacey?”
“It's Zack.”
“Put him through please.”
“Natalie, are you busy tonight, baby?”
His tone sounded angry and even though it wasn’t directed at me, I chose my words carefully. He’d told me about the meeting with his brothers, it obviously hadn’t gone well. “Are you okay? You sound angry, is it your brothers?”
“No, I'm not okay and yes, I have spoken with the arseholes. Can I come and see you, I really need you?”
My heart skipped a beat. Here was a drop-dead gorgeous man saying he needed me.Me. “Of course you can come and see me at any time. My place, six thirty?”
“Perfect. Shall I bring Chinese? Anything you prefer?”
“I love all Chinese food, so you choose, thank you.”
“I’ll pick it up on the way.”
“Don’t fret, sweetheart. I’m sure everything will be okay.” Zack grumbled down the line before disconnecting the call and I placed the handset back on the cradle. When I lifted my eyes, Stacey stood staring at me from the doorway. “Close your mouth, Stacey, before you catch a bug.”
She invited herself into the room and sat in a chair facing me. “Anything you should be telling me?”
“We’ll chat later, I have a client,” I attempted to sidetrack my assistant and best friend.
“No, you don't. I'm your PA remember, and I know Mrs Ross was the last appointment for the day. The front door is locked. Come on, you know I have been throwing men at you for ages and you have been throwing them back. It sounds like you have found one all on your own and I must say, he is a hell of a hunk no matter which brother you have picked. Does he know about your scars?”
I sighed. Stacey was like a persistent itch when she latched onto something. I decided I might as well talk because sooner or later she would pull it from me—She had a knack for getting me to tell her everything. The thought of sharing my news with my best friend appealed to me. In reality, I was busting to tell her. “I have started seeing Zack Hogan. We met at the funeral a couple of weeks ago.” I didn’t need to explain which funeral, we’d talked about it a great deal.
“You went to your grandmother's funeral after everything she put you through? You said there was no way you’d go, what changed your mind?”
“I spat on her.”
Stacey's jaw dropped. “Where?”
“In church. The coffin was open, and she was lying there like she’d never done anything wrong. I got angry.”
“Oh.”—Silence.
“I had to let her know I would never forgive her. Not even in death. Does that sound stupid?”
