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9
FINN
“I’ve got wonderful news.” Raven’s voice greets me as I walk into my office the next morning. “My favorite uncle is dying!”
I slept restlessly last night, and not for as long as I would like. I’m not feeling equipped to deal with Raven at all, much less whatever combination of words just came out of her mouth.
“That doesn’t sound like good news,” I say, sitting in my chair.
“Oh, it’s not,” she agrees. “It’s terrible. He’s in so much pain. But he likes me too, and that means there’ll be an inheritance when it’s all over!”
“We don’t do inheritance law,” I tell her. “If you want someone to fight your sister, you’ll need another law firm.”
“Of course not!” she says. “I can fight my sister by myself. This is about true love.”
She sits on the edge of my desk, and her dress slips up her leg. She’s a gorgeous woman, and every once and a while I can remember what it was like to be completely bewitched by her. Metaphorically and, in retrospect, literally.
“True love, huh?”
“Exactly,” she says. “The true love between you and me. Obviously my uncle dying is a terrible tragedy. But if it furthers the cause of true love, then isn’t it worth it, in a way?”
I sigh. “Raven, I’ve tried to be very clear about the way I feel about you—”
“Of course you have, dear,” she interrupts. “That’s why it’s so important for me to love you. You need true love in order to heal you of all the hurt you’re feeling now. And there’s only one thing that’s better at helping true love bloom than mind control, and that’s money!”
“He’s your uncle, not mine,” I retort.
“Of course, but if you confirm our engagement is back on again, then I could easily slip you a nice portion of it as soon as I get it.”
I scoff. “You want to bribe me to be your husband?”
“Oh, you mustn’t think of it like that!” she cries. “I simply want to use your love of money to guide you back to true love, with me! Is that so wrong?”
“Raven, how did you get past security this time?”
“True love admits no obstacles!” she replies. “Also, there’s a five minute window when the guy at the front door walks around to the back. The moment I noticed it, I knew you’d left it for me.”
“Well, I appreciate the offer, but no thank you,” I say. “I don’t need money that much.”
Her face suddenly turns angry, the way it often did halfway through an argument. “That’s not what I’ve been told.”
I’m startled both by the sudden change in her manner and by what she’s saying. Sure, I don’t actually read any of the financial stuff my brothers send me. But they’d tell me if there was actually something wrong, wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t let me just go around acting like everything was fine, would they?
“Told by who?” I ask.
“Oh, Finn,” she says, the anger disappearing and a smile coming back over her face. The anger isn’t gone, even though I can’t see it. I’ve learned that many times. “That’s what I love about you. You just don’t pay attention to anything, do you? You really need someone to take care of you. And that’s what I’m here for.”
“Raven, even if you’re right and there isn’t as much money in the firm as I think—”
“You know I’m right, don’t you, dear? You know that you need me to take care of you.”
Now she’s got me angry. She’s good at doing that, and it’s the worst thing about her. “I don’t care how much money I have or don’t have. I’m not going to get engaged with you, and I don’t need your dead uncle’s money!”
And the anger’s back on her face. “You don’t get to tell me what you need! I know what you need and I’ll tell you what it is!”
She storms to the door and looks back at me. I should be used to her anger by now, but I’m still not.
“You’ll figure out I’m right. You’ll figure out you can’t live without my help. But you’ll have to beg me for it when you do. I give you one week. For your sake, I hope you realize I’m right by then.”
