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I exhaled a long breath that I felt like I’d been holding for months. We won the appeal. Won it hands down. The conservatorship was dissolved. And my asshole father had to provide a complete accounting of everything spent from my account. Every transaction. Every investment dissolved. Drew’s firm already had paperwork ready to go to sue for damages. If I won that, which we were confident I would, he would have to return money for the apartment rent for the two months’ rent paid and the fees paid to his accountant, Jervus, and his lawyer, McNeil, out of my funds. I knew damn well he used my money to cover every single thing he did to ruin my life. Apparently, there was also a hefty fee my dad took for himself for running the conservatorship for the month of December, and I was appalled at the amount. That would also need to be returned. Suddenly, I had a different view of my father. This wasn’t simply about controlling me. It was tapping into my funds as well.
According to what I could find, a few other investments had been dissolved, but I had no idea where the funds had gone. We planned to sue him for divesting those investments, including the profit I would have seen, as well. He would have to pay for that along with fees to reestablish them. If I won, of course, but Drew was certain we would since he was taking on that side of the case, so I hung on to that. Though a part of me didn’t give a shit. It was worth every penny to get rid of his oversight and to have my pup-play justified in a court of law. That set a precedent. The judge had to know that.
Bruno shook my hand. “This is all great news. Now, there will be a review in a hundred and twenty days to ensure that you are in fact, living on your own successfully. It seems ridiculous, but it’s standard procedure for ending a conservatorship, and we won’t do anything that skirts the law.” He glared over at my father and his lawyer. “The good part about that is it will be conducted by a neutral party assigned by the judge, not the Mabrys or McNeil.”
I sighed. “It’s still scary. You know? My father has interfered with third parties in the past. That’s how I got in this mess to start with.”
The lawyer looked smug. “Not this time.” He patted my hand. “I’ve got your back. Drew has your back.”
I didn’t think that meant I should immediately run out to Tam-PAH and get a session in. The good behavior would need to continue. I rubbed my face. I had to prove I made good decisions. Needing to justify my life like that was incredibly stupid. People were normally allowed to make bad decisions. That didn’t mean they couldn’t run their lives. It wasn’t taken from them.
My dad’s voice grew louder as he accused his lawyer of being unprepared, an idiot, and not worth his fees. McNeil patted his shoulder and subtly directed him between the center of the pew-like seats in the back of the room leading to the door. My dad went, but before he stepped out of those double doors, he turned and glared at me. “This isn’t over.”
Bruno huffed. “Yes, it is.”
The hatred on my father’s face felt like another wake-up call. He had always hated being thwarted, but this was worse. It scared me. I didn’t know what he’d cook up next.
“Geez, you’re shaking.” Bruno put his arm around my shoulder and grabbed his briefcase with his other hand. “Come on. Let’s get you to Quinn.”
I hadn’t heard more comforting words in my entire life.
Chapter fourteen
The Cruise
Quinn
I had initially wanted to book the cruise for New Year's Eve. But there was no way to get Royce to go with me as long as the conservatorship was in place, so I’d had to wait until after his court date. I called Jax as soon as I could after hearing Royce won and set it up. Of course, Jax was a few steps ahead of me and already had the ball rolling. He invited all the members of the Tam-PAH group, and their plus ones. It would be one of the smaller boats and have an intimate feel.
And plenty of fun puppy time for my baby.
Royce had spent nearly every second at my side since his court date, and two days later, we were ready to go. With an arm around my pup, we boarded the yacht. Jax had said it was smaller, but it was still massive, a two-hundred-foot triple-decker with a pool and hot tub—a sleek black and white dream.
Royce had been dying to get back on one of these bad boys since we’d taken the inaugural cruise on Jax’s first purchase. Now, he had three vessels in the stable, and for the next four days, this one was all ours. Well, and our friends.
Sunshine had his yellow pup-mask on and was waving and wiggling from the side that overlooked the stairs. “Come up! Come up!”
Royce laughed at his antics, the sound reverberating through my chest. We needed a ton more of that. “Hold your tail, pup. I’m coming.” He scampered up the stairs with me at his heels. I wouldn’t be letting him out of my site.
For nearly an hour, we toured the ship and got comfortable as our friends arrived and the crew prepared for our launch. We ended up sitting together with drinks on the second level, back deck, as we waited. Finally, Jax walked out. “We’re getting underway! Someone give me a drink. Todd?”
“Here.” Todd held a pitcher up to show us what he had, then poured the pink frozen concoction into a wide-rimmed glass for all of us. He was still wearing his mask and looked quite cute. “Let’s party!”
Jax took the glass and raised it up. “Here’s to our good friend Royce and his newly won freedom!”
Everyone yelled and raised their glasses. The one they called Egypt had a shiny, black pup-mask on but pulled it off to get better access to the drink. It was a mighty toast to kick off our cruise, and as we all took a sip of our drinks, the boat began to move. More cheers all around for that went up. Todd finally took his mask off, but he still seemed very happy and comfortable. Yep, it was going to be fun.
Royce looked around, assessing things, then asked, “Hey, where’s Levi?”
Todd shook his head and frowned for the first, and hopefully last, time on this trip. “He didn’t want to come. He doesn’t know anything about pup-play and felt he’d be in the way.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. “There’ll be plenty of non-pup stuff to do, too.”
“Yeah.” Todd took a long sip of his drink and immediately regretted it. He balled a fist and put it against his forehead. “Ow, ow.”
“Brain-freeze?” Egypt laughed.
“Yeah…” Todd relaxed back in the chair as it subsided. “Anyway, Levi is also having money issues and felt it would be better for him to work. He got a second job before Christmas, but…”
