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“Yeah. I told him. I got my sister on the call. She had no idea Ruby was in distress, or that’s what she said. Her second daughter ended up with friends here. Ruby doesn’t know.”
“Why didn’t Ruby go to them?”
Leon turned in shocked surprise. “Because Ruby is my family! She’s my niece. I held her in hospital. I named her for fucks’ sake! She was supposed to be safe here!”
He dragged in a deep breath. “I lost our little girl. I am sorry for that. Ruby was not a replacement. She was my niece, the bright star in my sister’s eyes. And I let someone break her and didn’t even notice. Why didn’t I notice?” He started sobbing.
Grey held him. “Because I drove her away. We raised her. We were done.”
“We didn’t raise her.” Leon inhaled. “We housed her. We didn’t even buy clothes or her skate lessons for her after she turned thirteen. She paid for everything herself so she wouldn’t be a burden.”
Grey paused. “What?”
“She gave me all the money in cash. It’s in my study.”
“How much is in there?”
“Sixty thousand dollars.”
Grey pulled back and held Leon by his shoulders. “How did she get that kind of money?”
Derrik’s voice said calmly, “She sold choreographies for skating routines, and then she learned dance to write dance choreographies. She started when she was eleven years old. It was how she paid for college.”
Grey blinked. “Leon, I thought you paid for college.”
“You gave me money for her first semester, and after that, you said she had to be a big girl, so I told her, and she started writing apps. She’s a millionaire now, and we never got to congratulate her on that either. Well, you were right. She grew up, and we had nothing to do with it.” Leon’s tears flowed again.
Grey stepped back, and Derrik came in to hold Leon. Leon turned his face into Derrik’s shoulder and felt the waves of concern from his other mate. James was concerned as well, but he would be home in a few minutes.
Leon pulled away and straightened his shoulders. “I should have dinner on the table in a few minutes. Ruby is working tonight, so she is resting a bit. She has declined dinner. She said she wasn’t here to be a leech. She’ll get takeout until she finds a new place to live.”
Grey stepped back again, and his face paled.
Leon looked at his primary mate. “She also wants to know if you ever want to sell the candy shop. She’ll buy it from you, just so she doesn’t have to jump through hoops to work there.”
Grey blinked. “She wants the shop?”
“Well, she doesn’t want things that can be taken away anymore. So, this is the last holiday season that she is going to pitch in if she doesn’t own the company.” Leon sighed. “She also knows that you have been thinking about offering it to Dane’s wife.”
“How does she know that?” Grey looked ashen.
“Ruby was installing a security system at her design firm. She knows all about what a grasping little whore Dane’s wife is.” Leon looked at him with emotional fatigue. “Ruby said that she doesn’t know much about our dynamic, but if I can spend time away from you guys, she wants me to go on a holiday with her. No one looks whiter than her on the beach.”
Derrik chuckled. “After properly seeing her, that’s likely true.”
James came in and said, “Leon, what’s the matter?”
Leon was hugged and surrounded by two out of three mates.
They calmly gathered for dinner, and then Grey cleared his throat. “We need to have a family meeting.”
Leon nodded. “Good idea.”
Grey looked at Leon. “Uh, when?”
“Sunday dinner.”
“Do you think she will come?” He frowned.
