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“How is that possible?”
“Well, when my grandfather died, he left everything to me because he didn’t trust his son or daughter-in-law with his legacy. My parents were given a stipend to live on, a very generous one, but the businesses were always mine. The money was all mine as well, including determining how much of a stipend my parents were entitled to.”
“They took everything from me. They told me that it all belonged to them,” I said, feeling as if I was going into shock all over again like I had the night they’d sent their goons to confiscate my life.
“I know they did, and they’re learning a lesson about that now. Their stipend was cut in half, their house repossessed by me, and all their vehicles have been remanded to my custody, too. I need you to understand that my family didn’t get away with doing those things to you.”
“They got to keep half of what I’m assuming is a rather large stipend,” I countered.
“They did, but only for one year. I told them that I was showing them the mercy they never offered you. And considering they were not in charge of the finances, like you were led to believe, they never had the authority to take from you to begin with. I know it doesn’t seem like punishment to leave them with something when they didn’t care about you, but trust me, they are suffering and will continue to do so because neither my mother nor father have ever had to work for a day in their spoiled rotten lives. They won’t be able to handle it when they’re finally cut off completely. This is just a slower punishment for them because they think they’ll be able to change my mind in the end.”
“They’re your parents, you should take care of them,” I whispered.
“That’s generous of you. Nova, you’re my daughter. I never disowned you when I left. I didn’t mean for your mother to force you to pack up and move on, too. When I told her to clean everything out of the house, I meant her things alone because you had your own apartment already. I knew you’d be okay until I could pull myself together and face you again. I felt like a failure when that test came back. It felt like I failed us both and I didn’t cope well.”
“I can understand that” I said to him because it was true. The news had been hard to hear and made me question everything in my life. It had to have been the same for him. “Is that it? No more surprises?”
“Other than who your dad is, the only other surprise that might pop up is one I’m going to disclose to you now anyway.” He opened up his wallet and pulled out a debit card that had my name on it. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope with some paperwork inside.
“I made this account for you. I had a different account set up for you from birth, but my family pillaged that one before I could get back. I haven’t decided whether to file charges yet, so there may be more justice coming for my parents. This account has two million dollars in it. It is all yours, in your name only, and no one else can ever touch it unless you give them permission to.”
“I don’t want your money,” I whispered. “I’ve never wanted your money.”
“I know that, but it has always beenyourmoney. I had a fund set up for you from the moment you took your first breath. It’s been building over the years, and this is how much was in it before my family stole it from you.”
“I would turn it down, but it means I can afford the extra semester of college I’ll need now that my internship is gone.”
“I’d rather pay for that semester myself and you keep your money for other things, like starting over wherever the hell you want. Considering you have some shady individuals looking for you, maybe we need to look into getting you a new identity anyway.”
“I really hope it doesn’t have to come to that,” I admitted.
“Me too, kiddo. Me, too.” Jeremy stood and held his hand out to help me off the couch as well. “It’s getting late, and I know you slept a lot today, but I have a feeling you need more rest. Let me show you to your room.”
“How long have you had this place?”
“Since I was twenty-three and discovered what a blessing that peace and quiet away from my family felt like.”
“I would ask why you never brought us here, but…”
“I tried a few times, but your mother said she wasn’t made to go ‘roughing it’ in the mountains with the hillbillies.”
“Of course, she did.” I rolled my eyes because that sounded exactly like something she would say. Only she would have shit a brick if she actually saw this place. It was gorgeous, and nowhere near what I would consider ‘roughing it’.
“Tomorrow, I want to hear more about what your life has been like since I left. I want to know all of it and not the cliff’s note version you gave me earlier. I especially want to know what some idiot did to break your heart and if I need to hire someone to take care of him. I’d do it myself, but you know… I’ve never been a fighter. I can afford to have people do it for me, though.”
He winked, letting me know he was joking because my father was actually a black belt in Karate and I suspected he had other disciplines mastered, too. He was the one who told me to punch a man in his dick to get away, if it ever became necessary. I smiled as the memory of punching Connie surfaced. It was too bad I hadn’t thought to run into that room today and punch Breakneck in his dirty dick. The bastard deserved far more than that for what he’d put me through, but I honestly didn’t think he’d care. He’d already proven that much to me.
Chapter 36
Breakneck
“We have to find her!”
“We will man,” Kip tried to tell me. The minute I called to tell him that Nova left the clubhouse and why, he had jumped into action. Unlike his father, he took it seriously and hopped on his bike to meet me at his house. By the time he got there, a text had come in from Nova on his phone telling him how sorry she was that she could no longer work for him or come back. It was all bullshit.
She wasn’t at his house and that left us with exactly zero options for where she might be, since her phone was turned off and couldn’t be traced. Nova didn’t appear to have friends at her school that she could turn to, her family were all assholes who left her to drift in the wind on her own, and my club was the place she was running from. The only people she had in this world were the Savage Vipers and I fucked her trust in us when she saw me with… When she saw…
“FUCK!” I yelled into the air. Part of me wished we hadn’t come back to the clubhouse because all I could feel here was the pain I’d caused her.
