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“You know I can’t because she gave you that money.”
“She didn’t. She scammed us both. She was meant to be a sympathetic ticket.” One I was going to use to con Zoey, but I keep that part to myself. “I need to go, but I’ll be back.”
“No. Don’t come here. Don’t call me. Don’t do anything.”
And with that, she turns and unlocks her door, slamming it in my face.
I want to bang on the door. I want to break it down and make her listen, even though I know I have no right.
No right, and it’s not going to change a damn thing. I can’t save her place, but I can get her damn money back. I pull out my phone and call one of my cars.
It’s after midnight in my office and I’ve got Georgio working on the Amelia situation. Fuck. I can’t believe the old broad scammed Zoey. If she hadn’t targeted someone like Zoey I might actually respect her.
She scammed me, too.
I work through the night and by seven a.m. there’s a team tracking her down. When you have the kind of money I do, conning a woman I care about is beyond stupid. I’m getting the money back. And it will be soon.
At eight, my mother comes into my office. “I don’t know why I have staff.”
“They wouldn’t dare stop me, Magnus, and you know it.”
I shoot her a look as I half close my computer. “Yeah, I noticed that.”
“It’s a gift mothers have.”
“Why am I suddenly your favorite son?”
She laughs. “I wouldn’t say favorite, but Kingston’s out of town, Hudson and dear Scarlett are on some kind of second honeymoon, and Ryder…” The humor fades. “Ryder’s in a whole lot of trouble. I thought you were going to speak to him.”
“I can’t work miracles, and I did. He likes being a player, and it doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“There’s a husband out there who thinks differently.”
I don’t have time for this. I stand up as my phone buzzes. Georgio with a text. But I shrug as I glance at my mother. “According to Ry, they’re separated and this is publicity between the couple. They’re using him to further their time in the limelight. She’s famous, the husband—” I stop. “Ryder’s a lot of things, but he doesn’t lie. And his business is going from success to success. Even if it wasn’t, that’s his issue, no one else’s.”
“Yes, but that’s not my concern. It’s the board and there’s that meeting.”
“Is it today?”
“It’s a last minute one today. You’re going to have to represent your brothers.”
Shit. “Fine, whatever.”
My phone buzzes again. Another message. I pick it up but my mother crosses over to me and puts her hand on my arm. “You’re not going to ask about the Sinclair jewels or the board?”
“If Jenson and his little team turn about and say I haven’t shown heart, then there’s nothing else I can do. I’m not about to denounce everything I own and I’m a little late and a little too atheist to join the priesthood, so…”
“I think you’re going to prove that, but sometimes real heart isn’t quantifiable.”
I click on the phone and my heart suddenly speeds up. “Mother?”
“Why don’t I like that tone?”
“You’re going to have to represent us all. I have somewhere to be.”
I take a deep breath as I knock on the door some hours later.
Leaving my mother to deal with things doesn’t bother me. This does. Right here, right now.
