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Spencer has the deck doors opened a few inches, and the room is chilly from the night air, even with the gas fireplace blazing. As I step inside, I can understand why he’s left the doors open. A musty smell mixed with Grandfather’s cigars lingers.
Spencer doesn’t glance away from his computer as I shut the door behind me.
“I need nothing else tonight, Miles.”
“I’ll let him know,” I say.
His head jerks up, then his eyes narrow as he leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “What are you doing here? I thought you were allergic to work and those who are productive members of society.”
I want to laugh at what he perceives as a slight. “You don’t think being a landscaper is work?”
“Not the kind of work Grandfather would esteem.”
“Maybe that’s why I do it.”
He huffs out a breath and goes back to his computer. “Did you come for a reason other than to distract me frommywork?”
I sit on the arm of the loveseat and prepare myself for the mocking that is about to come my way when he figures out I care about his girlfriend. “I don’t get why Layla is here with you.”
With a snort, he glances over for a few seconds before going back to his “work.”
“She’s my girlfriend. Why wouldn’t I bring her home for Christmas?”
“You can’t expect me to believe you’ve been dating her for the past year. That lie might work on Grandmother, but I know Layla, and she never mentioned a boyfriend.”
I wonder if she’s shared with Spencer how little I know her, but he doesn’t call me out for stretching the truth, so she hasn’t said much.
“We’ve dated off-and-on, but now we’re on for good.” His fingers fly across the keyboard, and I’m impressed at his ability to type and talk at the same time. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring a girlfriend. If anyone needs double the inheritance, it’s you.”
I bark a laugh. “If you thought Grandmother’s ploy to get me married would work, you don’t know me at all.”
He shrugs indifferently. “It has been eight years. You’re practically a stranger. There was a time when you dreamed of being rich and wanted to distance yourself from your parents’ humble lifestyle.”
Shame burns inside my chest. He’s right, however much I wish he wasn’t.
“I’m not that person anymore. You, however, haven’t changed at all. You brought Layla here for the inheritance money, and for no other reason. Does she know?”
It’s a stab in the dark in my quest to understand why they’re together, and he doesn’t deny it.
“Of course she knows. Unlike you, she understands the value of money and wants Grandmother’s inheritance just as much as I do.”
My stomach sinks. I don’t want to believe she’s the type of person who wants a millionaire husband. Maybe the reason she avoided me for six months was because she believed I was a humble therapy dog trainer? Except, if she wanted money, why is she a music teacher?
“I don’t believe you.” I sound like a petulant child, and immediately wish I could take the words back.
Spencer chuckles. “Then you don’t know her as well as you think you do. I’ll marry her no matter what, but with Grandmother’s ridiculous will, it’ll happen sooner rather than later. Twenty million as an inheritance? Doubled when we’re married? Pathetic. Grandfather’s estate is worth a few billion. Grandmother has to know that my father and Aunt Ellory plan to fight her on this.”
The greed in this family is stifling. This is one reason I wanted out of the family firm, and why I won’t accept any of Grandmother’s money. I don’t want to be involved in this lifestyle.
“Don’t you care that Grandmother might be sick?” I ask.
I’m not sure if I agree with Ellory and Dorian’s supposition that she’s dying, but she’s eighty-one years old. It is a possibility. One they don’t seem too concerned about.
“Of course, I care.” He pauses his typing and runs both hands through his hair before dropping them onto his lap.
His words are hard for me to accept; I’ve thought of him as a heartless product of the family for so long. I hope Grandmother’s mortality matters to him. Our grandparents practically raised him.
“We just lost Grandfather.” He swallows thickly. For the first time in years, he appears human to me. “I’m not ready tolose Grandmother. However, as sad as this situation is, I can’t do anything about it if it’s true.”
