Page 90 of Well Aware

Apollo’s smile was soft when he flipped his computer around to show me the two men standing side by side.

They looked identical. Not a single thing different about them that would help you differentiate one from the other. Especially not if you didn’t know their personalities well.

“The other women,” I found myself asking again. “Did they all die by suicide, too?”

Apollo twisted his computer screen back to face him and hit a few keys. Read for a few seconds before answering.

“All but the first wives for both Cain and the father.”

“So what you’re telling me is that they both lost someone, then decided to capitalize on these losses by marrying all over again, then beating the shit out of them, degrading them, and ultimately making them want to choose ending their own life rather than be married to them any longer.”

“That’s only Able. Cain isn’t actually marrying any of these women. Hell, two of the women he only knew a couple of months before they ‘passed’ away,” Apollo read, using air quotes to emphasize passed.

I let my head fall back on Beau’s shoulder. “This is a nightmare. My sister is dead, and now he’s asking for money? How did this get into my name, anyway? I mean, if he started the life insurance policy, how is it mine? I shouldn’t have even known that it was there or that she had one to begin with.”

“Looks like all of the policies were in the women’s names. They just had a will drafted that said that their money went to him. Right before they got married. According to this.” Apollo twisted the laptop on the tabletop to show me. “Your sister changed her will three times. The original will had you listed. Then it was changed to reflect Cain as the beneficiary. Then, a week before she passed, it was changed again to list you as the beneficiary.”

“Jesus,” I groaned. “What the hell was she thinking?”

“That it was two hundred million dollars, and there was no way that she was going to let a man that abused her get that cash,” Beau rumbled, pressing a kiss to my temple. “She might not have realized how much trouble it would cause. She was likely just thinking that she didn’t want this man who had made her miserable to come out on top.”

When he put it like that, it made sense.

But…

“She knew that I was trying to hide Iris, though,” I said. “She had to know that Cain would come looking for this cash when he realized. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s been three years. Why is this just all of a sudden an issue? Why come for it now?”

Apollo grunted. “I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I can find out. Maybe he just thought it’d be easier to contest on his end.”

Whatever the answer to this was, when they said how much it was, it made me want to fight that much harder for it. Two hundred million was a shit ton of money. If I had that kind of cash, I could protect Iris from a lot of things. It was time to stop being stubborn about my ‘blood money’ and start thinking practically.

“How do I get the money?” I asked.

“It’s been sent to the state of Oklahoma as unclaimed cash,” Apollo explained.

I scrubbed at my face. “This is a living nightmare. How do you even get that?”

Apollo got to typing again, then loudly clicked the enter key.

“Funds are being transferred in two business days. You should have it by Wednesday of next week.”

I blinked. “But…”

What did one do with two hundred million dollars? Did you have to have a special bank? Did I need an account in the Caymans?

There were so many questions!

“On that note.” Beau squeezed my hip. “Let’s get home. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

I was.

Playing for ninety minutes during a hard-fought game was exhausting. It was even more exhausting when you were sleep-deprived from an overabundance of lovemaking.

Not that I was complaining about that last part.

That little facet about my life would be the most deliciously perfect aspect of it.

I stood up when Beau pushed up on my butt, indicating that it was time for me to get up.