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The last time I’d needed my grandfather’s name was in high school. For a long time, I’d stood alone, aloof. But Aya’s father understood wealth—that meant power in his narrow world. So, I used my grandfather’s name to my advantage.
He chuckled. “No wonder Sofia wanted you two in close proximity. Have you and Aya already procreated?”
The actual fuck is this dude going on about? “That’s none of your business,” I said curtly.
“So you’re protecting her wealth? I’ve got news for you: the will is airtight. If I haven’t figured out how to access that money, you won’t either.”
“The will?”
He laughed. “Sofia’s will. I take it Aya didn’t tell you about it after she ran from my choice for her—a fine one, I might add—back to you. She’s always been rebellious. Just like her mother. Having a baby is really the only way…”
My ears buzzed as I remembered Aya’s disappointment in me not wanting kids. “You don’t know her,” I said. It was reflexive.
“Don’t I? I knew exactly how to get her out of Austin. And if you weren’t offering such a nice compensation, I’d know just how to get her back here again.”
His voice held a smug note I didn’t appreciate. Mainly because there wasn’t much to like about the stuffy, pompous man. But he’d hit his mark with me, because his words now seemed permanently lodged in my head. Was Aya not telling me something? Had I been merely expedient—a way to get her out of a relationship with a man she didn’t want and fulfill some requirement of her mother’s will?
“So, do you want to sell me Clean Water or not?” I growled. “This is your last chance. Once I hang up, we’re done.”
“Yes, I’ll have to accept your offer; otherwise Harriet and I have no way to provide for our children.”
“What I can’t figure out is why Sofia left you the nonprofit in the first place,” I said.
“I started it after I’d spent a year in the Peace Corps. But Sofia wanted to grow it, live in those dreadful places. Can you imagine? Most had minimal sanitation.”
“You let your daughter go to those places,” I pointed out. I couldn’t believe Aya had managed years with this douche. “Sign the documents,” I told him. “But be sure you understand: you cannot ask her for another penny after this.”
“I read the contract.” His tone was dry.
I hung up the phone. But the conversation nagged me. I felt jittery, wired, even though I’d gotten what I wanted. I hadn’t felt like this since before Aya returned, and I didn’t like it. I wasn’t going back to feeling this way. I was nobody’s fool. She and I needed to talk about her father’s little truth bombs, stat.
25
Nash
I prodded Aya awake. No, it wasn’t nice, but I didn’t care.
“I just had an enlightening call with your father.”
She wrinkled her nose. “My father? Why would you talk to him?”
“That’s not important now. What I want to know is was he telling the truth? Did your mom specify that we have to have a child in her will?”
Aya paled, and my stomach sank. I hadn’t wanted to believe Lord Aldringham, not really. But now, that look on Aya’s face, the downcast eyes…
I’d loved Sofia Didri-Aldringham. Yet she’d only seen me as a pawn in her game? What even was this game? Nothing made sense. But she was just like my parents—Brad specifically. My breath hitched. Fuck. I hated being used. And that’s what Sofia had planned—to use me for Aya’s benefit. With that realization came rage.
Deep, burning rage.
How dare Sofia—or Brad—treat me like an object? These people put money before feelings. They destroyed kids. No fucking way I’d be part of that.
“I don’t want to have kids,” I said.
Aya blinked at me. “I know that, and I don’t want them now, either.”
Evidently that wasn’t enough for me. “I’m not having kids ever,” I said, my voice bitter. “Definitely not with you.” I could feel everything in me whirling, spiraling. I couldn’t stop spewing out anger.
She stared at me, open-mouthed. “Not with—”
