Shattered Dynasty by Ava Harrison
10
Payton
Rubbing my eyes,I see I’m not alone in the living room. But this time, unlike last night, the eyes are friendly and don’t belong to anyone who wants to kill me.
“Morning.”
“Good morning to you. How did you sleep?” Heather raises an eyebrow.
“Great.” I smile. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Of course, I would let you stay here. You know you never have to ask, right?”
I nod, knowing full well I’m going to have to come clean about everything that happened last night.
“I made coffee. It’s in the kitchen,” she says.
“Wait. There’s no room service or, in my case, living room service? What kind of place are you running here?” I say sarcastically.
“The kind of place that opens the door at three o’clock in the morning with no questions asked.”
She does have a point. I wryly smile, nod, and stand from the couch, pushing down my sweatshirt that has risen. I follow her into the kitchen.
Just as promised, my coffee is in a mug and ready for me at the table. Something tells me this will be a serious chat, and Heather isn’t going to let me off the hook about last night.
Pulling out a chair, I take a seat. Then I lift the mug to my mouth. If we have a long talk, I’ll need all the caffeine she’s offering.
Heather sits in the chair opposite me. She’s not drinking her coffee, just waiting for me to get enough fuel in me to hold a proper conversation.
“Why didn’t you come to me in the first place?” she asks as I place my mug back down on the table.
“It was late.”
She shakes her head, not buying what I’m selling. “That is no excuse, and you know it.”
I try again. “I didn’t want to wake you . . . ?”
“Again, not a good reason. Plus, eventually, you did anyway.”
She has me there.
“I know.” I look down toward my bare feet. “I was embarrassed,” I admit.
A long-drawn-out sigh escapes her mouth. “Payton, we have been best friends for years. There’s no need to be embarrassed in front of me. We all have been in a bad place before.”
“Thanks for not asking questions when I showed up at your door.”
“One look at you, and I knew you wouldn’t have been able to answer anyway. But now that I know you need help, it’s a different story. Tell me. Tell me everything you have managed to leave out up to this point.”
And then I do. I start from the little bits I now know and fill her in up until last night.
I tell her Ronald left all this money to me, Trent is in charge of releasing the funds, and that shoe finally dropped like a lead weight.
Everything is gone.
Will he have me declared dead next? I think I saw that in a movie once.
Just like that, everything is gone in an instant all over again. How many times can that happen to a person in a single lifetime? The rug completely swiped out from under me, all because of whatever Trent has in his mind that I’ve done wrong to him and his family.
After I finish, I let out a sigh. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“It’s your money. He shouldn’t be able to do this.”
“Technically, it’s not my money until I turn twenty-two.”
“Not too far away. But doesn’t Ronald’s estate have to pay your bills?”
“Well, technically, they do. The problem is, Ronald never stipulated how much that means. It’s not written anywhere how much I’m allotted to live off. Basically, it’s up to Trent’s discretion how much I need until my birthday. I should have realized he wasn’t just going to be fair. I should never have deluded myself that he wouldn’t let me live my life as is.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“Agreed.” I lift my mug and take a sip. My throat is dry, but despite the heat, I need something to help.
“What are you going to do?”
Swallowing, I place the mug back down. “I don’t know.”
“You can fight it.”
“I don’t have the funds to fight it until I’m twenty-two. And no attorney is going to take my case out of the kindness of their heart. I can’t afford a retainer, and Trent is likely going to be successful in screwing me out of my inheritance.”
Heather reaches her hand out and gives mine a squeeze. “I’m sure you can find one.”
“Yeah. But is that the attorney I want? They’d be no better than an ambulance chaser.”
She giggles at that. “You’re right. Okay, no crappy lawyer. So, then what?”
“I guess I have no choice. I’ll have to take a train and meet with Ronald’s lawyer to see what my options are. It’s ridiculous, if I’m being honest. I got the inheritance, and he needs to suck it up.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“You have class. And you’ve already helped me so much.”
“This is more important. I can’t have you sleeping on the floor again.”
“I could go to my sister’s place.”
“No way. You said your sister’s new boyfriend is a creep.”
“He is.”
“Then you can’t go there. You have to stay with me. It’s really not a big deal.”
“It is to me.”
As much as I love her, and I do, she’s my only friend, the best friend a girl could have, and I can’t put her through that. This drama is my drama, and I need to sort it myself. I can’t have her in front of me while shots are being fired.
I sigh. “For now, I’ll take you up on the offer to drive me to the city, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, I don’t mind.”
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I really don’t want to ask my sister for anything.”
She reaches her hand out and takes mine, giving it a little squeeze. “Anything you need, all you have to do is ask.”
I know she’s not lying to me. I know she’ll do anything to help me, but I need to settle this by myself. I need to stay on my own two feet. I can’t risk her getting involved. I would never be able to live with myself if Trent came after her too. I need to walk into that lawyer’s office on my own.
We both finish our coffee, and then we are in her car and driving toward the city.
It’s much faster this way, and I curse Trent Aldridge for what I had to do yesterday. When we pull up in front of the tall building that houses Mr. Baker’s office, I step out of the car.
“Do you want me to wait?” Heather asks.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know, boo. But I got you.”
“I don’t know how long it will be, plus, you have class. Go.”
“Let me at least give you money.”
“I can’t take your money.”
“Sure, you can. And you will. It’s not much. But at least with fifty bucks, you can get back to my place.”
“I promise to pay you back.”
“Oh, honey. Forget about it.”
“I won’t. Nor will I ever forget your kindness, Heather.”
“Fine.” She sighs dramatically, making me laugh. “But no rush.”
I nod my head in agreement and chuckle, stepping out of the car with the fifty tucked into my front pocket. As I’m closing the door, I force out one last smile. The air in the city is warmer than normal at this time of year. It’s fall, but it doesn’t feel like it. I know this heatwave won’t linger for much longer, but I’ll take it.
Last night, for example, sleeping without a heater, I could’ve frozen to death if this was winter.
Something tells me after Trent’s warning, freezing to death will be the least of my problems. Today, there is no question he will have the locks on all the windows fixed. I’ll probably have to take Heather up on her offer.
It’s only a few steps to the door of the familiar building, but I welcome the air-conditioning once I step inside. I walk toward the same elevator I got in two months ago, and then I’m riding it up back to the place where it all started. Where my fate was sealed.
When the elevator opens, I walk down the dark hallway to the office. I open the door, and no one is there. I expect a receptionist or someone to be milling about in the reception room, but it’s empty.
“Ms. Hart?” Mr. Baker calls out from the room in which we held the meeting.
I start to walk toward the room.
“Yes.”
“Show yourself in.”
I’m about to open the door when I hear another voice inside the room.
It’s the very distinct raspy tone that haunts my nightmares.
I don’t know how or why he’s here, nor do I want to know. If it were up to me, I would never see that man again, but something tells me I won’t like today’s turn of events now that I know he’s attending this meeting.
I open the door tentatively, but it doesn’t matter how slow my movements are. It still squeaks in the silence that has descended around me, taunting me. The sound reminds me of nails on a chalkboard, scratching as I enter the space.
“Look who finally decided to join us. Rough start today? Need a bit of extra coffee?” Trent winks.
He’s such an incredible ass.
A myriad of choice words grows heavy on my tongue. It takes everything inside me not to holler back at him.
Inhaling deeply, I will myself to calm.
My hands are by my sides, and I tuck them behind my back as I fist them so no one can see.
Unfortunately, the sharp curve of my nails digs into the fatty skin of my palm, making me hiss. My jaw is tight, my teeth grinding as I suck in my cheeks to stop myself.
Nothing good will come if I lash out.
I take a deep, long inhale and school my emotions.
“Oh. It’s you, Mr. Aldridge. I didn’t know you would be here. What an unexpected and pleasant surprise.” My voice is sugary sweet. Like syrup being poured on pancakes.
If the confection was laced with poison.
I’m so damn sweet that a root canal will probably be necessary.
His smile broadens, and there is a gleam in his blue eyes. He’s enjoying this.
“Always happy to surprise,” he retorts, beaming at me.
I turn my attention to Mr. Baker, who takes it as his cue to begin.
“Please sit, Ms. Hart. It seems we have some things to go over.”
“You think?” I mutter before I can stop myself, and Trent chuckles.
Bastard.
Also, if I wasn’t scared before, now I’m positively terrified. His laughter screams of a promise to hurt me. I look back at him, and just as I suspected, he’s leaning up against the wall. Legs crossed casually. Arms folded across his chest.
But that’s not the frightening part. It’s more than the laughter. It’s the look he’s giving me. He is downright ecstatic. He’s gleaming in pure triumph.
He won.
He knows it, and now I do as well.