Page 20 of Snapshot

“Oh, right. See, that’s the funny part. When Grandma finally got off the call and asked me what the nanny did to hurt me, I told her the truth.”

“Which was?”

A chuckle breaks through my lips. “She wouldn’t let me win during a game of Candy Land. The nanny wouldn’t let me lie or cheat. She was trying to instill some morals into an eight-year-old, I think. Anyway, I meant shehurt my feelings. Grandma had to call the nanny back, apologize, rehire her, and then triple her salary.”

“Oh, I bet she wanted to tear your little butt up,” Denny says.

I shrug. “I’m sure, but she didn’t. In fact, I distinctly remember going for ice cream that day. A sundae as big as my head with extra whipped cream.”

“That’s a sweet story.” But I see the look in her eyes, like she’s confused as to why I’m telling her this today.

I continue to clarify. “Grandma could’ve had the backup nanny pick me up so she could stay focused on her call. We had cameras all around the estate. She could’ve asked her security team to look into what was going on. There were always options, but she dropped what she was doing every time I needed her. I was the most important person in the world to her.”

Denny’s eyes drop to her shoes as she presses her lips together. “You really were,” she mutters.

My voice breaks as I continue, “Do you know how hard it is to be that disgustingly rich and powerful, with so much responsibility on your shoulders, and still make time to bake chocolate chip cookies with your grandson every other day? I was raised amongst rich, arrogant, asshole elitists who think money makes them superior to everyone. They are so out of touch with what matters. Grandma had more than all of them combined, yet her soul was still pure. She started good, and she stayed good. Money never turned her into something else. That’s what I’m in awe of.”

Denny smiles at me and straightens my tie before smoothing it down over my chest. “Take out the arrogant, asshole elitist part, and then tellthatstory. That’s a good speech.” She reaches into my inside coat pocket and pulls out the folded speech. “She started good and stayed good. I think that’s all people need to know about Dottie Hessler.She was a good one.”

“Yeah, she was.”

She ducks her head and finds my gaze before showing me a small, hesitant smile. “Are you ready now? Where’s Leah?” Denny asks, looking around the bathroom as if I was hiding my ex-girlfriend the entire time.

“We broke up.”

Denny’s eyes grow into saucers. “Who broke up with whom?” she asks slowly. Her eyelids are twitching, like she’s trying to resist the urge to roll them.

“You’re going to question me about this the day of my grandmother’s funeral?”

“The best way to get out of a scandal is?—”

“To get ahead of it,” I grumble. “I know, Denny.I know.But this isn’t a scandal. Just two people who are no longer dating. Our breakup was amicable. Nothing dramatic.”

She lifts one eyebrow as she presses her lips into a flat line. “I wonder if she’d say the same. We need to reach out to PR to make a statement.”

“No, we don’t.”

In Vegas, I’m a normal guy. I don’t spend a lot of money there. My house is nice, but it definitely doesn’t say billionaire. I don’t buy flashy things. My dive shop was almost bankrupt until my consultant, Avery, swooped in and saved us with proper marketing. Overall, things have been calm, and I’ve been flying under the radar easily.

Leah is still unaware of who I really am. None of my friends in Vegas know I’m the sole heir of one of the wealthiest families in the world. Hessler Group owns three major cruise companies. Luxe Adventure, Serenity, and Victorian. While the cruise names may be common knowledge, people rarely look up the owners behind them.

“I hate to say this, but your relationships affect everybody. Over a hundred thousand jobs are now dependent on you. We have to be wary of any women who might have a vendetta against you. What happened with you and Leah? Please tell meshebroke up withyou.”

I grumble. “She stole something. It bothered me.”

“She stole something?”

“A Birkin bag.”

Denny’s jaw drops. “A Birkin bag? The cheapest one they make is ten grand. That’s a felony, Dex. How in the world did she get away with that?”

I hold up my hand. “Let me clarify. She stole the bag from her dad.”

She squints one eye. “Leah’s dad had a Birkin bag?” Denny jostles her head like she’s trying to shake her thoughts into a reasonable explanation. “How come the more you clarify, the more confused I get?”

I really don’t want to talk about this today, but it’s unwise to keep secrets from Denny. She can’t protect me if she doesn’t know what’s going on. So, I let out an exasperated sigh and explain. “Leah’s dad is a veteran. He has a TBI from a deployment that’s caused a lot of suffering. He’s a very kind man, but I can tell his mind isn’t all there. Therefore, Leah handles her parents' finances. Between VA pay, social security, and money he saved up during his career, he had a nice chunk of change in the bank. That money was supposed to pay off their house and vehicles and take care of bills. Leah’s been slowly draining that account to buystuffwithout them knowing.She was eyeing that Birkin bag for months. No way she could afford it on her own.”

I actually bought it for her. The dive shop isn’t particularly lucrative, and I’d been hiding my true wealth. I was going to make up some excuse about my long-term savings to explain why I could so easily buy a fifteen-thousand-dollar purse. But the day I intended to give it to her, she showed up at my place with the exact same bag. When I asked her where she got the money, she simply said her parents weren’t using it.

---