Page 55 of Damaged Billionaire Daddy
“I think that was justified,” I said. “The daughter-in-law is an addict.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Delard nodded. “And that they’d tried two or three times to get her dried out before they gave up and focused on their granddaughter. We could use it....”
“No,” I said, before he could even get started. “It’s not illegal to practice tough love. It’s self-preservation. When Kandy needed help, she went to her grandparents, not her mom.”
“All right,” Delard said. “I really can’t complain all that much. You paid me back everything I spent, and my commission on top of it. But where do we go from here, Richie?”
“Do I need more money?” I asked.
“Well, no,” Delard admitted. “Unless we have a zombie apocalypse, you could live the rest of your life on the proceeds from any single one of your investments. You evenhave enough to give some to charity if you don’t get carried away.”
“There ya go,” I said. “I want us to properly take care of the businesses we’ve got and that includes the people who work for us. I don’t need any more small vineyards. Maybe I’ll buy some land and learn to grow grapes.”
“Oh, that’ll be the day,” Delard chortled. “As I recall, you can’t even grow spider plants.” Delard had a whole wall of the creepy green and white plants in his office, and he’d tried several times to give me some.
“Then maybe I’ll start a little league team or something,” I said. “Or a scout troupe.”
“Lots of legal shit down those roads,” Delard said soberly. “Not a good way to travel for a single dude, unless you just donate to a group that’s established.”
“Hell of a note when you can’t even do something nice without getting into trouble,” I said.
There came a tap-tap-tappity-tap at the door, and Caleb let himself in. His eyes looked kind of wild.
“Boss, you ain’t never gonna guess who I ran into at the Espresso Shop on the corner.”
“Who?” I asked, bracing myself for the worst.
“Kandis Quinn. She was with this older guy, and they were talking about someone in the hospital. She looked really upset, Boss. Not mad like when she came down off the mountain, just scared and worried.”
I felt as if I’d swallowed a rock. There were a lot of reasons why a woman could be scared and worried. But from what Kandy had revealed during our pillow talk in the mountain cabin... I let that thought trail off.
“Did you catch who it was?” I asked.
“Her mom, I think,” Caleb said. “And something about where the heck they could stay when she got out of thehospital because the airlines wouldn’t let her fly because of her lungs.”
I turned to Delard. “Find out.”
“Say wha’?” he blurted, looking confused.
“Our next mission. Find out who Kandis Quinn is worried about, and what the problem is.”
“Why don’t you just go ask her?” Delard inquired. “You’re the one that’s got the hots for her so bad you’ve turned into a lovesick loon.”
“We didn’t exactly part on good terms,” I said. “In fact, I’m probably the last person on earth she wants to see.”
Caleb scratched his cheek and considered me for a minute. “Richard,” he said slowly, looking at me like he’d never seen me before.
I knew I was in trouble because Caleb usually called me ‘Boss.’ He was on the other team the day I was injured, and he’s been my driver since I left the hospital.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I’ll go see about it,” he said. “Of the three of us, she’s least likely to throw me out on my ear. But you gotta promise me something.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You got to promise me you’ll behave like a gentleman toward her. You’ve played Prince Charming to her Cinderella. I don’t want you to treat her like a toad if the glass slipper doesn’t fit.”
I just stared at him.
