Page 19 of Falling Hard
"Why would Luke take relationship or financial advice from his little sister?"
The smile I wore was gone instantly.
"Would you take that sort of advice from Jacqueline?" Alex asked but didn’t let me answer. "No. It needs to be an older adult, like his father."
She was one hundred percent right. "Damn it."
"Can you get a meeting with him?"
Screw a meeting. There was a Yankees doubleheader today, and Kenny Forrester wouldn’t miss it for anything short of death. Just like my dad, he had his own private box at the stadium.
"Hopeton, take me to Yankee Stadium."
"Yes, Miss Olivia."
Alex wished me luck and hung up. However, I was confident I wouldn't need it. Kenny was a man of a certain generation. He would protect the family fortune with his last breath, and if Luke was threatened with being disowned, I knew he'd rethink his engagement. Just like I would. We had grown accustomed to spending money; no one was worth losing our trust funds. Hopeton got me to the stadium in thirty minutes. I went through security and up to the private boxes, walking past my dad's to the Forresters’. Inside, Kenny sat back in a chair, a thick cigar resting between his fingers. A few stubborn strands of blond clung to the top of his mostly bare head. His much younger plaything giggled, clutching his arm as if laughter could earn her one of his no-limit credit cards.
She looked young enough to be my sister's age, but Kenny, being a sleazy old man, wasn't why I came.
"Mr. Forrester," I said and entered.
He looked back and scowled. "Who's this Mr. Forrester you speak of, Olivia?"
Showtime.
I flashed a smile, and his young girlfriend must have thought I was competition because she frowned as I approached. Kenny whispered something to her, and she begrudgingly stood and left the box.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just in the box next door and heard you were over here."
Kenny stared at me, unconvinced, his eyes narrowing like he was trying to peel back my words and see what was hiding underneath.
"Okay, I needed to talk to you about Luke."
"What's the boy done now?"
I braced myself and explained my concern about Sullen, and was encouraged as Kenny nodded as I spoke.
"So, your position is: Luke marrying this girl will result in her divorcing him and walking away with the entire Forrester fortune?" Kenny asked before sipping his beer.
The tone he took made my earlier hopes fade. "Well, Ella and I were just thinking she should at least sign a prenup. Poor Luke isn't thinking clearly, and you might have to get involved."
Kenny watched me with that sharp, suspicious gaze of his. I couldn’t read him at all, so I started to squirm. He smiled like he knew something I didn’t.
"Luke claims to love Solenne. Maybe she isn't his forever wife, but his first one."
Dejected, I lowered my shoulders and sat back in my seat. The trip was wasted.
"Olivia, I thought all along you'd marry Luke and be my daughter-in-law. How the hell did you two manage to mess this up?"
For once, I didn't try to find the answer. The truth was, I didn't know how we’d gotten to this point.Plus, had anyone spoken to Luke about what they expected, or only me?
Kenny continued to speak as I stared ahead. "I wasn't born yesterday. The money is safely kept in a trust, and I already demanded he get his future wife to sign a prenup before marrying her."
My jaw fell open. That was my ace card. "Sullen agreed?"
"She had no fucking choice. It's prenup or no marriage, but no, she didn't put up a fight."
