Page 77 of Love Notes & Lifelines
Stella waits for Danica to turn to me then she frantically kicks her bra under the sofa, and my smirk widens into a grin.
What will she do with our jeans and shirts? The thought almost makes me laugh.
But it’s none of Danica’s fucking business, so it bothers me that Stella is running around trying to make things more comfortable for this piece of shit.
“Right,” Stella says while tossing a throw pillow over her jeans, and it takes me a minute to remember what she’s talking about. At least she doesn’t cower at Danica’s rude and wrong assessment. “The girls are ready for breakfast. Can I get you anything?”
She’s asking me, but Danica answers, “Egg white omelet with seedless vegetables, no meat, and no dairy.”
I have no fucking clue what seedless vegetables are, but even they piss me off.
“She’s not a maid and she’s not a chef, Danica,” I say, wearing a scowl that grows deeper the longer she’s in my presence. “You don’t get to order her around.”
“Touchy,” she says with a fierceness that probably intimidates most.
“We have nothing to discuss, so you can show yourself out.” I hold a hand out to usher Stella toward the kitchen and swing the door closed, but Danica kicks it open with a red-soled boot.
We’re at the fucking beach. Who wears boots to the beach?
I stare at Stella, and telepathy might be one of her skills, because she nods, then returns to the kitchen with the girls—who may dislike this woman more than I do.
“Funny. You always were so funny.” Danica’s sickly sweet tone sets my teeth on edge. “The thing is, we do have things to discuss. While you got the girls, I got…” Her laugh grates. I’d rather listen to someone who’s eaten nails for lunch than spend one more second with her. “Well, everything else.” Her arms raise, and she spins in a circle with dramatic flair.
My teeth clench so hard my ears pop. Daisie’s claws clink against the hardwood floor, but as agitated as she is, she doesn’t move from her spot.
“And because I have control of those wretched little monsters’ inheritance, I thought it only fair I invest it wisely for them—it’s allowed as part of the trust, you know.” She turns in another slow circle. I’m staring at pure evil in flesh and blood. “Of course, the wisest investment was in Delacroix Farms—and it was a heavy investment too. Enough so that their futures will be, shall we say, dependent on the company’s success.”
I’ve never once thought about hitting a woman, but I have a sudden vision of Stella doing it for me. It’s a wild, erratic, and completely out-of-control thought, and it brings me such dark pleasure my grin matches Danica’s.
“You won’t blackmail me into anything. So if that’s why you came over here at six in the morning, you’re even crazier than I thought you were. Now leave.”
“I’m here because I have…business to see to in Raleigh, and you haven’t heard the best part.” She’s full of shit—she’s here to gloat. Danica has always been a little unhinged, but this is next-level. Does she realize how close I am to shutting down Delacroix Farms permanently? Is that why she was trying to make a deal with Caleb? And now this?
“Your dear, ill-minded sister trusted me. Such foolishness must run in your family. She took right after your dimwitted father.” She leans in close enough to nauseate me with her perfume and lowers her voice even as it pitches higher. She’s truly deranged. “She gave me everything, Becker. E-ver-y-thing. And now, when I take custody of the girls, their future will be at my whim.”
“Screw you.”
Emmy whimpers and for a fraction of a second, I think I see something close to sadness flicker in Danica’s eyes, but she blinks, and it’s gone. The pitter-patter of little feet on the back stairs releases the tension from my shoulders—the girls need to be far, far away from Danica.
“Tsk, tsk, Becker. The Hayes family has always been controlled by silly emotions.” She steps further into the entryway and my fingers flex at my side. Now she’s close enough to see the family room and the kitchen, so she’ll see the girls if Stella tries to take them out the back door.
“Well, I do have an alternative option for you,” she says casually. “Accept the deal with Delacroix Holdings, and I’ll leavethe house and possibly the rest of the girls’ inheritance alone. It depends on how good of a boy you can be.”
A sickly sensation washes over me. She’ll get my girls over my dead fucking body. “They don’t need that inheritance. They’re not, and will never be, a Delacroix,” I say menacingly. It has no effect on her level of crazy. “Even your own brother refused to give them that name. What does that say about you?”
She tuts and rolls her eyes as if I’m the inconvenience, so I change tactics and go after the one thing she’ll understand—money.
“They’ll get their inheritance from me, and I promise you, it’ll be more money than you’ll ever see in your lifetime. Because that is what you see when you look at them, correct? Dollar signs?”
Her eyes flash murderously.
“Well, newsflash, you twit, they’re little girls who have their lives ahead of them, and I’m prepared to spend every cent of my fortune to ensure you never get a hand on them. Can you say the same?” Her eye twitches. “I didn’t think so. So whatever scheme you’re running in your chemically imbalanced brain, take it to the train station and buy a one-way ticket to anywhere but here. You’re not getting them.”
“Daddy Becker,” she coos with a nails-on-chalkboard tone. “I never thought I’d see the day.” She glances down and picks up my boxer briefs. “Playing house with the slutty nanny so soon? You’re truly making the next phase of my plan so much easier. This trip is proving even more fruitful than I’d hoped. And to think, you’re handing it all to me on asilver platter.”
She tosses my underwear to the floor, and I silently curse my sister. Why did she do this?
“Enough niceties.” This is her being nice? “Here are your options. Merge with Delacroix or I’ll take you to court for custody of the girls and get what I need from you that way. It really is your choice.”
