Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“My commiserations on Maggie-Sue’s lawsuit fighting your prenup,” Jamie pretended not to know what was really pissing off his father. “Pain and suffering, marital misconduct, infidelity, those don’t sound good.”
“That prenup is unbeatable.”
“I hope you’re right. You don’t have much to give her. The creditors are circling the ranch. They own more of it than you do at this juncture. To save it, I’m going to be forced to pay them and assume their markers. But don’t worry. I have no interest in ranching. Though, Reid’s been in touch, and she’s expressed interest in a buyout. I’m considering a family discount.”
“You let that bitch anywhere near my land, I’ll shoot you dead, I don’t care the years I have left I’ll spend behind bars,” AJ threatened.
“I don’t understand the hostility. It’ll stay in the family.”
“You’re going to regret this, boy.”
“Dad, I really will not.”
“You think you got this?” AJ scoffed. “You think city boys know how to play dirty?” His father blew a breath out like a bull. “You been wet behind the ears since you been born. You take on me. You take on Jeff. We’ll show you dirty.”
“You’ve underestimated me since the moment I was born. You’re a Billings. You’re an Oakley. But I am a Jameson. I’m a Morgan. And we learned a long time ago that it’s the stupid fucks who enjoy wallowing in the mud. It’s a lot more fun to crush you from my penthouse office. That leaves me much better prepared when it’s over simply to go out and have dinner.”
“It’s shit like that makes me wish I didn’t plant you in your mother’s belly.”
“It’s shit like you, Dad, that made her not want it.”
Silence.
Then AJ demanded. “What did you just say?”
“You know,” Jamie growled dangerously, “I think my favorite part of this is not going to be taking everything you love. It’s going to be you figuring that out.”
He disconnected and then blocked his father.
By the time he looked up from the phone, Nora was standing there, offering him his Scotch.
He noted she’d refreshed it.
“Thank you,” he said, taking it.
“Are you all right?” she asked, watching him closely as he took a sip.
He swallowed the warm, rich, woody liquid that cost ten thousand dollars a bottle.
Money he earned.
Not a penny of it was touched by the filth behind Oak World Oil.
“I’m perfectly fine,” he stated the obvious.
“Jamie—”
“He’s never been my father, Nora,” Jamie said. “Even before I found out he actually is not my father.”
“I think you need to be careful,” she advised. “What’s that saying about an animal being cornered?”
“He has no weapons left at his disposal.”
“Right then, what’s that saying about a desperate man?”
Jamie shook his head.
“He doesn’t have a penny or a piece of property he hasn’t leveraged. This recent divorce is going to break him. He has nothing to give her. She’s not going to stop until blood leaks from that stone. Every wife before her did the same, he just had the funds to pay them off. Now, he doesn’t. And my brother is an imbecile. Dad has no allies. None. The only thing he had left was his reputation. Now, even geezers who insist on calling their assistants secretaries won’t take lunch with him. He’s a pariah. And to be a pariah in that bunch takes some doing. Honest to Christ, six months ago, even having nothing to strike a deal, I wouldn’t have put it past him to do exactly that and get his ass out of the sling he’d put it in. Now, Nora, he’s done. And there’s no coming back.”
“If you say so.”
He smiled a comforting smile at her. “I say so.”
“Mm,” she hummed, lifting her martini glass to her lips.
“I’m supposed to feed you,” he noted.
“I had realized how famished I was and wondered when you’d be seeing to that chore,” she replied.
Jamie smiled again, offered his hand and said, “Turkey sandwiches?”
She took his hand even as she replied, “You will never see me again if you lead me to your kitchen and serve me a sandwich.”
“Can’t have that.”
And he couldn’t.
He liked her.
She was hilarious. She knew herself and was comfortable in her own skin. She was loyal and loving, just in her own way. Dru got a kick out of her. Judge did too. Chloe worshipped her.
He hadn’t smiled as genuinely or as often as he had with Nora since Rosalind died.
And she was fantastic to look at.
His daughter was now doing her own thing, resting in the knowledge that Jamie had someone with whom he liked to spend his time. Dru had even talked to him about renting her own apartment in Brooklyn and moving out of the house she grew up in with Jamie and her mom.
And miraculously, sometimes, he’d forget the gnawing ache of the empty hole Lindy had left in his life.