“What the hell are you doing? If you don’t tie her back up, I’m going to call the authorities.” Dalton started for them, and Nick stepped in front of him. “Young man, you don’t want to screw with me. I’m a very wealthy man. And you look as if you don’t have a pot to piss in.”
“Oh, Dalton, stop being such a bore.” Evie led the way to another room with the help of Addie. “Come along, the rest of you. I’m tired and in need of a long bath. Oh, Addie, how is Bentley? That monster over there had him hurt in that accident. Imagine hitting our car to have me brought here to be treated like an animal.”
“He’s fine, Grandmother. Just fine. He has a broken leg, but the doctor said that he’d heal nicely with time. Steele has gotten him a nurse to care for him and to pamper him endlessly. Also, you should see—”
“Shut up.” Everyone looked at Dalton, and Evie cocked a brow at him. The man was ruddy with his anger, and he glared back at Evie as he continued. “Don’t give me that look. You know as well as I do that you’ve brought this on all by yourself. What the hell did you expect me to do when you literally kicked me from my home? And had my credit cards cut up like I was nothing more than…well, than a common criminal?”
“You are a common criminal, you moron. Ah, there she is. My darling daughter, Addison the first. How are you, child? Drunk yet?”
Nick watched the woman stagger into the room and sit on the couch that was nearest to Dalton. She was Addie’s mother, there was no doubt about that, but looks were as far as the resemblance went. Addie was nothing like her mother.
“What do you think of your daughter, Addison? Didn’t she turn out well?”
“I have had this conversation with you before, Mother. Addison was no longer my child the moment she embarrassed us by leaving in the middle of the night.” Nick watched the elder Addison ignore her daughter. “I do hope that this ridiculous mess is cleared up now. I have a hair appointment tomorrow, and I should hate to have to cancel it. The last time I was there, my cards were taken from me. Mother, you’ll have to take care that that doesn’t happen again. Just sign the papers and we’ll all pretend that this didn’t happen.”
“I can’t help you there, Addison. I’m broke.”
If Nick hadn’t been looking at Dalton, he might have missed the look in his face. Terror along with disbelief. When he recovered a little, he looked at Benson, who nodded at him.
“My house has been sold as well. And this house has a new owner too. So the sooner you move out, the sooner the new owners can move in. I do believe they might want to do some updating on the house. Frankly, I’d just gut the place and start over, but that’s just me.”
“You can’t have sold our home. It’s ours.” Benson told Dalton that it wasn’t and never had been. “We’ve owned this house since we were married. You said it was a wedding present. You even told me that you hoped that I’d fill it with children so that they could live here long after we were gone.”
“But you never fulfilled your end of the bargain, did you? And when you didn’t, my father had you sign the deed over to Jacob when he was alive. Then you nearly lost it when you didn’t pay the taxes for the first ten years.” Benson tried to hand Dalton a file. “It’s all right here, Dalton. You defaulted on the taxes, therefore having the house revert to its original owner. And since Jacob is gone, Mrs. E. owned it, lock, stock, and smoking gun.”
“Taxes? Why should I have to pay taxes on a gift? And you never said anything about taxes when you gave us the house.” A sheet of paper was pulled from the file and handed to Dalton. Even from where he was, Nick could see it was a contract. “I’m not going to say this again, Evie; sign the papers and let’s have this done with. I’m not in the mood for your childish behavior any longer.”
“I told you, Dalton, I’m broke. I’ve signed everything over, and I only own what I have in my bank account right now.” Nick nearly laughed. He’d bet anything that there was more in her bank account than most people made in their entire lives. When Evie winked at him, Nick had a feeling she knew what he was thinking. “If I were you, I’d not mess around with this. Get out before the newspaper is called and let in on your dirty little secret.”
“What are you talking about? I have nothing to hide.” But he did, and Nick thought that he knew it too. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m just going to let the courts deal with you. But I warn you, I’m not going to be as nice as—”