Cat starts to skim through it, her finger sliding down the page as she scans and flips pages.
“Kevin is the trustee, but I knew that. Just means he’ll administer the estate. Blah, blah, blah, blah,” she says as she breezes past paragraphs entitled Debts & Expenses and Administrative Powers of Fiduciaries. My eyes actually start to cross when her finger stops and she says, “This is the paragraph.”
I lean over closer and see the word Residuary. Cat reads out loud, “Upon my death, I direct my trustee to transfer five-million dollars to my wife, Catherine Lyons Vaughn. Pursuant to our pre-nuptial agreement, she will have no ownership rights or interests in any of my real property at the time of my death, with the exception of the house in Jackson, Wyoming. I further direct my trustee to ensure transfer of title and deed of said property to my wife.”
“Did you know that was in his will?” I ask her.
She nods. “Not the exact details, but he told me he would leave me with enough money to sustain me as well as a house. I didn’t know it would be the Jackson house. I suppose that was his way of reminding me in death how much he loved taking me there.”
I wince at the bitterness in her voice. There’s no way she’d ever want to stay in a place that held such terrible memories for her.
Cat flips quickly through the rest of the document to the very end, where I can see the original ink of Samuel’s signature as well as a notary public seal.
“He signed this two weeks after we were married,” she says, still looking at the document.
“We need to go through the rest of his stuff,” I tell her as I squat down at the drawer that’s still open and start rifling through the contents. “If there’s another will or trust agreement or whatever the fuck you call it dated after that one, you’re screwed.”
“But if there’s not, Kevin’s screwed,” she says, and my head turns toward her because of the icy tone in her voice. She narrows her eyes at me and in a voice bristling with anger, she says, “That asshole kicked me out over five million dollars and a house? When Samuel’s estate is worth billions? What a fucking douche bag.”
I give her a wry smile. “I think it was more about controlling you than the money. The fact he wanted you to stay at the house tells me all I need to know. He was banking on you crawling to him for help.”
“Bet he was stunned I didn’t,” she says quietly.
Nodding in agreement, I turn back to the drawer, eager to get this over with and get the hell out. I start flipping through hanging folders containing tax returns, bank statements, and deeds of trust. Folder after folder of the story of Samuel Vaughn’s wealthy life.
“Thank you, Rand,” Cat murmurs. It’s so soft I barely hear it, yet my entire body feels like it’s been punched by the depth of emotion in her words. My head rises and turns to her as she sits in the massive leather chair that swallows her up. “If you hadn’t have taken me in, I might have gone to Kevin for help.”
“No way,” I say with a soft smile. I don’t reach out and touch her like I want to, because I don’t want to give any credence to her suspicion of what she might have done. I know Cat. She’s stronger than that and would have never given Kevin the ability to control her. So I stay reserved so she knows it’s a ludicrous thought. “The Cat Lyons I know wouldn’t have ever done that. You would have figured another way. Hell, you did figure another way. You sold your jewelry and you came to Vegas to find the truth. So fuck you very much, Kevin Vaughn. This woman doesn’t need you.”
Her beautiful, brown eyes crinkle and she can’t help the deep laugh that erupts. “Yeah. Fuck you very much, Kevin Vaughn.”
Now I laugh with her and totally can’t resist reaching out to wrap my hand around her neck, pulling her forward. I kiss her hard and knock the laugh right out of both of us. When I pull back slightly, I nip at her lip and ask, “Would it be bad form for us to fuck in this house?”
She snickers. “I don’t think I could get wet for you in this house.”
“Then I insist when we leave here, we head over to the Bellagio. My treat. We’re getting a nice suite with a view over the lake, and I’m going to fuck you on a bed stuffed with feathered down and covered in silk.”
She sighs and her eyes are closed with a dreamy expression on her face when I pull all the way back. That look… right there. I want her to have that on her face all the time. Regardless of where this creature lands in life, be it here or back in Jackson, I want this woman to walk through the rest of her days with that look on her face.
I step up behind Cat as she looks out the window at the Bellagio lake below us. It’s timed water show set to music is quiet right now, and besides, it’s better to see that stuff at night. Of course, she’s from Vegas so she’s probably seen it a hundred times before. But I’m glad we’re staying here. It’s a good way to celebrate.