“I have news for you, my dear,” Veronica said. She was inher fifties, with light brown skin and curls, and a booming, take-no-shit-from-anyone voice. In their first video conference meeting, only five days after Ruby had arrived in London, Veronica had rolled her eyes when Ruby told her the backstory with her father and showed her the notice of intent to sue. Veronica immediately sent Ruby’s father a letter that basically said do what you need to do, but my client won’t be paying.
Her father took the bait and sued. Veronica almost seemed gleeful and filed a countersuit to cover all Ruby’s legal fees. The court date was soon, so now they were talking strategy.
“What news?” Ruby asked.
“As I expected, your father is starting to waver. I got a settlement offer. His lawyer said they would drop the suit for half the inheritance.”
That was still a lot of money—money that Ruby didn’t want to part with. “Do you think I should accept?” Ruby asked.
“Absolutely not. Not without negotiation. I think he’s sweating. We could probably get him even lower. Maybe one quarter of the full amount.”
Ruby frowned. She was surprised that Veronica thought she should settle at all. “You said there was no way he could win. Why do you think we should settle?”
Veronica sighed. “I’ll be real with you, Ruby. I thought I’d be able to uncover something, but we still don’t know where your mother acquired those funds. Her work as a seamstress was all cash—and under the table at that—so we can’t know if that’s where the money came from. And if what she told you was true, that she only started saving four or five years before her death, that’s a lot of dresses… or she was charging Armani prices.”
“Do you think she was stealing from my father?”
“I personally don’t think she was, but without evidence, there’s not much we can do. They were married, so their assets were joint at the time. So half of what was his was hers.”
“But you don’t think we’ll win.” Ruby couldn’t believe it. Her father was going to take this from her.
“I really don’t know. A sympathetic judge will see him for what he was: an abusive husband whose wife wanted to get away from him. But the fact that he’s cleaned up now and is a model husband and stepfather doesn’t help matters. I still believe we’ll win, but I can’t guarantee it. It’s up to you if you want to gamble or take the deal. We have a week to decide on this settlement.”
Ruby exhaled. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“Veronica, I’m going to have to go. I’ll think on this and email you in a few days with my decision.”
“Sounds good. Take care, Ruby.”
As soon as the call disconnected, she stood and opened the door. It was Shahin, looking irritated, as usual.
“Mrs. Hakim is here to see you,” Shahin said, walking back to the front desk. “She’s in the GM’s office. I suppose I’ll stay on the front desk until you two are done.”
Ruby froze. Rashid’s mother was here?
“Oh. Did she say what she needed?”
Shahin waved her hand, clearly irritated. “How would I know?” She started typing something on the computer. “They areyourfriends, not mine…” She said that last bit under her breath.
Ruby exhaled and packed up her laptop, taking it with herto the GM’s office. The door was open, and she was surprised at who was working on a laptop behind the desk. Not Rashid’s mother, but Ayesha.
Ayesha grinned widely, standing. “Ruby! Fantastic to see you!” She gave Ruby a hug.
Ruby laughed. “Shahin saidMrs. Hakim was here… I was expecting your mother!”
Ayesha rolled her eyes. “Oh god. I’ll bet that was intended as a dig at me. Now sit.” She gestured toward the chair across from the desk. Ruby sat awkwardly. “I want to hearallabout how you’re doing. I totally meant to text to check in, butphew, it’s been busy. Going back and forth between Toronto and London has been a nightmare. I’ll be here for a while now, so I have to remember to sayliftinstead of elevator. You should have seen the look I got this morning when I tried to order a double double at the café! So, how are you faring at the front desk?”
Ruby smiled, all the tension from the call with Veronica leaving her. Apparently, any member of the Hakim family had a calming effect on her. After talking for a while about how Ruby was settling in at the hotel, Ayesha grinned. “I knew you’d be fabulous. Everyone I’ve talked toadoresyou. Including Shahin, by the way. Okay, now enough of this work talk. How have you beenreallydoing?” Ayesha grinned widely.
It was funny—Jasmine and Ayesha looked so similar. Even their smiles were pretty much identical. Except Jasmine had a sweetness behind hers, while Ayesha’s always had a bit of mischief. Like she was constantly sharing some inside joke. Ruby totally understood why Ayesha and Nadim had been such good friends. “I’m good,” Ruby said. “Made some friends. Did a bit of shopping.”
“So, you’ve made friends. Any nice men?”
Ruby raised one brow. Was Ayesha trying to find out if Ruby was dating? Because…awkward. Ruby, of course, hadn’t been anywhere near interested in dating anyone in the UK, thanks to Ayesha’s own brother.
“Never mind,” Ayesha said when Ruby didn’t answer. “What’s your schedule like? Jasmine said you’re the best to shop with. I would love to hit High Street with you. We could go to that boutique I told you about.”
Ruby grinned. This was great. She told Ayesha she was off tomorrow, and they arranged to meet in London in the morning.
