Chelsea frowned.“Mum only got the proposal a week ago.”
Ethan smelled a rat.“What exactly did Johann ask you to do?”
Darren’s brief widening of his eyes told Ethan he was on the right track.“Nothing.”
That rang true.Ethan thought about it.“Johann asked you to stop work on the garden?”
The man paled, and he glanced at Chelsea and back at Ethan.“Ah, well…”
“How much did he pay you?”Chelsea’s whole body tensed.
Darren backed further away, reaching for the door.Ethan slapped his hand against it to stop Darren from closing it.“I suggest you answer Chelsea’s question.”
“I’ll call the police if you hurt me,” Darren said.
“Please do,” Ethan replied.“While they’re here they can arrest you for theft and destruction of property.”
“How much did he pay you?”Chelsea repeated, the warmth gone from her tone.
Darren closed his eyes.“Fifty thousand.He said no one would want to buy it with the garden destroyed and he’d get a bargain.”
The bastard.
Chelsea exhaled noisily, a sound that told Ethan she was on the verge of tears.
“What are you going to do?”Darren asked, glancing between them.
“I don’t know.”She stalked back to the car, her eyes already glistening.
Ethan turned back to Darren.This arsehole had made Chelsea cry.He curled his hands into fists but kept his anger at bay.
Darren shifted back another step.“She won’t have me arrested, will she?I did nothing wrong.”
Anger grew inside him.“How much was Sabine paying you?”
The man swallowed.“Four thousand a month.”
“So you’ve stolen forty-eight thousand dollars from her?”
He nodded.
“Then I suggest your first step is paying it back.”Let him hurt for a change.Ethan wasn’t sure what else they could do to make Darren pay for his greed.
“I don’t have forty-eight grand.”
“Get a mortgage on your lovely new home.You have a week.”Though it would be immensely satisfying to punch Darren in the face, it wasn’t worth the potential arrest and disciplinary action he’d get if he did.
Ethan spun on his heel and joined Chelsea at the car.He had no problems making threats.If Sabine received the money back, she could hire people to do the job Darren was supposed to have done.
Chelsea sat there, staring at nothing, taking long, slow breaths.
“We’ll fix this.”He didn’t know how, but he would.
There was no way he would let Aunt Maggie’s passion be destroyed or let Chelsea down a second time.
Chelsea nodded and drove home.
Her silence was deafening and Ethan knew she was barely holding herself together, so he didn’t speak.
