Blake nodded. “Yes. I know. I’ve been living there for years and she’s hardly ever there. But it’s still hers.”
“No, darling, that apartment belongs to the Norton estate,” Ned explained.
An electric vibe sizzled over the table.
“You are a Coddington,” Ned went on. “Heir to the title. She can’t keep you out of something you, in essence, own along with her.”
Blake said nothing.
Ned angrily tossed his napkin on the table, ground out, “Excuse me for a moment,” and stormed out of the room.
“Dad!” Blake called.
Ned didn’t stop.
“Excuse me,” Blake said, tossing her own napkin to the table, getting up and rushing after her father.
Dair didn’t hesitate to move even if his mother and sister exchanged an uncertain glance.
He caught up with her and walked beside her to what was clearly Ned’s office.
He had his phone to his ear.
Dair felt his family come up behind them (because, of course curiosity sent them following).
“Yes, it’s me,” Ned snarled into the phone. “Now, if you don’t want yourself embroiled in a massive lawsuit, you will cease packing Blake’s things this fucking instant. You don’t have the privilege of removing her from a family property. And if you fight back on this, the Norton estate will not fund your legal fees, which will be inconvenient for you, considering you ran through the settlement I gave you decades ago.”
He paused to listen, but he didn’t pause pacing with agitation, though he stopped when he spoke again.
“Oh yes, Helena, I am very familiar with the terms of the Norton title, and the entire British peerage system, for this very reason. You are precisely the kind of woman who would use any means necessary to act out against or harm our children to get your way or to strike back. And here you are, doing just that. But I’ll not have it. I believe, during our divorce, you learned not to go against me. I suggest you call that lesson up now. If Blake wants to move out, Blake can move out when she wishes to do so. What she will not do is be put out simply because you’re pissy that your lover shared his true feelings for you, and those are that you were nothing but an easy lay.”
Davi snorted.
Blake choked back a giggle.
Kenna whispered, “Oh my.”
Suddenly, Ned’s back shot straight.
There was a loaded pause before he said, “Do your worst.”
Then he hung up.
“Fuck,” he muttered before he dragged his fingers through his hair and turned around.
“You didn’t have to do that, Daddy,” Blake said.
And Christ, she called him daddy when she was being sweet.
It was cute.
But it was inconvenient.
Dair liked to be daddy.
“Though, that was epic,” she continued.
“I’ve been seeing a woman named Marlo for some time,” Ned said on a rush.
