“That’s right.I wanted her to be able to find me if she ever needed me.I’ve waited a long time now, and I’m guessing that it’s taken her so long because of her mother.”She said that some of it had to do with her.The other was that she didn’t have the funds.“I didn’t give her all the money that I could have because I didn’t want to make Debra any more pissed off than she usually is.She hates that people have more than she does at any given time, and I didn’t want my daughter hurt again.”
“She’s putting together pieces of her childhood from memories now.She said that she had such a wonderful childhood that the only thing she could attribute it to was having her aunt and uncle in the picture.I have a feeling that you were the one who was footing the bills when it came to Sen.”Howard told her that she was right.But they did make it so that he could see her when she came to the house for events.“I figured as much.You did well, Howard.She thought that the man named Howard was her father, but she was never for sure about it.I’m glad you didn’t just let her be raised by that psychopath of a mother.”
“Has she threatened her again?”She told him of the details of the death of her uncle and aunt, and how she was a billionaire.And that Debra threatened to kill her if she got more than she did from the estate.“That sounds like her.She only hit her the one time that I’m aware of, and I took her from her mother.Debra was never stable about things when it came to money.She was forever trying to get more out of me since Serenity was just a baby.But as I said, when Serenity turns twenty-five, everything stops for her mother, and the house that she’s living in will revert to my child.There will be no more money put into her account, nor will the house be hers to live in as she sees fit.Everything that I own will go to Serenity when I pass away, too.My other three children are on their own when it comes to living in this world.”
“Is that someone else she’s going to have to deal with when you pass away?Your other children?If so, you’d better be doing something about them now.I don’t have much tolerance for people who try to hurt what I consider my family, and Sen is the moment she became Ivan’s mate.”He said that he’d dealt with them and they know better now.“I hope you’re right.I would hate to have to take you to task if one of them gets out of hand.I’m not without a great deal of resources myself.”
He didn’t know what she’d do to him once he was dead, but he had a fear of her all the same.Telling her again that his children had been dealt with had her telling him he’d better didn’t bode well for him.Howard decided that he was going to have another talk with his children to make sure theyunderstood that he was finished with them.So far, they seemed to understand, but he was going to make his point again.There was no point in pissing anyone off after he was dead.He had a feeling that she’d be digging him up and causing him all kinds of trouble if things went south with his kids.She was sort of scary.
After getting the information that he needed about the event that he’d get to formally meet his little girl, he got the caller’s name again.She told him that, as well as her social security number, so that he could do a very detailed background check on her.Yes, he thought, she was scary as fuck, and he wasn’t going to mess with her if he didn’t have to.But to see his daughter again and letting her know how he was related to her, was going to be wonderful.
When they rang off, he thought about the dinner party that he was going to.Brandy had told him that it would be a casual affair and that he didn’t need to wear a suit.That the other men would be in jeans and shirts.He said that he owned some blue jeans and would feel comfortable wearing them as well.As soon as he wrote the date on his calendar, he had his secretary clear the whole day for him, knowing that he’d get nothing done that day because of the anticipation of getting to know his daughter more.
He didn’t get much done today, either, he realized at five o’clock.He’d had his computer go to sleep so many times that he gave up trying to make it work for him.As he was putting his things away, he always liked a clean desk first thing in the morning, and he thought about things that he hadn’t in some time.Mostly, it had to do with Debra and her antics.But he also thought of the first time he’d met her.She’d been such a beauty that she took his breath away.It was sad to him that the inner shell of her had been so rotten.
They’d been at a party.He’d only decided at the last minute to go to the thing, as he had better things to do than to go to an event that had to do with an engagement of one of his friends.The couple had thrown a large launch party, they called it, and they wanted all their friends to get to know the future missus, whatever their names had been at the time.
Debra had cornered him in an empty room, and they’d had sex on their first meeting.He knew better, but he’d been so infatuated that he’d let things slip up, and he’d ended up with Serenity.Not that he minded.He’d been divorced by then, and things were looking dim on the family front that he welcomed a child—so long as it was his—that he could raise with someone.Turns out that Debra had her own plans, and they didn’t include him in her party of two, and she blackmailed him when he had insisted that he have a part in raising his daughter, too.The thing that had always bothered him was that everything she wanted from him was for her and not the child.She never asked for support or any of the other things that went with having a child.He had a feeling that the child had been a ploy to get money from him, and he fell for it.Well, he got a child out of it, too.Debra just didn’t know anything about his involvement in her life.
Then she’d beaten the child.When Serenity had been six years old, she’d been beaten by Debra so badly that she had to stay a week and a half in the hospital.Her leg had been broken, and her wrist sprained.There were stitches, too, that had to heal, and he never forgave her for that.The next thing he did was have her sent to a school far from Debra, and she seemed to be all right with it.He would never forgive her for beating a helpless child the way that she had, and he planned on telling her when the time came.Just a short few months, and he’d have everything just where he wanted it.Debra out of his life and his daughter in his.
~*~
“And he wants to meet me?”Brandy told her that she’d already met him as he was a guest at her aunt and uncle’s home all those times she’d been there.“I thought as much.I never asked because no one said anything.I’m assuming that there was some kind of law my mother made up that he wasn’t allowed to see me.”
“He had to stay out of your life until you were twenty-five, or if you wanted to meet him.I made it clear that you were having me look for him, and he seemed excited about getting to know you.I found out from his lawyer, who contacted me a couple of days later, that he’s paying for the housethat your mother has been living in for so long as she doesn’t cause any trouble for him.Also, he pays the taxes and has the house renovated every five years by having the walls painted and the carpets replaced if they need it.Needless to say, she has nothing to do with the renovations other than to be out of the house when they’re going on.Could be when she was trying to live with you all those times.”Sen said she could think of times when she had no place to live too.“I have the contract that was made up about you being his child.Everything that your mother gets right now will stop when you turn twenty-five.On the day of your birthday, she will be removed from the house, and all money will stop being put in her account.If you had thought to get in touch with him sooner, it would have stopped then.I think this is great.He’s a smart man for wanting to have it in the contract that she can not harm you in any way.I think that’s when you were shipped off to boarding school so that she couldn’t hurt you anymore.”
“That’s what Ivan and I thought.”Brandy handed her the contract, and she handed it to Devlin.He’d come to their home to see what her dad had to say about meeting her, and she was overwhelmed at the information that she was getting.“He’s wealthy then, I take it.”
“Very much so.About as wealthy as we are as a family.He’s got a good head on his shoulders about investments and the company that he owns, which sells high-end furniture all over the world and does a good job of it.He has houses everywhere that are good vacation spots, and he rents them out to people with too much money on their hands.Like I said, a smart businessman.”She asked about his life.“I have a lot of information about his life before you came into the picture.He has three children from his wife, and they divorced about five years before you were born.Howard is a young man considering what he’s done with his life, and I like what I’ve read about him.His kids are shits, but they have nothing to do with him or his money.He keeps them at arm’s length away from him, and his ex-wife is out of the picture completely.She has her own life and never seems to bother with her kids either.”
“He sounds like he might be lonely.”Brandy told her that he has a very lively social life and he stays on top of his own investments.He is a hard worker and a good friend to those who think to call him such.“He and my uncle were good friends then.I guess I kind of figured that out on my own.”
“Howard was his best man when he married Cindy.They would go on vacations together, just the two men, and would go on hunting trips too.Cindy never got along with his ex-wife, so she was never one to go on vacation trips with them.”She asked how she’d gotten so much information with only a phone call.“The attorney for his personal life called me, like I said.He was very forthcoming and told me everything that he knew.I guess he figured that since you wanted to meet him, then you should know everything there was to know about him.Also, you should know that you’re named in his will in the event that anything happens to him.That will make you a very wealthy woman.”
“I’m not concerned with the money.”Brandy said that she’d figured that she’d say that.“I have enough money now to do with what I want.I’d rather have a relationship with him than have him die on me, too.I can’t wait until this dinner thing.I can’t thank you enough for setting it up for us.I kind of hope that my mother finds out that I’m seeing him so that she can get pissed off enough to leave me alone.”
“Do you think she will do that?”Sen had to think about it for a few minutes and realized that Brandy was right in asking.No, she wouldn’t be all right with her contacting her father.“We’ll just make sure to keep things quiet while we’re waiting for you to see him.After that, you know that this entire family will protect you.Ivan or any of the men will die for you.”
“I know they keep saying that, but it’s hard for me to believe that they’d do that for a stranger.Ivan and I are just getting to the point where he kisses me goodnight.I can’t imagine him dying for me.I don’t even want to think about that.”Brandy said she understood.“Good.I’ve decided that I’m terrified of what my mother will do to me when she finds out about the money.I’m even more afraid of her if she finds out about my dad.She’ll try to hurt all of us.Dad included.”
“She’s not stable, I was told.That might be something that you keep in mind while talking to her.She might lash out at you or do something that will harm you in a big way.I’d not put anythingpast her.”She said she’d be careful of her.“Good.I don’t think that I’d go out alone anymore either.You don’t want her catching you off guard at any point, or she might hurt you badly.From what the attorney said about her, she’s being watched all the time when you’re around, just so that she doesn’t harm you again.Do you know why she did so in the first place?”
“I don’t.I tried to remember, but I can only remember the pain of it all.Then, afterwards, being shipped off to boarding school right away.”Brandy told her.“All I did was ask after my father, and that had her losing control?Why?It seems like a perfectly good question for a kid to ask about someone that’s not in the picture.”
“She would lose it all if you were to ask about your father, remember?She had to keep you from asking so that she’d be able to keep her money and house.With you being curious, that would have ended it all.”She said she never knew that as a child.“Even as an adult, she had to make sure that you never tried to find him.I think that’s what had her hating you being around your uncle and aunt, they knew your father from before you were born.”
“I guess my life is a bit more complicated than I thought it was.All this mystery about my childhood could have been so dangerous.I guess it was.”She thought about her mother and wondered what she would do if she knew that she was going to see her father in a few days.She’d have a fit that was for sure.And would more than likely hurt her again for doing it.“I hate that she has this hold over me.Like I’m some sort of child that needs to be kept in the dark about their father.It’s not like he’s a monster or anything.Even though, come to find out, she is.I always knew there was something off about her.I just never realized how extensive it was.”
They talked about the dinner and what kind of food they’d be having.Brandy thought it was wonderful that Howard’s attorney had sent over a list of things that he couldn’t eat.He wanted to be a part of this family so badly that he’d opened up his entire life to them and didn’t hold back on answers.
“I was told that if you thought of something else you wanted to know, you were to call the office.You might not get to talk to the attorney when you did, but Howard would always take your call, no matter what.”She thought that was very sweet and said as much.“He really wants this to work.I’ve never known someone to be so open with their lives before.I don’t even get this much information when I’m doing a merger for a company.”
“What have you told him about me?”Brandy said there wasn’t much he didn’t already know about her.“So he’s been keeping tabs on me my entire life.I guess that’s not creepy or anything.”They all laughed.“I don’t know what to think about this right now.I’m excited but nervous too.I can’t wait to see him again.It’s been a long time in coming, don’t you think?”
“I think this is a man who has been waiting his entire life for you to come into it and has had the first bit of good news since then.His friendship with the Rangers has been a long one, and I’m betting if asked, he knows what kind of grades you made in school, as well as has every school picture ever taken of you.He would have been right on top of everything having to do with you.”She thanked Ivan for his kind words and laid her head on his shoulder.“He, like me, has been waiting for you all this time and now has the opportunity to be with you.Just like I have been.”
For the rest of the evening, they talked about the slaughterhouse.It was coming along nicely, and they’d been able to sell their beef to local stores that needed it.They’d only been open for a short time and were already having people come back to get more of their beef so that they could stock their freezers.She loved that they all worked for the place, with the exception of Ayden.
