I’m finally ready to implement my plan. Soon I’ll be able to reveal everything to Nan. I gather the paperwork I’ve had my attorney draw up, and I head to Palm Springs.
* * *
The house isquiet when I pull up. I read in the reports Jill pulled together for me that there’s no fanfare here, no servants to keep me from getting in. The only way to get the upper hand on Gray Sutter is to ambush him, so I have the element of surprise on my side. He’ll be fired up for sure. According to the spy I planted at the store in Beverly Hills, there was a big Board Meeting yesterday. Gray lost his shit and he and some of the other Board Members stormed out of the meeting. Makes me wonder if Amanda confessed to trying to win me back for my money. Even if he doesn’t want my help, he’s going to get it.
My accountant looked at all of the records Jill was able to pirate, and not only has Grayson Sutter done some really stupid things with his money, he’s also done some illegal things. Now they’re coming back to bite him in the ass. People who helped him get ahead are collecting now. He’s covered as long as he could by shifting assets around. Now he’s run the company dry, as well as his personal assets. Even with the renters, he’ll lose the house within the month, and the company will fold by Christmas. He’s out of time and out of resources. I’m his only chance.
My only trepidation as I ring the doorbell is that Amanda’s younger sister Emily will be a nuisance. If she is, I can always try turning on the charm. She couldn’t have cared less about me when I was a starving artist and Amanda’s forbidden boyfriend. If it comes down to it, let’s see what she thinks of me now that I’m about to buy her father’s life out from under him.
I hear Gray’s footsteps as he approaches the door. He yanks it open and gives me a blank stare.
“Yes? Can I help you with something? Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.”
He doesn’t even recognize me. He starts to close the door in my face, and I put my hand against it to stop him.
“Hello, Grayson. I’m surprised you don’t remember me. Then again, I was several million dollars lighter the last time you saw me.”
“Who are you? What do you want?”
“Well, I used to be the love of Amanda’s life. But now I’m here to buy you out, lock, stock and barrel. Of course, with all of your bad debt looming, you’ll hardly see a dime of my money. You’ll be lucky if you can still afford a room in a youth hostel, much less a house in Palm Springs. And your Beverly Hills days are over for sure.”
He stares at me hard for a long moment before recognition ripples across his face.
“Good grief. You’re Damon Chamberlain, that tattered little artist Amanda brought home for Christmas one year when she was at Columbia. Horrible choice of school. She could have stayed in California, with her people.”
“That’s just it, Grayson,” I say as I push past him into the foyer. “Iwas her people. She didn’t just bring me home as a charity case at Christmastime. She and I lived together in New York. I’ll bet you never knew that, because she was afraid to tell you. We loved each other. I was even going to ask her to marry me.” Gray snorts at this idea. Pompous bastard. “But she remembered her upbringing and dumped me.”
“Thank goodness for small favors,” he quips.
“That hurt me pretty badly, and I actually ran into her again recently. That Amanda, she started to reel me in again, and I actually fell for it. Then BAM! she shot me down again, harder than before. I suppose you can say that’s what brings me here today.”
Grayson has followed me into the living room, and I plop down on the sofa.
“What are you talking about? And I’ll ask again, what the hell is it you want?”
“It’s not so much what I want, as what you need.”
Before he can protest any further, I place my briefcase on the coffee table and open it. I glance around quickly and am relieved that there’s no sign of Emily. I take out a single sheet of paper, which lists in detail all of Grayson Sutter’s financial discrepancies, with particular attention to the illegal trouble he could find himself in, and I hand it to him.
He only has to skim it before he turns pale. After a moment, he slumps in the chair opposite me.
“So you’ll swoop in and tidy everything up, but my girls and I will be left with nothing.”
“Well, I’d hardly say ‘nothing.’ Margot has Stirling, and Amanda told me herself that she’s been squirreling away money. I hope it’s enough. As for Emily, well, she’s rather a problem child, isn’t she? As I recall, she’s always overspent, and I don’t think she’s been able to find a rich man to sink her teeth into. Poor Emily. She might have to actually use her education and get a job.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” he says defeatedly.
“Look, whatever went on at your Board Meeting yesterday, I guarantee you, I’m offering you a better deal.”
“The girls definitely want to sell as soon as possible.”
“Now they don’t have to look for a buyer,” I say, “and even better, there’s no risk of uncovering underlying muck of this situation—and less of a chance that you’ll go to jail.”
“There is that,” he says quietly. “What do I do now?”
“You’ve made this easier than I thought,” I say, and pull another, thicker document out of my briefcase. “I’ve had everything drawn up. Just sign this document, and I’ll have my accountant take care of the rest.”
“How long have I got?” he asks.
