Chapter Eighteen
That night, I sat at the vanity, putting my face cream on while Micah toweled off from his shower.
I’d been working up the courage since he came home to ask him about the money he apparently thought my mother stole from him, but after my shouting match with Davis, I knew I needed a better approach that didn’t start with accusations and end with insults.
“Micah.”
He parted the towel, peeking at me through the cotton. “Yeah?”
“You’ve been really sweet not to bring it up, but I think we should address the elephant in the room.”
“Elephant? What elephant?”
My goodness, it was hard to keep my eyes on his face. This man firmly believed a towel was only meant to dry your bits, not cover them.Allof him hung hard, hot, and free as he draped his towel around his shoulders.
Lips parting, I said the words I’d been scripting for half the day. “About the money you believe my mother stole from your family,” I began. “I still don’t believe she could’ve done that, but if she did and the lawyer finds it when he gets access to her accounts, I’ll tell him he legally needs to give it all to you. No questions. No fighting. It’s yours.”
He stared at me, brows crumpling—and panic seized.
Oh no, did I say the wrong thing? Did I give myself away?
“Sue, uh... wow.” He dropped down on my bed, reaching for his boxers. “Baby, that’s... wow.”
I swallowed hard. “Could I possibly get more than a wow?”
“If you want more words, don’t be leaving me speechless.” He tossed his head, sending those long, sweet-scented locks flying through the air. “We fought about this so many times. Every time you called me a twisted, paranoid piece of shit and refused to even entertain the thought of helping me get the money back. And now, just like that, you’re saying you’ll have it all returned? That’s wow,” he repeated, then smiled at me.
“That means a lot, Sue. It really does. It shows me that you’re serious about a fresh start for our family, and for us,” he said. “But it’s completely unnecessary.”
“What? What is?”
“Giving me any money from the charity clique’s inheritance,” he said, “because you were right the whole time. Your mother had nothing to do with the con. I blamed her the whole time because she was the one who introduced that man to my parents, but I see now that she was tricked and taken in by him just like we all were.” The last few words were strangled as his jaw clenched and anger darkened his face. “Remember that day you called me asking if Lily could stop the piano lessons?”
“Yeah,” I replied, turning to face him.
“Well, I lied,” he told the floor, bending over to put on his pajama bottoms. “I wasn’t out on a job. When you called, I was in a casino in Atlantic City.”
“A casino? What were you doing there?”
“The conman piece of shit that robbed my parents is in the wind. By this point, he’s changed identities fifty times, and the investigators we hired just can’t find him,” he said. “That’s why the last one told us to stop trying. We needed to stop chasing the wind, and start looking at what it was leaving behind.”
“Uhh,” I drew out. “That explanation did nothing for me.”
He chuckled. “What he meant was that we need to track down his other victims and figure out what we all have in common, and how he got to all of us. Once we know how he picks his marks, we can find his next target before he does, and finally get ahead of him. And that’s why I’m an ass.”
“Once again, you’ve lost me.”
Micah dropped back on the bed, covering his face with his hands. “That day, the investigator tracked down another victim. I went to Atlantic City and found the poor drunk son of a bitch throwing the last of his dignity on the craps table. He told me everything.
“All about how he won forty-two million dollars in the lottery, but he wanted to be smart. He didn’t want to go the way most of them do—broke in a year. So when his cousin introduced him to a financial advisor, he tookthe recommendation, because why wouldn’t he? He trusted who his cousin trusted.”
Micah groaned. “Everything he described was exactly what happened to my parents and the buyout money they tried to invest for me. I gave them all of the money because I didn’t trust myself back then. I was partying too hard, drinking too much, smoking too much, and sleeping around too much. I really thought having all of that money would kill me. I’d be found dead in my mansion with vomit on my pillow and coke dust on my nose within a year. So I gave it all to the people I trusted most... and then that shit floated up.
“Apparently, this guy specifically targets new-money folks who suddenly get a massive windfall and don’t know what to do with it. But unlike other preying scum, he’s smart. He never approaches the person directly, instead he gets close to a family member or friend and happens to mention to them that he’s a financial advisor and investor, so when his mark suddenly mentions that he’s in the market for one, the friend will go, ‘oh, hey, I actually know a great guy who can help you out. I’ll give you his number.’”
“Wow,” I breathed, slumping against the vanity. “That’s evil. It’s smart, but it’s evil. You automatically trust the guy a little more because you went to him. He didn’t come to you.”
“Exactly. Which is again why I’m an ass.” Micah dropped his hands, sending me a sheepish smile. “That guy had never heard of your mother in his entire life, and neither has his cousin, for that matter. All this time, I blamed your mother for introducing that piece of shit to my parents when it was never her fault. He lied to her like he lied to so many others. The only one who was ever to blame was that thieving snake.”
