Page 59 of Devoured By Peace

18

LACHLAN

I’d been sitting in the hospital chair for ten minutes or so before my father opened his eyes.

“Lachlan,” he said.

“Dad.” I leaned over and kissed his withered cheek.

His lips twitched into a slight curve.

“How are you?”

“I’m nearly dead,” he said soberly.

“You need to keeping fighting.”

“I’m in too much fucking pain.”

“Do you need some morphine?”

He shook his head slightly. “You know about the bullion. Britney has the details. There’s a clause.”

“What kind of clause?” I asked.

“You’re to marry her, then the money’s yours.”

“What?”

“She set it up that way.”

“But didn’t you say it was sixty-forty or something like that?”

“I thought it was, but on her last visit, she corrected me.” He paused. “She’ll be good for you. She’s an expert at making money. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. That killer instinct.”

“Right. Like the ‘Bird of Paradise’ deal that has had me selling all of your father’s collection to avoid having my head blown off from some Mafia dude named Varela.”

I might as well have told him I’d lost at cards. He looked blankly at me. “That was my doing. I needed some quick cash. Britney tried to warn me against it. I should’ve listened to her. She’s level-headed and would make a good wife.”

“I’ll go without, then.”

“I put two billion aside just in case you got stubborn. Britney doesn’t know. But you still have to go to Geneva. Hank’s got the details. You have the estate.”

“About that…” I took a deep breath.

His forehead creased. “Oh, I forgot. It’s mortgaged.”

“Not anymore. I sorted that.” I took another breath. “Tammy’s got this thing over me that could see me jailed.”

“That bitch,” he growled. For a dying man, he still had some pep in him. “Hank can deal with her.”

“She wants you to rescind the prenup.”

“I bet she does. The whore. She fucked my son. How sick is that?”

“Why the fuck did you marry her?”

He stared into space, as though trying to solve a puzzle. “For the conversation.” His eyes slid back to mine, and a smirk touched his mouth. Then within a blink, his face darkened. “She’s not getting anything. Knock the bitch off.”