Page 278 of Heartache Duet

I slam my fist against his chest. “Stop laughing at me,” I cry out, hitting him some more.

He grasps my wrists now, holding them to him. “I’ll talk when you settle the fuck down.”

I growl.

He raises his eyebrows.

Then I take a few calming breaths. “I’m settled. Talk.”

His mouth parts, but nothing comes. And I wait, one second, two.

“You’re an idiot,” I snap. “You can’t afford to be buying—”

“I can,” he cuts in, shrugging, and he’s so cool and so calm and why can’t he see how much this is affecting me? He sucks in a huge breath as if preparing his speech, and then he says, “My mother came back into my life because her mom, my grandmother, was dying.”

Anger’s suddenly replaced by sympathy, and I wipe at the residual tears. I pout up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be; I didn’t know her. I mean, I’m sure I did at one point, but it didn’t really affect me. But the point is, my mom was in hiding, and so when my grandmother died, all of her money went to me, and my mom wanted to make sure that she could still access that money through me.”

“Wait.” I struggle to breathe. “She only came back for money?”

Connor nods.

“Okay, so…” I try to clear the fog in my brain, try to wrap my head around what he’s telling me. “So your grandmother died, and you got an inheritance?”

He nods again.

“And your mother wanted you to give her some of it?”

Another nod. “I mean, I’m not hard to find, right? You look up my name online, and it shows you what high school I go to. And my mother knew that. My grandmother had lawyers who could easily find me, and that would be it. Done, over. But she wanted a presence in my life so I could drip feed her some cash so she could continue her life as it is.”

I ask, hesitant, trying to leave my own feelings about his mom out of it, “Do you give her money?”

“She tried to kill me, Ava. Fuck her.”

My lips tug at the corners. “Good.” I lean closer to him, unable to control the pull. “So that’s it? You got some money, and you decided to furnish the apartment?”

His throat bobs with his swallow.

“Connor,” I breathe out. “What else did you do?”

“I kind of… I mean, the apartment’s mine, too.”

“You leased an apartment for me?”

“Actually, I own the apartment.”

My eyes widen. “You… what?”

“Yeah,” he says, grimacing.

“I’m still processing,” I admit.

“You look so cute when you’re confused.”

Ignoring him, I ask, “So you came into some money, and you’re just out here buying properties?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, actually, I have this neat little portfolio going.”