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Without thinking about it too much, I typed out a message.
Rebel
WTF with the lawyer? You couldn’t have even let it sit for a day? Maybe had a conversation about it? And while we’re on the topic of conversations that should have happened, do you not remember how just yesterday you were begging to go down on me? Maybe we should talk about that?
Vaughn
That was before I knew you murdered my father to steal his fortune.
Rebel
Where’s my eye roll emoji when I need it? I already told you: I did not murder your father. I didn’t even know I was in the will! If anyone has motive for murder, it’s you! You knew you’d get squillions.
Vaughn
I’m selling the house. The lawyer has paperwork for you to sign. If you agree, I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand dollars.
I gaped at Bliss. “This jackass is trying to pay me off.”
“How much?” Nash asked curiously.
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“Oh, fuck that guy,” Bliss spit out. “Tell him you’ll see him in court.”
I wavered. “He’ll probably win in court. We all know that.”
“You can’t take twenty-five K, Rebel! That’s insulting.”
It was. “What if I tell him I want the house? He can keep the business and the cash. I don’t care about those. But that house…” I could imagine myself waking up in a huge bed every morning, stretching as sun streamed in the bay windows. I would eat my breakfast overlooking the pool. Dance around in a gown and slippers. Maybe plonk a tiara on my head…
But mostly I would just be safe in the knowledge no landlord was going to kick me out. I’d sleep better at night knowing I wasn’t going to be living out of my car or crashing on Bliss’s couch because my rent was overdue.
That was all I truly wanted. To work at Psychos. To have my friends around me. To have a safe, stable home nobody could take away from me.
Oh, and to kill Caleb and his friends, but that could wait until the housing problem was fixed.
Rebel
No deal. I want the house. You take the business and the cash and anything else you want. I’ll sign those over right now. All I want is the house.
Vaughn
No.
I ground my teeth. I was being more than reasonable, I was sure. Yes, the house was worth a lot of money, but it was definitely the smaller portion of Bart’s overall estate. I’d really hoped Vaughn would be reasonable.
I tossed my phone down on the counter and groaned. “It’s hopeless. He’s an ass who wants it all, even though he probably swims in his pool of money on a nightly basis.”
“Sounds like something Caleb would have done,” Bliss ground out.
I blanched at the comparison. Even though he was being an ass, Vaughn hadn’t hurt me the way Caleb had. He hadn’t laid a finger on me. When I’d told him to leave, he had.
“They aren’t the same,” I said quietly, but Bliss didn’t hear me. She’d already walked away to retrieve some empty glasses from a table.
Nash had gone back to work too, and I needed to do the same. I put the phone away and headed for the main floor to join Bliss in cleaning up.
Vincent put an arm out to stop me as I passed. “Rebel.”