Page 9 of Ashes of Us
Time over the next three months seemed to speed up and slow down simultaneously.
The first two weeks after Alexander's passing were so busy that Danica was just going home and crawling into bed.
Alex preferred an earlier start than Alexander, wanting Danica in the office by seven-thirty instead of nine, and expecting her to stay until after six most evenings as they made the transition over to him.
There were a lot of extra things she had to do to get him set up in his office, including some renovations.
His father had preferred a more antiquated look and had huge, heavy wooden furniture with dark green walls and expensive artwork with gilded gold frames.
Alex preferred a more modern design, with chrome and black leather furniture and grey walls.
He had black and white pictures of buildings on his walls that had been taken by someone named Tenn Aston.
He asked her to set up a meeting with Q Architecture, which specialized in building and renovating homes, making them eco-friendlier and more sustainable, about doing some renovations on all the hotels.
She knew there were some upset whispers among the staff about the changes but figured that was his problem.
The memorial had gone smoothly, and the city had been happy to plant the tree in Alexander and Cassandra's honour, with Alex choosing a Sassafras tree for them.
Danica may have conveniently forgotten to mention the tree was growing in dirt that had Alexander's and Cassandra's cremains mixed in it, not sure of the rules around it, but figuring it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission in this case.
The tree was planted just off to one side of the trail nearest to the hotel, and Alex donated a large wrought iron bench to go in front of it with a simple plaque on the back that said, 'In Loving Memory of Alexander and Cassandra West.'“
Alexander's autopsy results had come back stating he died from heart failure.
Alex had left the report on her desk so she got to read it first thing in the morning, something she was sure he did to purposely upset her and throw her off her game for the day, especially since the report stated that malnutrition had contributed to the heart failure which caused a massive wave of guilt to wash over her.
She had done her best to get him to eat when she saw how much weight he was losing, but he was in his seventies, short of tying him down and force feeding him, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.
She had returned the report to Alex to put with his files for his father's estate with a polite thank you but otherwise hadn't asked any questions or invited conversation around it.
It had taken several weeks for everything to be settled with Alexander's estate.
He left the hotel chain to Alex alone and required everything else to be sold.
The money was then divided up. Craig took his cheque, blew up over the amount, then left that evening when Alex reminded him that he had been living on their fathers' dime his whole life, and he was lucky to get what he got.
Alex personally inspected the room after he was gone and refused to let housekeeping in to clean it, asking Danica to call in specialist cleaners because of the amount of white powder he found.
“I don't know what it is, and I don't want one of the staff coming in contact with it and getting sick or dying.” He told her gruffly when he came out, looking extremely pissed off.
“Make sure no one can go in until it's been gutted and cleaned properly.”
It was a few days after Craig left that Alex called her into his office, asked her to shut the door and sit down.
In front of him to the left was a stack of envelopes, and when she was settled in and looking at him expectantly, he picked up the top envelope and laid it in front of him.
“My father divided his estate into four parts,” he began, watching her with that void face she had grown to hate over the last two months.
“I got the hotels and a small amount of money, which is what I expected, Craig got a couple of hundred grand which, as I'm sure you heard, he was very pissed off about.” Danica nodded shortly, knowing she couldn't deny that she had overheard the argument.
Her office was next to Alex's, and they hadn't bothered to keep their voices down. He gestured to the stack of envelopes next to him. “The third part was a set amount of money for the employees, depending on their years of service.” He paused and picked up the envelope he’d laid in front of him, playing with it as he studied her for a few minutes before sliding it across to her.
“The fourth part was what he left for you,” he said shortly as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and folding his hands together.
Danica reached out with a shaking hand, her stomach feeling like it was tap dancing with nerves and excitement.
She hadn't expected to get anything from the estate at all and had been excited to hear she was going to get an amount based on her fifteen years' service.
She picked up the envelope and held it in her lap, feeling tears fill her eyes as affection for Alexander and sadness that she never got the chance to thank him for everything before he passed filled her.
“Oh.” It came out soft and choked, which was all she could manage.
She couldn't really bring herself to look at Alex, knowing he was probably thinking this confirmed his thoughts that she was fucking around with his father.
She wiped her eyes and sniffed, not surprised that he didn't offer her a tissue.
Their relationship had been very strained, polite and professional since the day they got Craig out of the house.
She made it very clear she didn't want to talk about it and just wanted to do her job, and he hadn't attempted to change that.
“Thank you.” She glanced at him as she started to stand up. “Is that everything, sir?”
“No.” Alex's voice was firm, and she dropped back down in the seat, wondering what else he could want to discuss.
He had already sent her messages with a to-do list for the day and the rest of the week.
She met his eyes and was surprised to see he was giving her a worried look.
“It's a lot of money, Dani, like a life-changing amount of money, and I don't want to tell you what to do with it, but I do need to discuss a few things with you about it.”
“Okay.” Danica tilted her head, and when he gestured for her to open the envelope, she did so, almost dropping the check when she saw the amount.
“This must be a mistake,” she whispered.
“I can't...” She trailed off as a lump rose in her throat again.
He had left her five hundred thousand dollars, double what he had left Craig.
“There's no mistake.” Alex opened a folder next to him.
“I hereby bequeath five hundred thousand dollars to Mrs. Danica Preston for her friendship, years of loyal, dedicated service and all her help during and after Cassandra's illness and subsequent death on behalf of both of us.” He looked up at her as he finished reading, closing the folder carefully.
“It's not just from him; it's from Mom too and was something they agreed on before she died.” Danica could only nod; if she opened her mouth, she would break down crying.
“I have to ask you not to discuss this with other staff members.” He continued, leaning back in his chair.
“As far as they're concerned, you received the same as they did, a thousand dollars for every year you've worked here.
I don't want jealousy or gossip to spread among the staff, understand?” Danica nodded again.
That made perfect sense; she also wasn't allowed to discuss her salary or the fact that Alexander and Cassandra had paid for her university either.
“I also would like to ask that you don't use this money as a reason to leave.”
That got Danica's attention, and her head snapped up, meeting his eyes in her astonishment. How did he know she was planning to leave? “I'm sorry?” she tried to sound nonchalant but wasn't quite sure that she pulled it off. The way he rolled his eyes and let out a scoff told her she hadn't.
“I'm not stupid Dani, I know you're royally pissed off with me and just waiting out a clock to leave.” He informed her smugly.
“Although I haven't had anyone reach out to tell me my executive assistant is trying to jump ship, so I'm assuming there's another goal post than finding another job.” Danica stayed silent, not wanting to confirm or deny anything, and after a minute, he seemed to realize she wasn't going to give anything away.
He sighed and shook his head. “Anyway. I want to ask you, as a professional courtesy, if not to me, then to my father, not to leave, at least not until we finish the audits on the hotels.
You're the one who knows everyone, and they trust you. I need you to help bridge the gaps and help them feel comfortable with the audit... and with me.”
She could tell it hurt him to admit the last part, but she noted there was still no apology for believing she had been sleeping with his father.
Before she could respond, he shifted and looked uncomfortable.
“There's one other thing that's most definitely not my business, but I can't in good conscience not discuss it with you.” He stopped, and she watched in surprise as a flush rose up his neck.
She didn't think she had ever seen him so flustered and embarrassed, and it definitely piqued her curiosity.
“Just - just know that this is coming from a place of experience and concern and try not to slap me.”
Now her eyebrows went up, and she felt a tickle of a giggle rise in her throat as she wondered what he could possibly say that would make her want to slap him. “Why would I slap you?”
“Well,” He shifted again, rubbing his neck and looking like he wished he hadn't started this conversation.
“Look, just understand this isn't a knock against your husband, I don't know the man, and I don't know the state of your marriage.” He took a deep breath and finally met her eyes.
“If you and your husband divorce, he will be entitled to half of the money.
If that isn't something you're okay with, you need to consider a postnuptial agreement.”
Danica furrowed her brow. She wasn't upset that he brought that up.
She didn't think she and Jasper would divorce anytime soon.
Still, she couldn't deny that her husband was terrible with money, to the point that they had separate finances, and would immediately start listing all the things he wanted to buy when she told him about it.
He also had an annoying habit of loaning out his money to friends and family and not expecting to be paid back, then asking her for money for his bills.
“I thought that as long as it was kept separate from marital funds, it wasn't considered marital property.”
“Not in Massachusetts.” She watched as Alex relaxed when he saw she wasn't upset.
“Anything you receive while married, money, property, businesses, whatever, it all goes into the pot and is divided between you.” There was a faintly bitter expression on his face as he spoke, and she remembered that he had married his wife in Boston and, not for the first time, wondered why Alex was divorcing her.
She had been fielding multiple calls from her since it was announced Alex was taking over.
Alex refused to speak to her and just told Danica to direct her to his lawyers and document she was calling.
“If you want my advice, offer him a hundred grand and get him to sign a postnupt.” He paused and then tilted his head from side to side. “Of course, it goes that way for him too, so if you think his assets are about the same as yours, including future inheritances, then you can ignore me.”