Page 87 of Played

“That is your mother’s money, and you know it. Your grandfather had no right to give it to you.”

“The money was intended for whomever looked after Grampa at the end of his life. And that was clearly not you or my mother.”

He snarls. “We tried to get him to come home, and he would have if it wasn’t for you and?—”

“If not for your meddling kid?” I snort a laugh at my Scooby-Doo joke, but he is unsurprisingly not amused.

“Always the fool, Kyngston.”

“A fool with twenty-five million in his bank account,” I quip, unable to resist poking at him.

He’s quiet, trying to rein in his temper, no doubt. “Can we please just discuss this? Come for dinner, and we can have a civilized discussion.”

Civilized would mean he and my mother would have to remain mute the entire time. “Why do you care so much about Grampa’s money? I know twenty-five million is a hell of a lot of money to most people, but Mother’s art collection alone is worth at least half that. You’re stinking rich, aren’t you?” He clears his throat by way of answer, and it makes me wonder how desperate he truly is. “Now, if I thought you were in a bind, I mightconsider helping you out,” I add.

It takes him a few seconds before he speaks again. “Actually, we do have somewhat of a cash-flow problem right now.”

Wow. It must be a big fucking problem for him to have even considered admitting that to me. I put my feet up on the coffee table, enjoying this conversation all of a sudden. “What kind of cash-flow problem?”

“Not one I’d like to discuss over the phone. How about you come for dinner?”

I’d rather drive nails into my skull.

“Or we could go for a drink? Just you and me,” he offers when I don’t jump at his invitation. “Tonight?”

Things must be dire, but I have plans with Mason tonight. “Can’t tonight.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

I’m so close to breaking the Jamestech case that my time is going to be tied up with that tomorrow. “I’m really busy.”

“Please, King?”

I swallow. He never calls me King. What the hell is going on that’s making him this eager to meet with me? Curiosity makes me say, “Maybe I could meet you for one drink, but I have some work to tie up, so I’ll let you know. If not tomorrow, then maybe this weekend.”

“As soon as you can fit me in, son.”

If only his desperation to see his only son was for anything other than needing money. Wouldn’t that be something. Pity it will never be the case.

Chapter

Forty-Three

MASON

King’s triumphant grin fills me with anticipation and a little trepidation. He asked me to invite Elijah in for this meeting, so he obviously has news.

“I’ve found your leak,” he declares.

Elijah edges forward in his seat. “Who?”

“Olivia Green,” King announces proudly.

I’m surprised but glad it’s not Hayden. That would make me a terrible judge of character, and despite his clinginess, he’s good at his job. “Wow. I honestly didn’t think she had the initiative to pull off something like this.”

Elijah nods in agreement.

“Well, she’s no mastermind. But she did meet Astyn Bartley around sixteen months ago at a yoga retreat in Virginia. Afterward, they kept in touch via email. None of the emails contain anything incriminating, but they’ve met a total of four times since then. All of those occasions have coincided with Spartan launching some new tech that Jamestech was also developing. And the last two meetings took place the week before your patent was hijacked.”