She swallows hard before averting her gaze. “I can’t hate someone I don’t know.” For fuck’s sake. “You’ve always been better at parenthood than I was.”
“As if babies came with instruction manuals,” I snort. “Don’t you want to see her?” My voice breaks.
After the birth, Lauren didn’t want to have anything to do with Naomi. Three weeks after our daughter was born, Lauren had no desire to name her. She left it to me. So I did. Mom thought it was postpartum depression, which she’s very familiar with, it turns out, it wasn’t. Lauren had too much partying left in her to be dragged down by a child.
“I’d only fuck her up.” She brings her fingers to her temples and rubs. “I need money, Holt.”
“Unbelievable. You’re really a heartless bitch,” I spit in her face.
“I wasn’t cut out for motherhood. I left because I couldn’t do it. You know that.”
“You didn’t even try,” I remind her. “I hired help, so you didn’t have anything else to do other than to focus on Naomi and shower her with love and affection.”
“It’s water under the bridge now.” Her indifference never ceases to amaze me. “The more important question is how the hell did my father leave you his entire dynasty?”
“He didn’t leave it to me, Lauren. He left it to Naomi––his only grandchild. Since she’s just a kid, I’m the executor of her trust until she turns twenty-six.”
“But, everyone is dead. I’m the next in line,” she laments.
“Your father decided you weren’t responsible enough to take over his company.” He was right.
Yeah, that’s the other the reason why I had to come back to LA.
For his sixtieth birthday, Craig O’Broin, also known as the king of American whiskey, chartered a yacht and invited his entire family for a four-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. Everyone showed up except for Lauren, who’d been estranged from her family since she abandoned her child. I was invited, but since Naomi had been running a fever the days leading up to the big birthday, I couldn’t make it. Flying across an ocean when she was sick, was out of the question. A violent freak storm capsized the yacht, forcing it to kneel to Mother Nature’s fury. Not even the experienced crew was able to keep control of the vessel. Craig O’Broin and his wife died on that fatal night. So did everyone else in his entire family. His four sons, three daughters-in-law, six grandkids, four brothers––and their wives and kids––all dead in a blink of an eye. There were only two survivors of the O’Broin clan––Lauren and Naomi.
The likelihood of a child taking over the helm of the most successful whiskey producing company in America was one in one hundred million. Naomi broke the mold. Lauren’s father carefully planned his succession. He chose to bypass his daughter in favor of his granddaughter.
“What makes you capable of running my family legacy? You’re a fucking washed-up rock star.” Lauren spits in my face.
“That used to play in my favor.”
“Those days are behind us, Holt.” Her eyes are stone cold.
“You’re right. Allow me to spell it out for you. My job is to make sure your father’s company lasts for the next one-hundred years… and beyond. I’ve hired the right people to manage Byrne Whiskey and ensure it grows for when Naomi is ready to take over.”
“My father loathed you. He didn’t want me to be associated with anyone in the music industry and he certainly didn’t want anything to do with my child. Same for my mother. This doesn’t make any sense.”
“After you bailed out on Naomi, I went to see your father begging him to reach out to you. I figured he’d know where you were since he was paying your way through life. I went with Naomi so he could see how perfect she was. Our first meeting didn’t go well. I told him to fuck off when he thought I was there to use my daughter as leverage for a quick payday. A month later he showed up at my office. He had hired a team of investigators and quickly found out I didn’t need his money and I didn’t have questionable skeletons in my closet. After that, he became part of Naomi’s life. We introduced him, your uncles, brothers and male cousins as uncles. Your mom became an aunt. Same for your sisters-in-law, aunts and female cousins. I wanted to protect Naomi.” I let out a long sigh. “Two weeks after the tragic accident, I got a visit in London from a lawyer who delivered life-changing news for our daughter.”
“I can’t believe my own father fucked me over from the grave,” she says, her hands banging against the iron gate.
He did. Big time.
Once it became clear Lauren wasn’t going to embrace motherhood, her father cut her off. For the past three years, she’s been living off her inheritance from her grandparents. Her father’s will stipulates she’s only entitled to profits from the shares he bought under her name when she was born. Nothing more.
“Fuck, I should’ve never pierced those condoms.”
Huh?
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“It wasn’t an accident, Holt. And, I wasn’t on the pill. I stopped after the first night we hooked up. I wanted to get pregnant.”
My face contorts into a riot of emotions.
“You’re fucking joking? You tricked me?”
She responds with a one-shoulder shrug.
“Speak up, woman!” I yell.
“You were hot and sexy. Every woman was vying for your attention. I wanted to trap you. Taking care of a baby turned out to be not as fun as I had expected.”
I had my sneaky suspicions. I mean, seriously, what are the odds? Now I know. Still, hearing her admit to it, leaves me flabbergasted.
“You disgust me,” I spit out in her face.
“What’s done is done. You seem to like playing the daddy role. I see now it was a bad idea. Had she not been born, Daddy would have no one to leave his fortune to, but me.”
I shake my head in disbelief.
“Get the fuck out of my face.”
“No! I. Need. More. Money!” Her face is beet red. “How am I supposed to survive on ten thousand dollars a month?”
“Plenty of people do. In fact, most Americans will never earn that much.”
“I’m. Not. Most. Americans.” Her comment drips with disdain.
“Ask Legion.”
“Wh—what?”
“Your boyfriend.”
“How did you know?”
I snicker at the look of shock on her face.
“You’re discreet, but there’s always someone watching… even in Ibiza.”
Legion, aka, Kris Faire is one of the biggest rock stars to come out of Australia. His well-publicized drinking and drug problems are no secret. He’s been in and out of rehab more times than he’s been to the bathroom. She’s been with him for five months now. Like she couldn’t find anyone better. I don’t need to know what’s going on in her personal life—and she’s had plenty of lovers since she left—but I make it my business to know because we have a child together. In this case my good friend and UK lawyer, Barrett Ascott blew the whistle on them. He even had photos as proof. Bless him.
“Legion has an entourage. I’m sure someone can hook you up with a job to boost your monthly income,” I tell her.