“Not bad at all,” I agree, nodding, and it’s a shame it’s all rotten. “But a wife?”
“You like women. A wife wouldn’t be so bad.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “I like lots of women. As in, plural women, and sometimes plural women in the same night. In the same bed, at the same time. A wife is singular.”
“You’ll adapt. Open marriage. That sort of thing.”
I wave a hand. “I’m too old fashioned. I prefer to be single when I sleep around.”
“If I may?” Albert clears his throat, interrupting our banter, which is annoying. I find our banter charming and hilarious, but I gesture for him to continue anyway. “I know why you’re here. I think everyone does. You want control of the, ah, darker aspects of the family business.”
“I want control of everything,” I say quietly, feeling my blood simmer in my veins. “I was born to control Hayle Construction. I was bred to run the mafia. Struggle and rage are baked into my flesh and I’ll be damned if anyone else gets a piece of what’s mine.”
“In that case, you’ll need this money and the respectability a decent wife will bring. I know it’s dangerous to say, but Kellen, you don’t have a good reputation.”
I lean back, looking at Albert like a viper.
“The man’s right,” Finn says. “Your reputation is bleak.”
“Very bleak,” I agree.
“Bloody almost.”
“Bloody is a good way to describe my reputation.”
“But what I don’t get, Mr. Lawyer, is why marrying will help?” Finn’s inspecting his nails like he’s looking at something interesting.
Albert smiles uncertainly. “It’ll show that Kellen is willing to change. That he’s trying to play the game.”
“I could always just ask my mother to give me what I want, since my father left everything to her, and not to my shit-stain cousin.”
Albert nods and somehow looks even more uncomfortable, if that’s possible. “Yes, you could, but there’s a problem. Two years ago, when her illness began, she gave your cousin Hugh her power of attorney. And not just a limited power, but a very broad one, and it went into effect six months ago. In essence, Hugh controls everything and it’s my understanding that your mother is incapable of, ah, countermanding him at the moment.”
I grind my teeth. “Two years ago?”
“That’s right. I don’t know the details of how this situation came about, I only did the paperwork.”
I glance at Finn and he shakes his head.
I know that look—Finn thinks that whole situation reeks, and I agree.
Hugh does nothing without having at least a dozen different motives. He wouldn’t become my mother’s power of attorney without the expectation of getting something in return, and I’m not sure how he managed to make it happen under my father’s nose.
Unless Hugh and my father had an agreement.
“Essentially, what you’re saying is that I’m fucked.”
“Yes, essentially.” He sighs and smooths back what’s left of his white hair. “You’d have to get Hugh to give up your mother’s power of attorney first of all. Then you’d have to convince the board to fire him and hire you as the Hayle Construction CEO. And beyond that, there are all the other, uh, loyal members of the family that would need to approve your, um, ascension, so to speak.”
“None of which will happen.”
“No, I can’t imagine your cousin will simply hand over everything just because you moved back into the manor.”
“And there are no other legal recourses?”
He shakes his head. “I’d be more than happy to let another lawyer take a look at the pertinent paperwork, but I can’t see how you’d wrestle POA from Hugh in court. The documents are airtight. I should know, I drafted them.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer.” I glance at Finn. “Have our guy take a look.”