Dare to Play (Dare Nation 3)

“Oh, shit.” Macy put the mug down before even taking a sip and rushed to meet her sister in the hall.

Given the black streaks of tears running down Hannah’s face, Macy opted not to lay into her now for sneaking out without leaving a note or asking permission.

“I hate her!”

Macy met Jaxon’s gaze. He appeared as shocked as Macy was. “Who do you hate?” she asked, just to be clear.

“Mom. I overheard her talking to her boyfriend. Do you want to know why she wants me? Because Dad left me insurance and getting custody would give her control of the money.” Her eyes filled again. “He said I was baggage she had to take to get the money but it would be worth it.”

That bitch. Macy was going to kill her. She pulled Hannah into a hug. “Honey, I’m so sorry your mother disappointed you.”

Hannah sniffed. “I wanted to live with her because she was fun. She never got mad at me. She didn’t make me do anything like clean up. I thought it meant she loved me more than you did.”

Jaxon arrived with tissues in his hand and gave them to Hannah, then discreetly stepped away.

“Hannah, I love you. I’ve always told you that. And all the arguments and punishments, those are because I want what’s best for you. And that’s for you to grow up to be a woman with morals and a good sense of right and wrong.”

“I’m sorry.” Hannah wiped her face with the tissues, the black mascara smearing even more. Suddenly her eyes opened wide. “What if Mom gets custody of me? She made me sign a piece of paper saying I wanted to live with her, but that was before. What am I going to do?” She began to panic, wring her hands, and pace.

“Hannah, stop and listen to me. Your money is in a trust. I’m in charge, and even if your mother got custody, she couldn’t touch the money.” Which meant Lilah wasn’t going to want her daughter, and Macy didn’t want to be the one to give Hannah the cold facts.

She wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulder. “You should go up and wash your face and shower. We can talk about everything that happened some more, and you leaving this house without permission, later.”

Hannah sniffed and nodded. “What are you going to do?” she asked, because she knew Macy well.

“Jaxon and I are going to talk and decide whether I should go lay out the facts for your mom or let the lawyer do it for me.” Although Macy wanted to confront Lilah and see her face when she realized the money her dad had left was protected from her greedy hands. “What’s Lilah’s hotel room number?” she asked.

Hannah mumbled the answer, and once she’d disappeared and Macy heard the door to the bedroom close, Jaxon returned from wherever he’d disappeared to.

“I didn’t want to embarrass her by being here when she was crying. Or admitting her mother didn’t really want her.” He shook his head. “Poor kid.”

Macy frowned. “Better she learn the truth now than after some judge awarded custody to Lilah because she was the biological mother.” Her stomach cramped at the thought of how easily that result could have occurred.

“I want to confront her myself,” Macy said. “Is it awful that I want to see her reaction?” She shook her head. “All of this upheaval because she somehow found out about Dad’s insurance. I’m sure they spoke about it when they were married. Dad was really good about estate planning. Lilah just obviously isn’t very smart about how it works.”

Jaxon folded his arms across his chest, a move she always loved because it displayed his muscular forearms.

“How about I stay with the kid. I can distract her when she comes down, and you can go have it out with your stepmother,” he suggested.

“Perfect. Thank you.” She walked over, rose to her tiptoes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She was grateful and wanted him to know it. “Hold down the fort,” she said with a wink before heading to get her purse and car keys.

She had a confrontation to get to and a woman to get out of her sister’s life for good.

* * *

Macy’s anger had time to fester on the drive to the hotel where Lilah was staying. She left the car with the valet, strode through the luxurious mirrored lobby, and took the elevator to the eighth floor.

After following the signs, she banged on the door number Hannah had given her and waited. When no one answered, she raised her hand to knock harder, but the door flung open and Lilah greeted her.

“Good job. You all but destroyed your daughter. Are you happy?” Macy pushed her way inside, intending to have the argument in private.