Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers 4)

Taking a break from my work, I pulled the file from Nick over toward me and flipped it open. I read through all the papers again, impressed by how much he had put into putting this together for me. I got to the section where he had printed out investment planning worksheets and took them out. Setting them on the desk in front of me, I read through the questions and did my best to answer them.

Nick had already gone through the trouble of creating an investment plan for me but had also encouraged me to try to make some decisions myself. Including just how much my initial seed money was going to be. He offered suggestions and guidance, of course, but I wanted this to be about me.

I evaluated the different options and came up with what I thought was a good choice for how much I wanted to start with. It was right in the range he had suggested, though possibly not as aggressive as he might have wanted me to be. With the models he gave me, I should be able to take that level of investment and turn it around at a decent pace. It wouldn’t be instant, but it also wouldn’t take decades for me to get my mother’s money back.

When I felt settled with my figure, I pulled up an email and addressed it to Nick. I told him about thinking everything through and the amount of money I was going to aim to make as my seed investment. My thoughts went back to my contemplating a lawyer, and I added into the email that I wanted to talk about getting some contracts signed.

Only a few minutes after sending the email, I heard somebody knocking at my front door. I figured it was Nick, having gotten the email from me while he was in the area. He struck me as the kind of guy who would just stop by to talk about my email rather than messaging me back.

I had gone back into full-on work mode by the time I heard the knocks, and I took a second to finish up a small section before heading for the door. I threw it open, ready to make a teasing comment about him certainly being there for me, but as soon as the door opened, my heart dropped.

It wasn’t Nick standing on the porch.

“Why the hell did you change the locks?” Justin demanded.

I was so shocked by his sudden appearance, I couldn’t even respond. Standing at the door with my mouth open, I stared out at him like I thought he was a mirage.

“I changed the locks because I’m the only one who lives here now,” I said. “When somebody moves out of a house, it’s a good idea to have new locks put in. I wouldn’t want extra keys floating around so they might fall into the wrong hands. It would be disastrous to have somebody steal from me.”

Justin glared at me, his eyes narrowing and his shoulders squaring off toward me. “I didn’t steal anything from you.”

“Oh, is that your defense now? Considering you admitted it to me openly the day I found those papers, I don’t think that’s going to hold up,” I said.

He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Our relationship ended because of your suspicions and accusations. You kicked me out of my home without any notice, and now you’ve changed the locks on the doors I still have the majority of my stuff in there.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” I said.

Justin gave me a cruel glare. “Not at all. This is as real as it gets, babe.”16Nick“Cynthia kicked me out of the house,” Gabe said.

I was so shocked that I nearly dropped my coffee, which would have been a big deal considering it was the first cup of my new limited-edition flavor. French toast with maple syrup. Probably not the most seasonal of options, but the smell was heavenly, and I hadn’t been able to resist when I went into the roaster.

“She did what?” I asked. “I can’t believe it. The two of you seemed so happy.”

“We are,” Gabe said. “And she wants to stay that way, so she told me I have to leave and go play with you for the day. Can I come back to work?”

I laughed. “What did you do?”

“Made her breakfast,” he said.

“Why do I think that’s not the full story?”

“Okay, so I tried to make the fancy caramel banana pancakes her grandmother used to make her when she was a little girl and failed miserably. I really don’t think that warranted me being removed from the house,” he said.

“I don’t know, I probably would have removed you,” I said. “I think Cynthia is just kind of done feeling like a burden. You’ve been taking great care of her, but you know how independent she’s always been. It has to be killing her to not be able to do anything.”