Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 813(@200wpm)___ 650(@250wpm)___ 542(@300wpm)
“We’re surrounded by open water. So no issue there.”
Varrick motions to the chair again. “I insist.”
“I kind of like Grey back there,” Trent teases. “Under the god-awful lighting, you almost look fuckable. I’m starting to sense why Phoebe might’ve had a thing for you.” He laughs at his own humorless joke.
“She still has a thing for me,” I say. “What do you call that?”
“Delusion.”
I laugh hard at the irony of him calling me delusional. He believes I’m laughing at his joke, so he chuckles. Varrick smiles down at his whiskey, then up at me, as if he’s admiring this moment we share together.
The truths we see.
My stomach roils.
“You’re going to make me ask a third time?” Varrick wonders, his tone friendly and light.
I’m about to respond when Trent says, “He can stand. The Thornhalls aren’t any more prestigious than the Smiths. In fact, they’re less than—no offense, Grey.”
“None taken.” I raise my whiskey. I am uncaring of the Wolfe fortune. Unthreatening. Just here for a good time this summer with my worthy best friend.
Varrick taps his finger to his glass, staring between me and Trent. “Please. Sit,” he orders me, asserting dominance over Trent.
“He might look part pit bull, but he’s not a dog.” Trent is basically saying, He’s not your dog.
“He is my guest, and I’d like him to join us over here.”
I straighten and walk away from the bar. “Don’t fight over me all at once.” I finally take the chair, placing my whiskey over on the end table beside me. “TK is right though. The invite list could’ve been shortened. The chances of you leaving your fortune to one of the girls has to be low. They’re servers.”
“And that would discredit them because…?”
Trent huffs out a laugh, drawing our gazes to him as he loosens the collar of his button-down. “Because they’re of no social standing to amass a fortune of this size. What are they going to do with it?”
Varrick rests farther back in his chair. “You’re both intelligent men.” Now he has to be feeding Trent’s ego. “You can understand my need to appear generous and benevolent to this town. I’d prefer not to be seen as the monster out at sea.”
Trent frowns. “So, you invited Phoebe and Hailey to appear charitable?”
“I didn’t just invite Hailey. I’m making her my heir.”
What…the fuck…is going on? “My sister?” I question with a tsunami of confusion crashing against my brain.
“Your sister,” Varrick confirms.
“Wait, wait.” Trent abandons his whiskey on a coffee table to hold up his hands. “The twenty-year-old goth girl?” Hailey will be twenty-five in July, but I’d never expect Trent to remember anyone’s age.
“It’s just for appearance’s sake. Smoke and mirrors.” Varrick lifts a finger from the crystal glass and points at our reflections. “Naming her my beneficiary will appeal to locals, and unlike Phoebe, she’s also compliant, easiest to control. So when she marries a Koning, it’ll unite the two most powerful families in Victoria. A legacy I’d like to leave behind.”
I can’t move a muscle. What the fuck is his endgame?
I stare him down, trying to extinguish the visceral heat in my eyes. “You want my sister to marry Jake?” I question.
“Not Jake.” He points at the vile prick sitting beside him. “Trent.”
I almost black out. Only to be reawakened by Trent’s shrill laughter.
“This has to be a joke.” He cackles and takes a sharp breath. “Good one, Varrick. You fucking had me.” He applauds, but the noise dies out when Varrick shakes his head.
“Not a joke. I’ve set up this whole summer so you can get to know each other better here at Stonehaven. All under the guise that I don’t know who I’m choosing as my next living heir, but it will be Hailey Thornhall. My fortune through wedlock is still a fortune. How do you think I came by it?”
Marriage and death.
I need to talk to my sister. Like right now. I check my phone at my side. No cell signal. Shit.
Trent is grimacing. “It’s a piece of paper. What money will she see while you’re still alive?”
“I’m giving Hailey a sizable trust. It will be yours if you marry her, and then we can talk about divvying up the Wolfe properties around town.”
Why? Why the fuck would he do this? It’s not adding up in my pounding head.
I force myself not to run my fingers through my hair. Can’t be on edge. Can’t appear like I want to slit his throat. I’m a mixture of confusion and intrigue. “Who else is going to know about this plan?”
“It stays between us three.”
Like hell.
He can’t actually believe I won’t go rat him out to my sister in a heartbeat.
“Hailey?” Trent keeps repeating with a disgusted expression.
I love that he’s repulsed at the idea. Varrick doesn’t. He’s rapidly skimming Trent like he’s searching for a way to influence him.