Chapter 14
Fourteen
Heat makes things expand. So I don’t have a weight problem. I’m just hot.
—Text from Mable to Cody
Mable
I’d been nervous when I first entered the kitchen.
Now, I was in my element, using Romeo’s state-of-the-art kitchen as my own personal playground.
I was rolling out cinnamon rolls on his huge island with the butcher block countertop.
I had biscuits resting in a cast-iron skillet ready for the oven that was preheating.
And the man that I couldn’t stop staring at was cutting slices of bacon into thick strips that we would be frying up in another cast-iron skillet once I got the biscuits in.
But the best part of all this baking we were doing was watching Romeo, the big badass with a beard and strong, imposing muscles, roll out dough and jump to get me anything and everything I might want.
He’d measured out ingredients, washed up dishes, and ultimately acted like the best assistant chef ever as I did my thing.
And not once had he complained.
He held great conversations the entire time, and I was slowly coming to realize that this huge, scary man wasn’t nearly as scary as he wanted to appear to be. Oh, and I was slowly falling in love with him.
It was too soon.
We hadn’t known each other all that long.
But I felt like there was quite a bit one could learn about a man who had taken care of your dog for six months, fallen in love with him, and had given him back because it was the right thing to do. And bonus—got him snow boots for his paws.
It was super sweet how every once in a while, Brawny would come up to Romeo and bump him on the leg, and Romeo would drop to his haunches and talk to Brawny like he was a child instead of a dog.
I also didn’t fail to notice the huge dog bed that was in the corner of the room, or the hundreds of toys that seemed to appear out of nowhere when Brawny pawed at a closet door.
Then there was his encouraging me to fight back against my “family.”
He’d even ordered me to text Rocky, my lawyer friend, to ask her what I would need to do to get my parents kicked out of my house.
Now I was cutting cinnamon rolls and he was prepping the bacon, and I was realizing that this was what it was like to have a man care about you. He wanted to fix all the problems. And if he couldn’t do it, he would find a way to get it fixed.
Speaking of fixing…
His phone rang and he answered it without hesitation, placing it on speaker between us.
“Apollo, tell me you have good news.”
Apollo.
His brother-in-law.
He’d spoken about him a lot. It was obvious that he cared for his brother-in-law.
I also loved the way he spoke about his sister being his best friend.
“If you’re wondering if I have any news on this fuckin’ lunatic named Birdee Watts, then you’re right.” He paused. “Why do you sound weird?”
“You’re on speakerphone,” he answered. “The woman that you’re looking into this for, Mable, is with me. We got snowed in.”
My lips twitched as I started to pile the cinnamon rolls into the tray.
“Ahh,” Apollo drawled. “Nice to finally speak to you, Mable. I’ve been learning a lot about your so-called sister.”
I felt my belly tighten in response. “My so-called sister has never once been a sister to me. If you’re finding anything interesting, that doesn’t surprise me.”
“She’s quite a skilled computer guru,” he said. “Not skilled enough to keep me out or anything, but definitely skilled.”
“My parents paid a lot of money for her to go to college. She was forced to pick a major, and went with computer science and business. I think she’s good enough to get by and do some shady things, but not good enough to keep her out of trouble.”
“Is that why you’re suing her?” he asked.
I smiled as I placed another cinnamon roll into the tray. “How much do you know about her? Do you know what she did to me on my almost-wedding day?”
Apollo started to list off everything he knew.
“Well, without sounding too invasive, I had to look into your life a bit, too. So between her and you, I was able to piece together quite a bit,” he admitted.
“You’re more than welcome to dig as deep as you want as long as you find a way for me to use any information you dig up on getting her out of my house and getting my money back that she stole.”
“I’ll do you quite a few better,” he said just as I got the last of the cinnamon rolls into the tray and covered them with a clean dish rag.
“From what Romeo has shared, you’re more than aware of everything she stole from you when it came to your wedding.
You knew that she took back your deposit when you canceled your wedding venue.
You know that she took your deposit back when she canceled your lease. You know that she…”
On he went, listing all the things that we were aware that Birdee had done.
But then he got to the more interesting matters. “How well do you follow your credit score?”
My stomach sank. “Not very. Why?”
“I hate to tell you this, but she’s been using your ID and credit on almost everything she’s done.
She fills out applications for loans in your name.
She bought a new car in your name. She even attempted to purchase a house under your name.
” He cleared his throat. “The house fell through because the buyers backed out. But the rest went through. The only reason you likely haven’t heard about any of it is because she’s paying the notes on everything.
” He snorted. “Well, she’s not. Your dad is. ”
I closed my eyes. “How bad is it?”
He knew what I was asking because he said, “In total, she has five loans out in your name. The car note she still owes forty-two thousand on. The other loans are all small loans. Under eight thousand a piece. Three are almost paid off. Two have about fifteen hundred left to pay on them. In total, you have forty-five thousand dollars in debt to your name.” He paused.
“Though, she’s actively paying everything off.
The loans were paid off in the last month.
The car loan got a payoff inquiry yesterday.
It looks like she’s trying to right some wrongs before the trial. ”
I rolled out my neck.
Of course she did.
Of, fucking, course she did.
“They don’t look that much alike,” Romeo broke in. “How was she able to do all of this? I mean, she’s practically stolen Mable’s identity at this point.”
“They don’t, but every time that she wants to do something in Mable’s name, Birdee is using a fake driver’s license.
I found the correspondence between her and the forger.
And in later text messages between Birdee and her mother, the only reason that she did all those things to her before her wedding was so that Mable wouldn’t use her own driver’s license and passport to get to her honeymoon.
It might’ve had too many red flags going up while she was on her ‘vacation.’ That was a failsafe, however, because they honestly thought you would stay behind and deal with all the shit she left you and not even try to go on your honeymoon.
She thought you would forget all about it. ”
“I almost did, but Cody encouraged me to go anyway. She was like ‘Mable, you’re going to have a problem waiting for you when you get home. You can either deal with it now or later, but at this point, what’s done is done.
’” I laughed under my breath. “The real question is, why? What is her motive here? She could’ve done all of this in her own name and gotten better credit.
And the wedding thing still doesn’t make sense to me.
Why would they do this, and bring the attention to them? ”
“That’s one other thing I can help you answer,” Apollo said as he typed away.
“Going back through text messages between Birdee and your stepmother, it turns out that the stepmother, Whitney, literally used all of her credit up to the point where it was ruined before she met your father. When Whitney needed more income, she started using up her daughter’s credit.
And never stopped. She alternates getting loans out in your dad’s name, her name, and Birdee’s name regularly.
Your dad is having a hell of a time paying all of this off.
He’s blown through almost his entire trust fund and any money that your mom’s life insurance paid out.
In fact, I’ll predict by the end of the year, he’ll need a job. ”
“You mean to tell me that my stepmother has screwed her own daughter over?” I asked.
“Looks like it. And it drives Birdee mad. She hates it. Birdee and your stepmother have a very tumultuous relationship.”
“It’s always been them against me for so long that I guess I never paid attention to how my stepmother treated Birdee,” I admitted.
Romeo grunted and cracked a few eggs into the skillet in front of him.
I took over the task of cooking the eggs while Apollo continued to talk. “I shared everything that I had with your lawyer. Tell her that if she wants to get back to me, to just reply to the email even if it says undeliverable.”
“I will,” I promised.
“I’m not sure what she can and can’t use.
I sent it all to her anyway,” he continued.
“I’ll happily continue to sort through text messages as I have time, but another project was just thrown into my lap.
If I find anything else, I’ll keep you updated.
” He paused. “Birdee is good enough with a computer that I feel like she can get into anything she wants. She may not be able to hide her whereabouts well, but if she wants in, she’ll get in.
I did a little shoring up on your accounts and things.
She also won’t ever be able to get another loan out in your name.
I froze your credit, and I don’t think she’ll be able to unfreeze it.
In the meantime, be careful about leaving your electronics accessible.
She could get into your online life pretty easily if she had access to your things. ”
“I’ll be very careful about that,” I promised again. “Thank you, Apollo.”
Apollo and Romeo exchanged goodbyes of their own as I finished up the rest of breakfast.
“You’re taking this very casually.”
I sighed. “Birdee has been screwing me over since the beginning. This is just one extra thing in a long line of wrongs. Do I hate that she is using my credit? Yes. Do I think that she is doing this for some other reason? Yes. But right now, I have no way to know. And I’m not going to give Birdee the brain time.
I hired a really good lawyer that’ll hopefully find a way to answer these burning questions I have.
She can hopefully use some of that information your brother-in-law found.
And I already emailed her about also adding on the house issue.
I’ve already told myself I’m never speaking to my father again.
” I plated the eggs then checked on the biscuits before turning it on to broil.
“But mostly, I just don’t want to think about them anymore.
A lot of my life has been spent being pissed off and hurt.
You said something to me a few days ago that really stuck with me, and you were right.
I don’t have to give them any pieces of me anymore.
I’m a grown adult. And I’m happier for it.
I don’t have to let them affect me anymore. ”
He pulled the bacon out of the pan and set it onto a plate of paper towels before turning to me and saying, “I think that you’re a good person, and you don’t deserve this. Better than me.”
Brawny barked, and Romeo dropped him a piece of bacon.
I shook my head. “You spoiled him. He begs like crazy now. But only with me.”
“Or maybe he just knows that you’re a pushover.” He laughed.
“Maybe so.”