Chapter 20
Leah
I sat in the office, my hands shaking so badly that it took me two tries to dial my brother. There was no way it was good news, not when even Kade appeared to be pitying me. He said he didn’t know, but at the very least, he too expected something bad.
“Hey,” Monroe answered.
“What’s wrong? Kade said I needed to call you.” I was gripping the receiver hard enough to crack the thing.
“Leah, I’m really sorry, but they’re pulling your mortgage for your apartment.”
The room nearly swirled around me as I felt like I’d taken a hit in the head. It took a second to get my bearings before I said, “That has to be wrong. I’m up to date on all my payments. I know because there hasn’t been enough time to have missed one.”
“It’s not the payments. It’s some morality clause.” Monroe was speaking to me like he was a doctor with a patient who was getting a bad diagnosis.
“I didn’t sign a morality clause in my mortgage.” There was a mistake, or someone had been screwing with him.
“Leah, I had a lawyer look it over, and I’ve been on the phone with people all day trying to get it fixed. It’s something in the fine print because of the conviction. The lawyer said that we could try to fight it but that odds were the bank would find something to hang their hat on and you’d still be screwed. You’d only end up racking up legal fees.”
I dropped my head into my hand. “How long did they give me to come up with the balance?”
“You’ve got ninety days to pay the mortgage in full or they’ll take the property and sell it at auction.”
They weren’t just taking my home, they were going to obliterate any equity I had. “They’ll never get what it’s worth at auction. By the time they discount it, take what I owe and whatever fees they can screw me out of, I’ll get nothing.”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds because he knew I was right. There was no silver lining in this storm cloud.
“Leah, I’m trying to find a solution. I’m going to see if Dad?—”
“No. Don’t say a word of this to him or Mom. And he’s not my dad.” Hearing my brother call him that was like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.
“Maybe he can help, though,” Monroe said, almost pleadingly.
Damned if I’d let that man into my life even an inch after what he’d done to me.
“He can’t, and it’ll stress Mom out. You know she can’t handle stress, or did you conveniently forget our childhood?”
There was another long pause while I stared at the door, expecting Kade to stroll in and get another front-row seat, this time for The Devious Debutante’s Downfall Part Three .
“Maybe Tiffany’s?—”
“No. I won’t have you go to your wife and her family. That’s too much. You can’t do that.” My life might be in the shredder, but I wouldn’t have his marriage be part of the collateral damage. It wasn’t like I had a small mortgage. My financials would strain the sturdiest of foundations.
“I might have a few leads on different lenders that could step in. It’s not a done deal yet.”
“Okay,” I said, struggling to get more words out without my voice cracking.
“I’ll call as soon as I know anything else. Kade obviously understands this is different and can’t wait until Sunday. Just hang in there and––”
“Does Kade know? What did you tell him when you called?”
The long pause said it all. This time it wasn’t due to a lack of what to say. This was straight-up fear about what he’d already said.
“Dammit, Monroe! You told Kade, didn’t you?”
“He was going to find out anyway.”
I leaned back, squeezing my eyes shut, refusing to sit in Kade’s office and bawl. Monroe was right. Kade would’ve found out anyway. Everyone would once it went up on the auction block.
“Leah?”
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to hold it together for a few more minutes. “It’s okay. Just keep me posted.” I hung up, trying to come to terms with the fact that I was losing my home.
It was only a place. It wasn’t something I couldn’t build back from. I’d built up a life before, and I’d build it again. I could do this, even if it didn’t feel like it was possible right now.
* * *
Kade
The second Leah walked into the office, I pulled out my phone.
John answered on the second ring. “Yeah,” he said.
“There’s a new development with the princess situation,” I said. “Her loan got called in early and I need to know who’s behind it.”
“Oh no, that’s horrible.” He groaned like he was some little old grandmother hearing bad news. “How’s she holding up?”
This new version of John was really throwing me off my game. “Just find out the situation, okay?”
I was having a hard enough time holding the reins on my own emotions. There was no bandwidth left to help the reformed knee breaker with the sudden conscience from melting down.
“Trust me, I’ll find out who screwed her,” he said, sounding a little more normal.
“Good. Let me know as soon as you do.”
“You’re going to fix this, though, right?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“You’re sitting on some funds. You can’t let her get screwed like this when you can fix it for her.”
There were so many issues with this situation. First, how did he know what was in my bank account, and second and more importantly, why the hell did he care so much?
“John, I’m starting to become concerned with your level of empathy toward this particular person and case. I expect a certain amount of detachment from you.”
“I know. I’m working on it with my life coach. There’s just something about her that makes me want to take care of her.”
“You haven’t ever met her, have you?” I was beginning to worry about what he’d do, or had done. They’d both been in New York, after all.
“No, but I feel as if I know her. Like she could’ve been my daughter. Strange, right?”
“Very. You need to work on that.”
At least he’d said daughter . That was a plus. I hung up on him before he started getting more emotional. It was like my entire life was flipping upside down, and all the people I knew with it.
I called my accountant next. “I might need you to free up some assets. I’ll send you information on a loan I might need to buy out.”
“I swear you juggle more shit than the clowns at the circus. What are we doing now? How messy is this one? I just finished moving the other funds around to fix your other issue, which wasn’t cheap.”
Being “friends” with a judge never was.
“You do get paid to do this. I swear if I hadn’t known you from grammar school, I’d fire your ass.”
“You can’t fire me because you don’t trust anyone else to see your holdings or what you do with them.”
He was one thousand percent correct. “Just shut the fuck up and handle it.”
I pocketed my phone and popped the hood of my truck and then pretended to tinker while I waited for Leah to walk out of the office.
Alec walked over. “What’s up with your truck?”
“Just checking some levels.”
He looked at the engine compartment. “Nothing’s open, though.”
“I just popped the hood,” I said, watching the house.
Alec watched me watch the door. “I saw Leah going into the office. What’s going on? She trying to get switched to prison because you’re a lunatic?”
“Nothing is going on.”
“Then why are you watching the office door like there’s a bank robbery in progress?”
“Alec, do you ever take a hint?”
“I prefer not to. It’s really not my thing.”
“Go find something else to?—”
Leah walked out of the office, her step quick. She wasn’t actively crying, but she didn’t look good by any stretch.
“Whoa, what’s wrong with her?” Alec said.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, that’s clearly bullshit, or you wouldn’t be out here with your truck hood open and not even a cap undone. Is it something you did? That would be my guess,” he said, then had the nerve to laugh.
“No. I didn’t do anything.” Although I might punch him if he didn’t shut up and leave me alone right now. It almost felt like I’d lost the ranch, watching her.
“You sure?” He raised his brows as he stared hard. “I heard about the vote.”
“You people and that vote can all fuck off.”
He shrugged. “I guess someone who was voted unanimously against might have that attitude about it.”
I ignored him as I watched Leah walking away, debating whether to follow her or leave her be. I’d want to be left alone, but not following her didn’t feel right either.
“Well, you’ll have to fix this one on your own. I have to leave. Hopefully you won’t screw things up too bad while you’re left to your own devices.”
“Don’t worry about rushing back,” I said, squinting as I tried to track where Leah was heading.