These Games We Play

Chapter Five:Im sorry

Before Jameson could say anything else about the fact I was an heiress. Before anyone could even tell my family what was happening I bottled. The next thing I knew, I was outside. The front door of Hawthorne House slammed behind me. Cool air hit my face. I was almost sure I was breathing, but my entire body felt distant and numb.

"Eva!" Pip burst out of the house after me. followed closely by Cam and Lia. All three of them still very much confused.

"Are you okay?" Lia asked studying me. "Also: What happened?"

"Me inheriting nearly the entire Hawthorne fortune is what happened." I said still not sure if I was breathing.

"We're talking billions here Eva." Cam added pulling me into a hug to stop me from crying. "Think of what we could do our college funds would be covered and we could travel. We could get a new apartment; we could do anything."

Lia was looking at me like I was about to faint which I'm pretty sure I was. Taking my hand, she sat me down and shortly joined me. Pip and Cam still standing unsure what the universe was playing at. Girls like us didn't get to dream of anything.

The massive front door of Hawthorne House slammed open. I jumped back, and Nash Hawthorne stepped out. Even wearing a suit, he looked every inch the cowboy, ready to meet a rival at high noon. I held my breathe and Lia held my hand rubbing her thumb over my knuckles to make sure I didn't have a panic attack then and there.

."Relax, kid." Nash's Texas drawl was slow and smooth, like whiskey. "I don't want the money. Never have. Far as I'm concerned, this is the universe having a bit of fun with folks who probably deserve it."

Looking away from me he looked at the girls I had brought with me. Mainly my older sister who hadn't taken her eyes off him. I looked at the pair. Nash was tall, muscular, and suntanned. Pip wasn't she was tiny and slight, and pale as a ghost. It was a stark contrast to her dark lipstick and her light blonde hair. The two of them looked like they didn't belong within ten feet of each other, and yet, there he was, slow-smiling at her.

"You take care, darlin'," Nash told my sister. He ambled toward his motorcycle, then put on his helmet, and a moment later, he was gone.

Pip who clearly wasn't invested in the art of subtlety was starting at the motorcycle.( Seriously what was it with my family and developing cushes on Hawthorne Brothers.)

"I take back what I said about Grayson. Maybe he's God." Right now, we had bigger issues than which of the Hawthorne brothers was divine.

"We can't stay here. I doubt the rest of the family is as blasé about the will as Nash is. We need to go."

"I'm going with you," a deep voice said. I turned. John Oren stood next to the front door. I hadn't heard him open it.

"I don't need security," I told him.

"I just need to get out of here."

"You'll need security for the rest of your life." He was so matter of fact, I couldn't even begin to argue. "But look on the bright side...." He nodded to the car that had picked us up at the airport. "I also drive."

☆☆☆☆

I asked Oren to take us to a motel. Instead, he drove us to the fanciest hotel I'd ever seen, and he must have taken the scenic route, because Alisa Ortega was waiting for us in the lobby. "I've had a chance to read the will in full." Apparently, that was her version of hello. "I brought a copy for you. I suggest we retire to your rooms and go over the details."

"We can't afford this," I say to her, this hotel was way out of our very limited prince range.

The doormen were wearing tuxedos. There were six chandeliers in the lobby. Nearby, a woman was playing a five-foot-tall harp. Alisa gave me an almost pitying look.