The Will (Magdalene #1)(128)
Author: Kristen Ashley

Jake made a mental note to put in f**king motion sensor lights the next f**king day as he prowled to the group.

“The cavalry arrives.” He heard Terry say sarcastically as he moved to his woman and his son.

“What’s goin’ on here?” he asked, his eyes scanning Josie’s pale face as best he could in the light and not liking what he saw.

“They want in,” Conner answered him. “Josie doesn’t want them in so they aren’t goin’ in.”

Jake took his place beside his son and turned his eyes to Stone, the old man standing next to him and Terry.

To control his temper, he couldn’t look at Stone or Lydie’s son. So he focused on Terry.

“Josie doesn’t want you in, time for you to leave,” he stated.

“We have things to discuss,” Terry replied.

“If that’s the case, call Josie, make a meeting,” Jake returned.

“That’s hardly necessary when we’re all right here,” she shot back.

“It’s Sunday night, Terry,” Jake reminded her. “Whatever this is, it can happen at a decent hour on a workday.”

“What this is is that Lydia Malone made a highly unusual bequest in her will that unfortunately demonstrated she was not of her right mind when she wrote it. This would be proved true as she also didn’t include her son in any of her rather substantial behests,” Stone announced.

Jake didn’t even look at him.

He narrowed his eyes on Terry. “You share the terms of the will and Lydie’s assets with Boston Stone?”

“Davis Malone, as the only direct living descendent of Lydia Malone, is entitled to know the particulars of his mother’s situation and last requests,” she answered.

“I didn’t ask that,” Jake ground out. “I asked if you shared the terms of Lydie’s will and her assets with Boston Stone who is not a relative.”

She didn’t reply.

That meant she did.

“At the reading of the will, you mentioned Stone,” Jake went on. “Now, you’re colluding with him.”

“I’m hardly colluding with him,” she snapped. “There’s nothing to collude about.”

“So this isn’t a play to get Lavender House sold so Malone can pocket the profits and Stone can doze it or make it into a hotel or whatever the hell he wants to do with it?” Jake pressed.

“I obviously can’t know what Mr. Malone will do should he inherit Lavender House,” she lied through her teeth.

Jake scowled at her. “Don’t know shit about this but it seems a conflict of interest. You got a stake in Stone Incorporated?”

She didn’t get the chance to answer. Lydie’s f**kwad son decided to enter the conversation.

“This is bullshit, barred from my childhood home.”

Even as he felt Josie press close to his back, Jake turned his attention to the man and saw he was old, he was weak, he’d clearly lived a rough life that Jake knew was of his own making and he looked mean as a snake.

“You never lived here,” Jake returned.

“Right, then, barred from my mother’s childhood home,” Davis amended.

“Yeah, and if Lydie was here, she’d be right next to Josie doin’ that and you know it,” Jake told him something he absolutely f**king knew.

“Unfortunately, my mother died before we could make amends,” Davis spewed his bullshit.

“Seein’ as you had about sixty years to do that and you didn’t, I’m guessin’ amends couldn’t be made,” Jake fired back.

“This is ridiculous,” Terry snapped. “It’s freezing out here. We can discuss this inside.”

Jake turned his attention to her. “We’re not discussing this inside. Josie’ll discuss this with you at the meeting you’re gonna arrange. Now, you’re gonna leave or I’m gonna call Coert and he’ll ask you to leave.”

“It’s hardly necessary calling the sheriff, Spear,” Stone noted and Jake finally looked at him.

And his voice changed significantly when he addressed him.

“You got your panties in a bunch when Josie leveled you, you teamed up with Terry and you found this guy in order to f**k with her because you’re so goddamned small, you weren’t man enough to take that direct hit and move on. You think you got a stake in this, but you don’t. All you did was set yourself up to take another direct hit.”

“It’s hardly the behavior of a lucid woman to settle a human being on another human being in her will,” Stone returned.

“’Fraid I’m gonna have to disagree with you seein’ as for Josie and me, that worked out all right, so Lydie knew exactly what she was doin’ and that’s all kinds of lucid.”

“That’s absurd,” Stone clipped.

“You can think that if you want, but it’s still true.”

“Fuck me, all this yammering,” Davis Malone snapped and Jake looked at him to see his eyes aimed at Josie. “Girl, just open the goddamned door.”

Jake didn’t let Josie speak and instead ordered, “Go, all of you.”

“An arrangement can be made,” Terry put in. “Mr. Malone is willing to be reasonable and negotiate a fair division of assets once Lavender House is sold.”

At this, Jake felt Josie press closer to his back.

Jake turned narrowed eyes to Terry. “Explain to me how you can act on behalf of Davis Malone,” Jake demanded. “You’re Josie’s attorney.”

“Arnie’s Josie’s attorney. I’m not,” she returned.

“You’re at the same firm and that’s not a conflict of interest?” Jake asked.

She said nothing.

It was absolutely a conflict of interest, the bitch.

Jake was done.

“You wanna be asked to leave by the sheriff, have at it,” he muttered, turning and herding his son into Josie. His eyes found hers through the dark. “Keys out, baby,” he whispered. “Let us in.”

She stared up at him with wide eyes a moment before she nodded, turned jerkily, teetered on her heel and Jake put a hand out to steady her.

Without Jake telling him to do so, Conner crowded his dad and Josie at the door and he and his son kept crowding her until they got her in, followed her and Jake closed and locked the door behind them.

“Lights, Con,” Jake ordered as he looked down to his phone to find Coert’s number.

“Jake,” Josie whispered and he turned his attention to her, put his phone to his ear and lifted his other hand to her neck where he curled his fingers around the side and gave her a squeeze.