“Callie?”
She took the checkbook and opened it. The neat printing blurred, cleared, then made her gasp. The opening balance was ten thousand dollars.
“Are you kidding?” she asked before she could stop herself. “That’s what I get every quarter?”
He nodded. “As I said, you can’t touch the principle until you’re thirty-five.”
“H-how much is that?”
“Five million.”
“Dollars?” No. It wasn’t possible.
“You’re allowed two additional withdrawals between now and your thirty-fifth birthday,” he said. “Of a hundred thousand each. If you wanted to buy a car or a house or something.” He passed over one of the large envelopes. “All the paperwork is in here, along with the name of our family lawyer. She can explain everything to you. Just call and say who you are, then make an appointment.”
Right, because she always met with family lawyers. Yawn.
Callie didn’t touch the envelope and she carefully put the checkbook back. “This is too much.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but give it time. You’ll get used to it.” He put a small envelope on top of the larger one. “As part of locating you and determining if you were part of the family, we ran a credit check on you.” One eyebrow rose. “You don’t seem to exist in the credit world.”
“I pay cash for everything.”
His tone gentled. “You don’t have to, Callie. Not anymore. You’re going to need a credit history.” He tapped the envelope. “There are a couple of credit cards in there. Start using them. Pay them off every month. If you’re not sure how to build credit, we can talk about it or you can find some articles online.”
Her head hurt and she felt sick to her stomach. If she’d eaten more than a single bite of the pancakes, she was pretty sure she would have thrown them up by now. No wonder he’d been so casual about buying her a car. He could afford to buy her three or three hundred.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“You’re family.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“That doesn’t matter. You’re Jerry’s daughter.” He hesitated. “And my sister.”
She stood. “I don’t want it. Any of it. I just want a job.”
“Be ready at seven fifteen tomorrow.”
“I will. Thank you.”
She put the checkbook back on his desk and walked out. As she got to her room, she had a bad feeling that not taking the paperwork didn’t mean it wasn’t hers. No doubt she would find it in her room later. Malcolm might not be warm and fuzzy but he was thorough. According to him, she was now part of the family. Escaping seemed very unlikely.
chapter eleven
“This is so fun,” Keira said from the back seat of Malcolm’s car. “You’re going with us. The office building is really nice and Delaney works in the coffee stand in the lobby. I don’t think you’ve met her yet. She’s great. She looked after Lizzy while I was in hospital.”
Malcolm appreciated his younger sister’s conversation. He had a feeling if he and Callie were alone in the car, the chill between them would freeze the engine.
He had no idea what he’d done wrong. She’d blown up when he’d offered to buy her a car and she’d been visibly upset when he’d told her about her trust fund. He wasn’t sure she’d even listened. Telling himself she needed time to adjust wasn’t working. He just wanted to know what the hell was going on.
Keira talked the entire drive. Once he’d pulled into his reserved space in the parking garage, they took the elevator up to the street level, then walked through the large lobby. Keira made a beeline to the coffee stand, where Delaney was taking orders.
For a second he looked at the stunning redhead and allowed himself to breathe. Everything was going to be all right, he told himself. Just as soon as she looked up and smiled at him.
As if on cue, Delaney did exactly that. The humor in her green eyes was what he needed to help him relax. He smiled back before turning to his sister and motioning to the elevators. Callie followed him through the security gate and up to the top floor.
He took her to his office and closed the door behind them. “There will be some paperwork to fill out,” he told her. “HR will come by later to take care of that.”
He hesitated, not sure what else to tell her. He couldn’t talk about her clothes, even though he wanted to. They were in an office and there was a dress code—one he hadn’t told her about. So instead of tailored pants or a dress or a suit, Callie wore jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Given what she’d told him about her previous employment, it was possible that was all she ever wore, which made this slightly awkward situation his fault.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said unexpectedly.
“Like what?”
“Like you expect me to blow up at you any second. I’m not mad.”
“You weren’t happy about the car.”
Her lips pressed together. “That was different.”
“Want to tell me how?”
“It just was.”
“Well, that’s clear.”
She glared at him. “This isn’t easy, okay? Just give me some time to figure it all out. I’m dealing with a lot.”
“It was just a car.”
“Maybe to you.” She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe to you, but to the rest of us, it’s a big deal.”
He hesitated. “Is it because you’re afraid you won’t be able to get a license?”
Her gaze narrowed. “You mean because I was arrested and convicted and served my time but I will forevermore be a convicted felon?”
He didn’t know how to answer that, so he avoided the question and instead said, “I checked on the Washington State website. You can get your license with no problem. With your trust fund, you can buy whatever car you want and—”
“I can’t drive,” she shouted, then lowered her voice and repeated. “I can’t drive. I never learned before I was arrested and it’s not like they teach driver’s ed in prison. After I got out, I never had the money for lessons, let alone a car, so I haven’t learned how. Are you happy? Any other humiliating secrets you want to know?”
She stood in front of him, her shoulders square, her chin raised. Color stained her cheeks, so he knew she was embarrassed, but she didn’t back down. For one very confusing second, he wanted to hug her and tell her that it was going to be okay—that they might not know each other very well, but she was family and he had her back. Only he didn’t know her, didn’t trust her and, to be honest, he didn’t have her back.
“Keira was not this complicated,” he muttered.
Callie looked like she was going to say something, but instead she crossed to the window. “Nice view.”
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll arrange for lessons,” he told her. “I’m not sure of all the particulars but I believe you sign up with a state-approved company and they take you from getting your permit through getting your license.”
She looked at him. “Thank you.”
“You’ll be more comfortable with that, I think.”
“Rather than you teaching me?” Her brows rose. “I think we’ll both be more comfortable with that.”
He smiled. “Probably.” He let the smile fade. “Callie, I don’t want to fight with you.”
“We’re not fighting. Believe me, this is not fighting. It’s not a fight until the guards show up.”
“We don’t have guards.”
“I meant metaphorically.” She looked around at his large office. “I really don’t belong here.”
“You’re Grandfather Alberto’s oldest granddaughter. This is exactly where you belong.”
“Right. Okay, what about the job?”
He hesitated. He had no idea of her skill set, but she was family and...
Her gaze narrowed. “You made something up, didn’t you? Or you’re going to.”
“You mentioned working in catering. We have a food development division. You could start there.”
Her expression was unreadable. “As what? Do I have a title?”
“Ah, I was thinking maybe as a director.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do I have an office like this one?”
“It’s a little smaller, but yes.”
She swore under her breath. “I don’t want this. Not any of it. Not the money or the house or the business or the fake job. I just want—” She turned away for a second, then looked back at him. “I’m out of here.”
“Stop,” he said before she could even take a step. “You’re not going anywhere. I don’t know if you have a history of running when it gets hard, but you’re not running from this. You are Alberto’s oldest granddaughter and by God, you will suck it up and figure out how to make it work. He’s an old man who has already lost his only child. Now that he’s found you, he’s not going to lose you, too.”
Not on his watch, Malcolm thought grimly. He wasn’t going to be responsible for that, as well.
“You can’t make me stay,” she taunted.