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Seventeen
Finding out that the old Hyatt estate was available for purchase immediately—cash buyers only—had to be the biggest triumph Mason Harrington had ever experienced. After all, how many people got to fulfill their life’s goal of owning a horse farm and get the revenge they’d ached for—all in one unexpectedly easy move?
“The foreclosure was just approved and finalized through our corporate offices,” the bank manager was saying from across the polished expanse of his desk. His worried expression made him look more like a concerned grandfather than a businessman. “The family hasn’t even been notified yet. There simply hasn’t been time—”
“I’ll be happy to handle that part for you,” Mason heard himself say. Oops! Was that too much? From the look on the manager’s face, probably. The nudge from his brother confirmed it.
Mason subtly leaned out of reach from his brother’s sharp elbow, ignoring the creak of his leather chair. Kane might resent Daulton Hyatt for his role in ruining their father’s reputation in this town, but Mason had been at ground zero for the man’s nuclear meltdown.
He’d never forget the humiliation Daulton had dished out with satisfaction...or the pain of having EvaMarie watch without defending him.
If the memories made him a little mouthy...
“I have to say that the foreclosure went through against my wishes. I’d hoped to help EvaMarie turn things around,” the manager said with a frown that deepened the lines on his aged face.
“Why EvaMarie?” Kane asked. “Wouldn’t it be Daulton Hyatt who needed the help?”
The man’s eyes widened a little as he watched them from across the desk. After a moment, he said, “I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn. I didn’t mean to discuss personal details about my customers.” He lowered his gaze to the printed paper before him. Mason had found the foreclosure notice on a local website. The bank hadn’t wasted any time trying to recoup its loss. “But I just don’t feel comfortable—”
“That doesn’t matter now. The bank has already listed the property,” Mason cut in. “Look, we are offering more than the asking price, cash in hand. Do we need to contact someone at the corporate offices ourselves?” Surely they’d be happy to take the Harrington money.
Mason could tell by the look on the manager’s face that he most certainly did not want that to happen. But Mason would if he had to...
“We can have the money transferred here by this afternoon,” Kane added. “Our offer is good for only an hour at that price. Do we have a deal?”
Mason’s body tightened, silently protesting the idea of walking away, but his brother knew exactly what he was doing. Still, the thought of losing this opportunity chafed. The waffling manager was obviously trying to look out for the family, as opposed to the strangers before him, but right now Mason didn’t give a damn about the Hyatts.
He cared only about making them pay for striking out at Mason and his family all those years ago.
He couldn’t help but wonder how EvaMarie would look when he told her to get out of her family home...
Slowly, reluctantly, the older man nodded. “Yes. I guess this really is out of my hands now.” He stood, straightening his suit jacket and tie as if steadying himself for a particularly unpleasant task. “If you’ll excuse me a moment, I’ll get my secretary started on the paperwork.”
And he would no doubt call corporate while he went outside the office, Mason suspected, but it wasn’t going to do him any good. What the Harrington brothers wanted, they often got. Usually it was from sheer bullheadedness. This time, though, they had their inheritance to back them up.
Money did open doors, indeed.
Mason still missed his dad, who had passed away about six months ago. It had been just the three of them for most of Mason’s life, and they’d all been really tight. Learning of their father’s cancer had been hard.
But it had only been the first surprise.
The fact that their mother had been the debutante daughter in a very wealthy family in a neighboring state had never been a secret to the boys. She’d died of brain cancer when Mason was around seven. He remembered so little about her, except how good she’d smelled as she cuddled with him and the silky softness of her hair. He would brush it for her sometimes, after she got sick, because it soothed her and often got rid of the headaches she frequently had.
Still, she’d been gone a long time. It had never occurred to either of the boys that she had left something behind for them. Hell—something? This wasn’t just something, it was a fortune. Their father’s careful money management had paid off in big ways, and he’d grown their already substantial inheritance into a monumental sum. Mason couldn’t even think of the money in real dollar amounts, it was so excessive.
After all, sometimes they’d had to scrape the bottom of the barrel growing up. Like when Mason had lost his job at the Hyatt estate. They’d had to move back to his mother’s hometown. Times had already been tough. Little had he and Kane known, their dad had been going without while planning for their future.
And their future was now.
After the secret came out, Mason had asked his father why he hadn’t used some of the money to make life easier for him, for them. He’d said he never wanted to prove their mother’s parents right—they’d always said he’d married her for money.
The brothers had been around horses all their lives. Their father had been a horse trainer with an excellent reputation for creating winners. He’d taught them everything he knew. They’d also both learned a lot from working in some of the best stables in the area, along with raising their own horses and cattle. Now, finally, they had the capital to purchase and establish their very own racing stables.
Oh, and get back at EvaMarie Hyatt for almost ruining his family at the same time.
“That look on your face has me damn worried,” Kane said, studying him hard.
Mason stood, pacing the space that was relatively generous for a bank office but still left Mason feeling cramped. “I can’t believe this is finally happening.”
“You know Dad wouldn’t want us to get back at the Hyatts for what happened almost fifteen years ago, right?”
It may have been close to fifteen years ago, but to Mason, the wounds and anger were as fresh as yesterday. Kane thought of it as a teenage crush, but Mason knew he had loved EvaMarie with everything he had at the time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t still hurt so damn much.
“Yep, I know.” But he could live with that. Simply seeing the shock on EvaMarie’s face—and that dictator daddy of hers—would be worth a little blackening on his soul.
Right?
“Are you saying you’ve changed
