Part 8 (1/2)

”Mr. Grant? It's Dane Wallace. I was wondering if you could help me out. I have this...I don't know my grandmother's attorney and I need to contact him. I know that it's your day off, but I would like to speak to him about something my grandmother left me.”

”Of course, Dane. Please, call me Devin. Do you know his name? I have a list of numbers here and if I can't find it, then I can go to the office. Do you mind me asking what it is you're needing to speak to him about?”

”A house, her house, my grandmother's house. She left it to me in her will. I should have seen to it before now, but I...I didn't know what I wanted to do with it.” He could hear her sigh before she continued. ”Now with having no home, I think maybe Pi and I could stay there a few months until we decided. I wanted to get the key so we can look around. His name is Dexter, Martin Dexter. Do you know him?”

Devin almost asked where Jamie fit into this, but knew it was none of his business. Jamie was a big boy and if he and this woman were going to have a relations.h.i.+p, if they didn't already, then he would not get in the way.

”Yes, I know Martin. Let me see what I can do then I'll call you back. This number, is it yours? Can I call you back there?”

”Yes, or James' number. We're about to go into this other house now, but I think Pi has already crossed it off her list. She's said the sidewalks are too narrow. Why she cares, I don't...Mr. Grant, I was wondering...do you think maybe I could...I would like to set up a time and talk to you about something. Do you think I could see you? Professionally?”

”Of course, Dane. I'll call you back as soon as I talk to Martin. I'm sure you'll be coming to my mom's tomorrow. We'll talk then about setting up an appointment.” Devin hung up and picked up the house phone to call Martin. Devin liked Martin Dexter. He was an older attorney and he'd been in the private sector for a good many years. He answered on the second ring, laughing as he did.

”Devin, you young pup, have you done something to that lovely wife of yours and she wants to divorce you? I hope so. Give me a chance at that young thing.”

”Stay away from my wife, you old womanizer, before I tell your wife,” Devin said with a laugh. ”If she knew half the things I know about you then she'd be the one divorcing you.”

”Ha! Shows what you know. If she knew half the stuff you knew, she'd have hired a hit man and killed me. Divorce is much too painless for what she'd do to me. I know that you didn't call to see about my love life. What can I do for you? Good Christ, your mother isn't trying to bleed more money out of me, is she? She's a frightening woman when it comes to her charities.”

”No. Not yet at any rate. I'm calling about Dane Wallace. She called me to see if she could look at her grandmother's house tonight. She said she doesn't know you and felt a little uncomfortable calling you cold like this.”

Devin heard the chair squeak and some papers shuffle around. He could hear Martin talking to someone else then a door shut. Devin sat up in his chair as well. He knew this could not be good.

”How well do you know this girl?” Martin voice was different now, more professional. ”The reason I ask is because the vultures have been waiting for her to land. She'll need someone to handle her. No, that's not what I mean. She'll need a good attorney to help her. Do you know much about this estate?”

”No. She's dating my brother Jamie.” Devin took out a pad of paper and his pen. ”It's becoming serious, I think. I know she just moved here from China since her grandmother pa.s.sed away. And until tonight, I didn't know there was a house. Why?”

”The girl has money.” Then Martin laughed. ”She's a very, very wealthy woman. Scary wealthy. Her grandmother left her everything. The house? It's just the tip of the iceberg. I have the keys, I'll give them to you, but you should tell her that she needs to find her someone to go over everything with her. You should do it. She's going to need someone she can trust.”

”I thought you were her attorney.” Devin would never step on anyone's toes. ”I mean, why aren't you 'seeing to her?' You've been the family attorney for a while now, haven't you?”

”I retired as of six months ago. When her grandmother pa.s.sed, I decided I'd had enough.

She was a wonderful old bird, but I made more than enough money off her to live several lifetimes. No, Ms. Wallace needs someone young and savvy. Someone who doesn't need her money and doesn't mind telling her what she needs to do.”

”You've not met her then, have you? Dane is the type of woman who has no problem telling you to get f.u.c.ked and offering to hire someone to do it to you. I saw her punch Jamie in the nose for thinking he could tell her what to do.” Devin smiled at the unabashed laughter that came back through the line at him.

”More like her granny than I thought then. Her mother was a b.i.t.c.h. Worst kind of b.i.t.c.h.

Mrs. Messenger told her mother that she had to leave her monies to her when she got sick, but she had better never leave anything to Dane. Mrs. Sharp just nodded and as soon as the old buzzard was dead, she changed her will to leave everything to her granddaughter. Best d.a.m.ned day of my life. We laughed about it for weeks on end.”

”Just how much are we talking here? I know the Messenger estate was big, but I haven't a clue what Mrs. Sharp was about.”

”Well, with monies, insurance, and holding, including the houses and all the corporations, Danish Messenger Wallace is worth just under eight billion dollars, making her one of the riches women in the world. Of course, that doesn't include the personal checking account that was set up for Danish when her mother died, nor the jewelry that is still locked in the safes-one here and two in the house on Rector Street.”

”Holy f.u.c.king Christ,” Devin shouted. Eight billion plus. And she was living in that c.r.a.ppy townhouse without a good lock and second hand furniture.

”Yeah, that's what I thought too. Makes you sit up and take notice, don't it? There is no one to contest the will. Danish was an only child, as was her mother. Her father is deceased, died some years ago after Danish was born. The only living person left is her. Like I said, she's going to need someone to help her out. Up for the job?”

After a few more minutes of talking, Martin told Devin he'd send over all the important information to him on Monday morning. He was no longer her attorney and thought that if Devin did not do it, then he could guide Danish to someone who could and would do a good job for her.

Devin sat in his chair for several minutes trying to wrap him mind around that much money.

Glancing at his watch, he got up to find Veronica. He had to meet Martin in twenty minutes at a coffee shop on Tenth.

”You should come with me,” he told his wife. ”Maybe you could help Dane with her house hunting. She could probably use a friend about now. Plus, if she becomes a part of this family, we'll need to know her better.”

”Hummm...okay, what do you know that you're not telling me, and why?” He glanced at her and tried to look innocent. ”I already like her. And I doubt she needs my help finding a house. Give it up, Devin, what's going on?”

”What do you mean? I just want to get to...well, s.h.i.+t, Veronica, can't I get anything past you? I want you to see how close she is to Jamie. I just found out that she's not as broke as I first a.s.sumed. She's quiet wealthy as a matter of fact and with that sort of money comes all sorts of people out of the woodwork. I don't want Jamie to be hurt because someone else comes along with a better line.”

”You arrogant a.s.s. I should smack you, do you know that? First of all, Jamie is nearly thirty years old and secondly, if you so much as hint to him that you know this, I'll make you sleep in the guest bedroom for the next fifty years. And I'll wear nothing to bed every night to taunt you.

Any idiot can see that they love each other and a few bucks isn't going to make much difference.” She stood now. ”I'm going with you. You need a keeper. And just so you know, I'm telling your mom.”

She fussed at him all the way to the coffee shop and then sat in stunned silence on the way to the house to meet Dane, Jamie, and Pi. Veronica started to go over the papers Martin gave them when they left. Since looking at the total worth, Veronica had not said a word.

”I told you she was wealthy. I don't know what you're surprised about.” Her glare made him burst out laughing. To be honest, it was nice to know that he hadn't heard the older man wrong.

Christ, love a duck, eight billion dollars!

”What do you plan to tell her, Devin? I doubt that she has any idea about all this.” Devin thought she might be right. ”I think if it were me, I'd have to find a place to hide until I got a better handle on it.”

”Nothing. I'm not her attorney and until she hears from Martin severing his business with the estate, there isn't anything I can do. I'll agree with him, she does need someone to guide her though this, but if she and Jamie marry, I'm not so sure I should have anything to do with her money.”

”You think she'd think you were cheating her? I doubt that she'd believe that. She is the most upstanding person I know. And you are the most honest I know.” She looked at him as he continued. ”She couldn't do better in an attorney than you.”

”Thank you, love, but I was thinking of mixing family with business. It's okay with the little stuff I do now, helping with Spencer's divorce, guiding Byr thought the right channels to set up his business, and Damon's malpractice insurance, but billions of dollars is beyond even my scope. No, I think she needs someone to help her and it shouldn't be me.”

”So if she asks, you'll turn her down?” Veronica asked sadly.

”h.e.l.l no! If she asks, I'm going to try and triple her money in five years. I'm not stupid.”

*CHAPTER 15*.

Dane gave the address to Jamie and he drove them to the house. He said he was not familiar with the area so he had to plug the information into the GPS to get them there. Dane was nervous. She did not know what to expect and then Devin had said he needed to speak to her as soon as possible.

”s.h.i.+t, Dane, is this it? I thought you said it was a house. This is a friggin' mansion.” And it was.

”I was only here once as a child. My mother hated to come here and I was never allowed to visit her after I turned eight. Every time I came home after I left to live in China, Grandmother and I would meet in New York. I'd forgotten it was so big. Too big probably for just us.” She didn't know whether to include James in her ”us” status. He said they'd all live together, but that was when they were living at his house. Before she could say anything more, another car pulled up.

”Wow! You lived here? Dane, this is beautiful! How many bedrooms does it have, thirty?” Ronnie said with a laugh. Dane was glad she had come with Devin. He made her nervous. Well, all the Grant men did.

”Actually, you're not far off. Including the pool house, there are twenty bedrooms and twenty-five baths. Each bedroom has a private bath. In addition to the formal and informal dining rooms, there are several other rooms-let's see, library, study, office, conference room, something called a cloth room, and a nursery. Martin gave me this to give to you.” Devin handed her a folder. ”I think there's an indoor and outdoor pool too. My grandmother loved to swim. I do as well. I don't think we can live here. It's too big.”

”Missy Dane, you live here with me and Mister Jamie. He look like he want to fill house with babies. It be good for you. I be granny to them. Let's go in. I want to see kitchen.” Dane heated with embarra.s.sment. It did not get any better when Devin threw back his head and laughed too. She couldn't even glance at James. What on earth was the matter with Pi?

Taking the key from Devin, they went up the front steps.

”Martin said there was a staff house just off to the left. When Mrs. Sharp went into the hospital the last time, she had the house closed up. The staff was elderly anyway and was ready for retirement. He said that if you needed it, he had a list of people who want to come and apply to work for you.” Devin handed her this list as well.