"Money, Money, Money" [2] G. Hawthorne

1 - In case you forgot who we are

TW: slight mentions of abuse and rape

Three weeks earlier, I'd been a normal girl, scraping by, desperately trying to survive high school, and get out. Then out of the blue, I'd received word that one of the richest men in the country had died and named me in his will. Tobias Hawthorne had left me billions, very nearly his entire fortune—and I'd had no idea why. Why me? Because I had been forgotten. My entire life I had been forgotten. And Tobias Hawthorne made sure that would never happen again.

Or at least that was what the conclusion of the old man's last game had led us to believe.

My name is Kayla Diana Grambs. It was the kind of name no one could forget anymore. He made sure of that.

And as soon as the last game had ended another one arose.

Find Tobias Hawthorne II

He was dead. Or so we thought.

Apparently he was some homeless guy my sister used to play chess with in the park.

This was gonna be fun.

**********************

I cut from underneath the gymnasium wing to a tunnel that went below the music room. I passed beneath the solarium, then climbed a hidden staircase into the Great Room, where I found Nash Hawthorne leaning casually against a stone fireplace. Waiting.

I was hiding from my lawyer Alisa Ortega. She was trying to coach me for taking the stand in my case against Drake. My oldest sisters rapist, abusive ex-boyfriend and my rapist.

I however woke up and chose "fuck no not today".

"Hey, kid." Nash didn't bat an eye at the fact that I'd just appeared seemingly out of nowhere. In fact, the oldest Hawthorne brother gave the impression that the whole mansion could come crashing down around him and he'd just keep leaning against that fireplace. Nash Hawthorne would probably tip his cowboy hat to Death herself.

"Hey," I replied

"I don't suppose you've seen Grayson?" Nash asked, his Texas drawl making the question sound almost lazy.

That did nothing to soften the impact of what he'd just said. "Nope." I kept my answer short and my face blank. Grayson Hawthorne and I were dating

"And I don't suppose you know anything about a chat Gray had with our mother, right before she moved out?"

Skye Hawthorne, Tobias Hawthorne's younger daughter and the mother of all four Hawthorne grandsons, had tried to have me killed. The person who'd actually pulled the trigger was the one in a jail cell (for now) but Skye Hawthorne sure as hell wasn't. 

Grayson was the one who got her kicked off of the grounds. He said he would always protect me.

I blushed slightly at the memory

"No clue," I said flatly.

"Didn't think so." Nash gave me a little wink. 

I smiled.

"Your sister and your lawyer are looking for you. East Wing." That was a loaded statement if I'd ever heard one. My lawyer was his ex-fiancée, and my sister was...

I didn't know what Libby and Nash Hawthorne were.

"Why do you think I'm here?" I asked him. 

He laughed.

 when I made my way up the winding staircase to the East Wing of Hawthorne House, I didn't go looking for Libby. Or Alisa. First stop: Tobias Hawthorne's office.