Page 74 of Deserving Maisy
He had. Maisy already hated Jason, but now she hated him even more. All her life, she’d thought she was worthless. Stupid. And her own flesh and blood had perpetuated that belief. And for what? Money. “I hate him,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Me too,” Ry said almost breezily. “But I’m taking care of him. Did you know that your inheritance has grown over the years?”
Maisy raised a brow and gave her a look.
“Right, sorry. Of course you don’t. It’s no longer four million dollars. It’s almost ten.”
“What?Seriously?”
“Yup. You’re quite the millionaire.”
But Maisy shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
“What? The money?”
“Yes. I don’t want it. Money has caused me nothing but heartache. It turned my brother into a monster, made him kill my parents, murder an innocent and nice woman, and kidnap Jack.”
“I thought I liked you before, but now I think I love you,” Ry said with no trace of amusement or humor. “Money is definitely the root of all evil. And I don’t blame you for not wanting it. But you’ll need something to live on when your brother is no longer a threat.”
“I’ll figure something out.”
Ry studied her for a long moment. “How about you keep some, like a million, and give the rest away?”
“A million’s too much,” Maisy said.
But Ry laughed. “No, it’s not. You have no idea how fast that money’ll go, especially if you have a baby. But luckily you have a friend who knows the best stocks and bonds to invest in.”
Maisy narrowed her eyes at her newfriend.
Ry chuckled. “Right. We’ll get into my abilities as an investment broker at a different time. So, if you don’t want the money, what do you want to do with it?”
“Donate it.”
“Good choice. And I just so happen to be an expert on legit charities, as well. Where do you want it to go?”
“I don’t know. I like animals.”
“I can recommend several very worthy rescue groups that really need the money,” Ry said.
“And kids. Oh, and veteran groups. Can we give some to The Refuge?”
“Yes. Although it’s a little tricky, because Brick and the rest of the guys are pretty sensitive to receiving charity. But I’ve been funneling money here already. Do you knowthey have a donate button on their website? I’ve set up an automatic donation to be sent in through their site every four days.” She smiled. “And they have no idea. It’s awesome. That hangar they’re building for the helicopter? It’s being built solely with donations.”
“Which came from you?” Maisy guessed.
“Yup. I mean, there are other donations too that I didn’t initiate, but it feels damn good to get these guys what they need to make this place even more awesome than it already is. They do truly great work here.”
“Where are you getting the money from?” Maisy asked.
And just like that, the happy, satisfied look on Ry’s face slipped away. “It doesn’t matter. Okay, so animals, kids, veterans…what else?”
Maisy wanted to ask more questions, but it was obvious Ry wouldn’t answer them. “Um…there was a woman who worked in the house. Her name is Paige. I heard that Jason fired her, along with the others who worked for us. Which isn’t right. She’d been working for us for decades, and I’m sure he was underpaying her.”
“You’re right, he was. I’ll make sure she and the others who worked for you guys are compensated properly. Anything else?”
Maisy made a few more suggestions, but honestly, she had no idea how to even go about giving away nine million dollars.
“I’ll start with your suggestions and we’ll go from there, how about that?” Ry asked gently.
