Page 161 of Bridesmaid By Chance
I listen intently to see if he’s still on the phone, and when I don’t hear him, I move through the suite until I notice the terrace door is partially open. I hesitate for a moment, waiting to see if he’s on the phone, but when I don’t hear anything still, I walk outside to find him sitting on a chair, a glass of amber liquid in hand, staring off into the distance.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
He glances in my direction and shakes his head. “No.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No,” he answers again.
“Was that Hardy?”
He nods and holds his hand out to me. I take it and he pulls me down onto his lap. I straddle his legs, facing him while his hand smooths up my bare thigh.
“Any news?”
“Just that they’ve combed through the documents, and it says clearas day that he has partial ownership over whatever we invest in.” Hudson drags his hand over his face. “I can’t believe we missed that.”
“That does seem odd, that you would miss that,” I say. “I’ve seen you read over documents.” I look off to the side. “What document is he referring to?”
“The trust documents that I had to sign when I took the money.”
“And you looked through them?”
“Yes,” he answers. “Hired my own lawyer as well.”
“And those are the documents that the lawyer is looking at now?”
“He’s looking through the papers that were sent to us, yes,” he says, his voice questioning. “What are you after, Sloane?”
“Well, I feel like this is going to sound stupid, but you’re looking over the documents he sent you. Did you consider looking at the document you signed?”
“It’s the same, Sloane.”
“Are you sure though?” I ask, feeling him grow tense. “I mean, I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but what I do know is that your dad is not the best human. Wouldn’t it be convenient if he just…tampered with things to go his way?”
“That’s fraud.”
I shrug, feeling stupid. “Sorry I brought it up. I just thought that maybe?—”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and punches around on it before bringing it up to his ear. Wanting to give him some privacy, I start to move, but he grips my hip, keeping me in place.
“Have you looked at our trust documents?” Hudson says, not even offering Hardy a hello.
I faintly hear him on the other line. “Yes, that’s what we’ve been looking at.”
“No, the ones that we signed, that we keep in the safety deposit box at the bank.”
“No, just the ones that were sent over as reference.”
“I need you to go to the bank and pull the ones that we signed and compare the documents.”
“Why? Do you think they tampered with the agreement?”
“I don’t know,” Hudson says. “But I think it’s worth checking. I think we would have flagged that kind of wording and tried to work around it.”
“Okay, I can head over there when it opens.”
“Call me immediately.”
