Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (3 page)

“Continuing on
, Paul left two million each to Jessan Baxter, Kenneth Wright, Bryan Trino, and Tiffany Caster with the understanding chores will be done and you’ll fix dinner every now and again.” The kids laughed and Teri smiled despite herself.

“Tim DeLaney
’s service to Paul has not ended with his passing, and he will continue to draw a salary as he administers his affairs and trusts. In addition, Paul has left Tim a sum of fifteen million dollars with gratitude for his dedication and his friendship.”

“That
’s more than his children!” Sara protested.

“Tim does more than his children
, and I would have thought you’d learned your lesson against arguing by now.” Kyle held her eyes with the impassive face he used in the courtroom.

“To Kayley Goldstein
, Paul left the deed to her apartment, various pieces of art, jewelry, and other items of value with an estimated worth of six and a half million in addition to fifteen million dollars.” Sara turned her back on Kayley again.

“I
’m going to read this last part verbatim. To Sara Lovett, my wife of sixteen years when I asked for a divorce, I leave the house in Phoenix, an estimated value of one and a half million dollars, and a sum of two million dollars.” Sara stood, but Kyle continued. “To Teri Giles, I leave my heart and the balance of my worldly possessions. At this time, that’s an estimated one hundred million dollars.”

• • •

Kyle sat back to wait. Arguments against the division of assets were thrown about on his left and Teri progressed from stunned silence to tears in front of him. Tim stood and pulled Teri to her feet. Before she got settled crying on his shoulder, he passed her to Flynn. Kayley rose to help comfort Teri, and Tim took up position to keep Sara on her side of the room.

Kyle
’s attention turned back to Sara, now standing at his desk.

“Sara
, I understand this is a shock,” Kyle began.

“I am his
wife
. He won’t —”

Kyle held up a hand to stop her. “I strongly recommend you
do not say or imply that you will contest this will. Paul left specific instructions if you do. Also consider that I am very good at my job, Sara, as are the other attorneys who reviewed this document. The reading was simplified because I’m the only lawyer in the room. But this document, when taken in its entirety, will stand up in any court. I made sure of it.”

She glared at him
, shaking her head in denial of what she was hearing.

“Cut your losses
, Sara. Paul asked for a divorce, you should have granted him one.”

“
Arizona is a community property state.”

“This isn
’t Arizona and this isn’t a divorce. What’s more, I have the paternity results on the kids. Even Blaine isn’t his and he was born something like thirteen months after you were married. You couldn’t stay faithful for four months? Paul wasn’t even traveling then.”

“He was always at work
, and he had affairs too.”

“He
was
at work, providing for
you
. That will come up in court. Many of the people close to him back then were with him until the end. I have signed affidavits that he wasn’t having affairs yet when Blaine was born. Never in Arizona actually. Most of them went into detail about how good a husband they perceived him to be. His affairs didn’t start until he started traveling, by then yours were well known and documented.

“Your claim to his estate will never hold up and you
’ll embarrass yourself if you try. I’m not the only one good at my job, Tim is as well. He’s been collecting documentation and building a case against you since Blaine was four. Paul didn’t know, but Tim showed me what he has. I wouldn’t try anything, Sara.”

Kyle let that sink in for a moment and returned his attention to Teri. Flynn
had moved Teri to the sidelines and held her gently. She was still crying, but seemed to be trying to pull herself together. Kayley rubbed her back, handed her tissues, and collected the used ones. Kyle took the wastepaper basket by his desk over to let Kayley dispose of the tissues in it. Then he set it down against the wall by Flynn so it would be convenient.

“Kyle?
” Teri whispered as he started to turn away. He turned back to her. He knew what was coming.

“I don
’t want to deal with Sara. Just give her the money.”

Kyle smiled softly and held up a finger to indicate she should wait. Returning to his desk
, Kyle flipped through the will and cleared his throat. He waited until the room fell silent.

“Teri
, Paul left instructions regarding gifting funds to Sara or her children: he specifically forbade it. I’m sorry, you can’t give Sara a dime.” He turned to judge her reaction.

She slumped against Flynn and glanced at Sara across the room. Kyle didn
’t have to look to know Sara was giving her a hateful glare.

“Or what?
” Teri asked, looking back to Kyle.

Kyle couldn
’t help it, he laughed. Paul said she’d probably call him on it, but Kyle had seen too many will readings gone wrong. Between emotions running high and simple shock, he doubted Teri would think to ask how Paul could enforce the request.

“He said he
’ll never forgive you.”

“
That’s it
?” Sara demanded.

“It
’s enough,” Teri whispered.

Sara turned to face her
, Kyle wasn’t sure if she was going to try threats or pity as a ploy to get the money Teri was willing to sign over only moments before. Indecision was written across Sara’s face, apparently she was still trying to size Teri up and decide as well.

Tim stood ready to keep Sara from approaching Teri and glanced at Kyle. Both long time friends and colleagues of Paul
, Kyle and Tim knew each other well and could work together. Kyle was Paul’s attorney; Tim was off the clock.

“Sara
,” Tim spoke firmly to draw her attention from Teri. “You know very well Paul wrote his will to make a point. You denied him a divorce and a chance for happiness. He didn’t want you to have the money. He didn’t want to reward you for being a bitch.”

“She barely knew him. Not like I did. He would have left her in the end.
”

“You can justify your actions any way you like
, but I’ve seen Paul’s will rewritten a few times over the years, you were never going to inherit more than you did. At one point he cut you out of the will entirely.”

“But to leave it to her
, not even his own children.”

“
Blaine recently convinced Paul that they needed to become contributing members of society and not having to work for living proved contrary to that goal. Be grateful he left them what he did.”

Tim turned to Kyle. “I don
’t think anything more needs to be said. I believe we’re done here?”

“For now. The actual dispersals will take longer and
, as you know, there are questions regarding the handling of Teri’s share.”

Tim nodded. He turned to Nicholas and motioned for him to take the children out of the room.

“We’ll take Teri out of here now.”

“Of course. That concludes the affairs of Paul Lovett. Thank you
, Ladies and Gentlemen,” Kyle announced formally.

Tim walked over to Kayley and whispered in her ear. She nodded and took Flynn
’s free hand, leading him and Teri out of the room. Kyle had a conference room set aside for them to retreat to so Teri could have a chance to recover. One of the interns should be setting up a lunch in there right about now. Tim retrieved Kayley and Teri’s purses and followed them out, closing the door behind him.

Chapter Three

“Dev, give it up,” Kenny sighed in irritation. Dev’s pacing was getting on his nerves. First he paced and stomped through the house because Paul was living with them, now the same thing because he wasn’t. Kenny was pretty sure he wasn’t this annoying at fifteen.

“Where
’s Bryan?”

Kenny should have predicted that response. Whenever Dev felt
unusually stressed or overwhelmed, he turned to Bryan. As far as Kenny could tell, Bryan didn’t do much besides be a good listener. It was enough of a habit now that Bryan’s mere presence seemed to calm Dev.

“It
’s just,” Dev paced for a moment more, then settled on the edge of Kenny’s desk. “Mom’s upset. She’s depressed over losing Paul. It’s not fair, she lost Dad. I didn’t like Paul, but I wanted her to be happy.”

“Give her time
,” Kenny said.

When Paul moved in
, Dev was in a foul mood for a week. Even Bryan started avoiding him. The same thing when Paul started planning his retirement. Worse actually. Now any mention of Paul got Dev going all over again, but for an entirely different reason. Paul talked Kenny into taking a few psychology classes to help handle Jess and Dev. It was time he started using it.

Dev leaned against the wall
, his back to Kenny, and sulked. Kenny steeled himself for the attempt.

“Listen
, apparently being a pain in the ass didn’t mean anything to him. I mean, Paul left you five mil. He obviously didn’t hate you. You’re a pseudo-stepson. He understood.

“He also understood some things we needed to do to get the band going.
” Kenny tried to change the subject and pull Dev out of this dark place he was in.

“Yeah
, he bought us a rock star for a mentor.”

“Yeah
,” Kenny hesitated. He wasn’t so sure this particular rock star was a good idea. Flynn competed with Paul for Teri not that long ago. That was going to bring back memories. Not to mention Flynn’s history with women. Dev clearly didn’t know and Kenny didn’t want to be the one to tell him. “Yeah, he did. So settle down and help me with Jess so we still have a band for Flynn Peterson to help us with.”

“Fine
, you do your crazy classes and I’ll handle Jess.”

Dev walked out and Kenny didn
’t get more than a few pages read in his psychology book before Bryan and Jess walked in, somehow missing Dev.

“Jess
, I’m just saying to take it easy on him. He shy and really suffering with this modeling thing,” Bryan said in his reasonable and easy-going manner that made him so effective at handling Dev.

“
If you’re worried about Dev, go spend some quality time with him. Break him out of this guilty mood. Elsewhere,” Kenny suggested, waving them away before they could sit down.

Kenny wished he could talk to Paul again. Dev
’s guilty depression was over Kenny’s head and he knew it. Teri was only half there now. She got up and made breakfast, sometimes. Frequently she was in pajamas or sweats, with no more done to her appearance than running a brush through her hair. He supposed it was better than when she briefly broke up with Paul and wouldn’t leave her room. Kenny just wished she didn’t remind him of an extra in a zombie movie. Maybe he’d get lucky and it’d make Flynn change his mind about chasing her after all.

• • •

Flynn arranged to come by Teri’s house for the first time before the kids were out of school. Kenny and Jess already graduated so Nicholas said he’d try to get them out of the house too. Flynn wanted to talk to Nicholas before meeting the boys and Nicholas appeared to want the same thing.

Tim confirmed Nicholas wasn
’t included in the planning of Flynn’s unofficial invitation back into Teri’s life, and suggested feeling out the situation before telling him. Flynn didn’t think Nicholas would be fooled for a moment about why Flynn was there, and didn’t see him as the problem Tim did. They met before and Flynn felt they understood each other. Still, it was best to get these things taken care of in private.

Nicholas answered the door when he rang. “Come in
,” he backed out of the way to let Flynn inside. “I managed to get Jess out the door but not Kenny, he’s in the basement. I swear he’s developing that extra sense Teri accused Tim of having.” Nicholas took Flynn’s coat and gestured for him to follow him into the kitchen. Flynn sat on one of the bar stools while Nicholas returned to putting away groceries.

“Teri
’s upstairs asleep for the moment. She hasn’t been sleeping very well at night.”

“How
’s she holding up?” Flynn asked.

“She
’s getting there.” Nicholas stopped, walked over to look out at the living room and down the stairs for a moment before returning to stand opposite Flynn. He leaned forward and continued in a quieter voice. “Want to fill me in on what’s going on here? Don’t give me ‘developing the band’ either.”

“Not buying that one?
” Flynn grinned.

“Paul could have found any number of musicians to do this. You
’ve still got an active career and no time for this project. That’s setting aside the glaringly obvious fact that you two were in direct competition for Teri.”

“You know Paul knew he was dying?
”

“We discovered that after the fact
, yes. He told you before?”

“Just between us?
”

Nicholas nodded and glanced over Flynn
’s shoulder again. Keeping an eye out for Kenny, Flynn decided.

“Yes. He wanted as much support in place for Teri as he could. The project wasn
’t completely a set up; he did want to give the kids a hand. Rather than adding a stranger to the mix, he called me.”

“You still want her.
”

“In the long term
, yes. More importantly, she knows me and I have an interest in helping her recover.”

“It came to my attention you were still married when you started chasing Teri.
”

Flynn didn
’t expect that, but nodded to concede the point. “My marriage was suffering before I met her. I was waiting for Wendy to file, she had more cause than I did. I lost Teri, but it didn’t change anything. I finally filed myself.”

“Your third I believe Paul said?
”

“It was. You
’re rethinking whether I’m such a good thing for her.”

“It
’s her decision, but yes. You made her laugh, she seems to like you, but you’re a little weak in the commitment department. Chasing her while you were still married doesn’t look good.”

“I can
’t argue that. I can’t even tell you where the problem comes from. I promised Paul I’d take care of her even if things don’t work out between us, and I will. You’re a shoulder for her to lean on. I can be too, but mostly I’ll get her back on her feet.”

“Of course you will
, women can’t resist you,” Nicholas sighed. “I have to trust Paul knew what he was doing and go along with it. I assume Tim’s in on this?”

Flynn nodded. “If things do work out
, Tim will probably be watching me even closer than you will. I know it. It’s part of the price for getting a second chance.”

Nicholas nodded in agreement of Flynn
’s assessment.

“And as a bonus
,” Flynn added with a smile, “I might just get this struggling new band on their feet.”

“Get Bryan on task with his so-called drum solos and Teri will be thrilled.
”

Flynn and Nicholas talked about Teri
’s talent as Lexi Frost while waiting for her to wake up or the boys to come home from school. The impromptu photo-shoot that first brought Teri to Flynn’s attention produced fantastic photos.

“She always was good at improvising
,” Nicholas agreed.

“Is she retiring? She seemed to love it.
” Flynn couldn’t quite see her giving it up.

“Taking a break officially.
Maybe she’ll continue at a reduced pace. Money’s not an issue anymore, but she’s made a name for herself photographing nudes and she enjoys it. She used to do what now may be called accidental porn.”

“I know. Drew showed me some of her early work as Lexi
, then when I learned her real name I found what I could.”

Nicholas laughed. “Stalker.
”

“Not as bad as Paul was.
”

“Or Allen either. He was relentless.
”

Flynn smiled. “Well
, then I must be onto something.”

They were silent for a moment
, both lost in memories. “We kept postponing that studio appointment, she never did shoot the band again,” Flynn said.

“I understand Charlie
’s left the band now.”

“Yeah. We
’ve done a couple of gigs with a new guy, it just didn’t have the same chemistry. Zane brought Hayden Cross into the studio to record with us, that didn’t go over. His style’s just too different, we couldn’t work together.”

“Too bad
, that would have been an interesting mix.” Kenny’s voice from the dining room startled Flynn and Nicholas and they turned to see Kenny lounging at the dining room table, head resting on his crossed arms.

Nicholas frowned. “How long have you been there?
”

“Don
’t worry, I already knew Teri had a split personality.”

“Keep it to yourself
,” Nicholas warned.

“Seems to be the house motto. Maybe that
’s what we should’ve named the band.” Kenny sighed, “I always do, Nicholas, chill.” He turned his hazel eyes on Flynn.

“Hi.
” Flynn gave him a casual wave.

“I appreciate the help
, don’t get me wrong, but I know you and Paul didn’t get along,” Kenny said.

“So you
’re wondering why I’m here,” Flynn finished and glanced at Nicholas.

“Don
’t look at me.” Nicholas shook his head.

Flynn turned back to Kenny. “Paul and I reached an understanding. He had a choice of who to bring in to give you guys a boost
, he offered it to me.”

“Consolation prize
, keeping the enemy close, or what?”

“Because if it wasn
’t for the personal connection he wouldn’t have chosen me?”

“It
’s pretty much acknowledged Zane makes the decisions for In Like Flynn. No offense.”

Flynn nodded with a chuckle. “None taken. Zane
’s a control freak, however, he doesn’t do it single handedly. We all have a part in the process. I actually
am
qualified to do this. Officially.”

“Unofficially?
”

“Kenny
, quit prying,” Nicholas warned.

“No
, it’s okay. It’s better if we have an open enough relationship that Kenny can ask questions. Although the ‘keep it to yourself’ motto might be worth considering. Paul,” Flynn hesitated, looking for the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. “Paul implied you might have questions or concerns that fell outside the subject of the band. So, on a personal level, you’re right, Paul and I didn’t hit it off. In fact, the first time I met him I dearly wanted to deck the man. Also, the second time.”

“You were after Teri.
”

“Yes
, and Paul was pretty determined I wouldn’t win that particular competition. Once they hooked up, I looked at the relationship, decided she was happy, and I let it go.”

“Really?
” Nicholas asked.

“No choice
, mate.” Flynn answered Nicholas and turned his attention back to Kenny. “Teri told me about your band on a flight once, Paul knew that.”

“And we would have been your in with Teri.
”

“It crossed my mind. Paul probably knew that.
”

“So why invite a wolf to the party?
”

Flynn hesitated. “Look
, Kenny, is anyone else going to be asking?”

Kenny shrugged. “Teri maybe. She
’s got to wonder what the hell he was thinking.”

“Teri I can handle. I meant Cassie or Dev specifically.
”

“Only Kenny knows about you and Teri
,” Nicholas confirmed. “Go ahead and tell him.”

Flynn slipped off the bar stool and took a seat at the table by Kenny.

“Listen, Paul knew he was dying. He was looking for someone to work with you, but he also wanted to build a support network for Teri. He knew this would be rough on her. He called me in
because
I chased Teri. I have an interest in making this band work for you that has nothing to do with the job. And I have an interest in getting her through the mourning stage.”

“Please tell me you
’re joking.” Kenny sat back in his chair, a look of disbelief on his face.