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I'd been ready to hate hi everything

Our father had been a coreed on He'd loved to fuck with us, pitting us against each other until ere little ers He'd left each of us a trust fund—with a catch If anted our money, we had to move into Heartstone Manor and live there for the next five years

If we refused, we gave up any clai went to Bryce Just in case we forgot that part, Prentice had offered room and board to Bryce and Aunt Ophelia for the five-year waiting period I' his ass off in hell He'd hated Bryce as much as the rest of us

We'd all moved back into the Manor after the funeral as ordered For the next five years, Griffen had control of everything, including our trusts If he wanted to spend it all to the last dime, none of us could stop hied Griffen to do just that

Griffen had done the opposite He'd hired Savannah tothe ins and outs of Sawyer Enterprises He'dshe'd been the catalyst who'd gotten him thrown out in the first place

Now that I was used to seeing theether, it didn't see a baby, their affection and do down the household until it seeht actuallyeach other

And more than that, Griffen had listened to us Royal and I had been trying to get the extra cottages at the Inn approved for years Griffen had reviewed our business plan and told us to go for it He'd dragged Sterling out of the bottoiven her a job Piece by piece, he was putting our fa I wanted to do was fuck all of that up

Griffen shook his head at my promise "I'm not worried about the faent and beautiful wo you to keep your distance, I', and until we knohat, be careful I don't want to see you get hurt"

"I'll be careful," I said, pushing the words through , I added, "Bryce told Scarlett he'd searched the house for valuables He could be full of shit, but you h his room"

"I'rim look in his eyes

I left the and went in search of Scarlett I found her in Savannah's apart to Miss Martha When I walked through the door, she turned to me with a bland smile as if the scene with Bryce had never happened

I wasn't fooled I'd had a good reason for leaving her at Bryce's et theher eyes flick past hie how far the door was I'd fucked that up Scarlett thought I'd rescued her The truth was, I'd let her swing far longer than I should have

"You up for a picnic?" I asked, ignoring the weight of guilt heavy in ut I'd make it up to her Absolutely

"Savannah is having lunch packed up now," Miss Martha said, her considering eyesher find a blanket for the grass”

Scarlett kept that bland smile on her face until ere out in the suot Atlanta-hot, but that didn't mean a June day couldn’t make us break a sweat

One eye on the two boys chasing each other around the picnic blanket, Scarlett started to unload the basket, setting out sandwiches and cookies wrapped in wax paper Every time she looked away from the boys or the food, her eyes landed on the sparkle of the pool across the gardens

“I had one of the Inn staff bring over bathing suits for you and August We can go for a swim later if you want”

Her wide grin was as bright as the sun, eclipsing the flat smile she’d worn since the encounter with Bryce This was the real Scarlett I loved getting under her skin, peeling back the layers of self-protection until I found the real her

“I haven’t been swiust—" She sed “Since ent to Disney two years ago”