Page 8 of Love Bomb
He didn’t like her triumphant smile.
“That’s the thing,” she said, sounding pained. “There’s no fortune left. Grandfather lost it all when he made some bad decisions during the pandemic. All that’s left of the Dalgliesh name is the folly. And my parents will fight over it until it destroys all of us.”
She glanced at his brothers before delicately sniffing, as though struggling against tears.
Bain had seen enough.
“Good luck with your plan,” he told her. “Hope it works. Darach over there could probably take the tower out with some decent construction equipment. Drive a digger into it. That’ll do it. I’m done here.”
And with that, he headed for the living room, where he planned to watch a documentary about real issues, to make up for all the bullshit he’d just had to listen to.
“I don’t think driving at the folly will bring it down,” Darach said thoughtfully. “That sucker is solidly built and too big to sustain any serious damage. Maybe if we brought in a wrecking ball…” He shook his head. “Not sure I could get one here before your deadline,” he said apologetically.
Rona smiled at him, genuinely grateful for the thought. Darach was a huge teddy bear of a man who’d do anything to help anyone. Unlike his annoying brother.
“I really appreciate it,” she said. “But I think explosives are the way to go. I don’t suppose any of you could do the job?”
They shook their heads.
“I didn’t think so.” She stood, still smiling. “Excuse me, but I have to talk to Bain again.”
“Be gentle with him,” Conall said earnestly. “He’s in the middle of another paternity scare and he’s a wee bit fragile.”
Rona blinked while she processed that information. “Another paternity scare?”
“Oh aye.” Conall nodded. “There have been a few over the years, but none of them came to anything. We don’t think this one will either because Bain’s really careful now. This is the first paternity claim in a long time. It kind of took us all by surprise because he always says, ‘no glove, no love’, you know?”
Rona wondered if it was dangerous to bleach your ears. Because suddenly hers felt seriously ick.
Darach was nodding. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. We think it’s just an overzealous ex-gir…” he looked a little flummoxed and turned to Kade to bail him out.
“Ex-one-night-stand?” Kade said helpfully.
Darach winced. “I was going to say girlfriend. But the tests will prove Bain isn’t the father. They always do.”
“And there have been a lot of these, you say?” Rona asked.
“Not a lot,” Darach said, checking his facts with Kade.
“A couple when he was in his early twenties,” Kade said. “That’s why this one is freaking us all out. It seems out of character for him now.”
Honestly, she’d hoped he’d matured from when she’d known him, but she wasn’t all that surprised to find he was still panting after everything that moved. Strangely, she felt disappointed. She’d expected more from Bain. Guess that had just been the delusions of a love-struck kid.
“You do realize,” Rona said, “that most men go through life without having to deal with one paternity claim, let alone several, right?”
“Aye,” Darach said. “We’re aware. Anyway, this new paternity thing is a wee bit different from past ones, as this woman is a tad more…persistent than the others.” He lowered his voice. “We think she might need a bit of help—in the, er, mental health department.”
“I expect so,” Rona said sweetly. “Anyone who sleeps with Bain surely would.”
With that, she headed back down the hallway to find the local Lothario.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bain had settled into the sofa, his feet propped on the coffee table, remote in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. He’d switched on the first documentary he could find and was staring intently at it, hoping Rona would see he was busy and leave him alone.
No such luck.
She sailed into the living room like she owned it, wearing a mask of disapproval. Tough. He didn’t much care what she thought of him.
