Alpha Billionaire Series

HARLEIGH

Elephants! Elephants? My father was going to give everything to elephants if I didn't marry Devin. From the look on Devin's face, he was as shocked as I was. He didn't want to marry me, he didn't like me. And I had certainly done my best to make him think that I didn't like him.

This wasn't going to be good. I stared at my fingers. I stared at the crumpled note in my hand that Ronnie had dropped. And all I could hear was “elephants!

Devin ran his hand down my arm and caught my attention. He had squatted down in front of me so that when I looked up he was at eye level. He didn't look dangerous like I tended to think of him. He was my anchor in this turbulence.

“Hey, Harleigh. You okay?”

I nodded. My name was Harleigh and I wasn't exactly sure what else he was saying. I was caught in a loop with elephants. Mr. Sanderson helped me to my feet and said something about getting me home. Because of elephants.

“I'm going to stay and talk to McGrady, see what I can find out about this wedding thing. How legally binding is itz How much time do we have? And don’t worry Harleigh, I will take care of you. Even if this doesn’t work. I promised the old man I would take care of you, and that is a promise I intend on keeping,” Devin said in his matter-of-fact business voice. “Sanderson, you really should stay for this."

“I already know the specifics. We had many conversations regarding exactly what he wanted. But you speak with McGrady about it. There is nothing I can do to help. My job is to observe and provide witness to the accounts,” Mr. Sanderson replied. Mr. Sanderson helped me out of the lawyer's office and into the back of a car. The next thing I could clearly remember was. pulling up at a drive-thru and asking for a cheeseburger and french fries. When the driver stopped at the house, I still had the bag with the fast food in one hand and a drink in my other hand. I don't think I'd taken the straw wrapper off yet. Mr. Sanderson got out of the car first and helped me into the house.

Everything was a mess. It had been a mess for days, Tina and her parties didn't clean up after themselves, plus there were painting tarps everywhere. I hadn't seen Jessie in... I don't know for how long. She made sure the household ran smoothly. She made sure the cleaning staff was called in if we needed extra help.

But this mess was different. Tina had already come home. In her rage, she managed to upend furniture, destroy pillows, and knock over plants. Vases that were probably worth a small fortune lay shattered on the floor. Previously the house looked like a painting accident. Now, it looked like it had been upended and shaken.

“Why don't you go upstairs and rest. I'll take a look at the damage that's been done here," Mr. Sanderson said.

I nodded, and numbly pointed into the west lounge. Prominently displayed so it could be seen from the entry was now a large blank space of wall. “The Picasso I said.

It was missing. I walked in and I scanned the room to see if I could identify any other pieces of art that were gone. The Dali was knocked askew. I straightened the painting.

How many other works of art or things that didn’t belong to her had Tina walked off with?

I climbed the front stairs one foot after the other, leaving Mr. Sanderson to deal with everything I couldn't handle at the moment. I still had the fast food in my hand. The decorative table on the landing was on its side. Tina had ripped through the house like a hurricane, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.

The entire time I surveyed the physical manifestation of Tina's disappointment, I looked for a hint that Daddy had liked elephants. There weren't figurines of elephants, there were no pictures of elephants. Nothing.

I opened the door to Tina's room. This was ground zero of Tina's rage. Furniture was pulled over, jars of expensive perfume were smashed against the walls. I wasn't sure how much time she had to cause so much damage, but she hadn't wasted any of it. Her closet was mostly empty.

The mirror in her bathroom was shattered.

I checked my room, just in case her rage extended to me.

Everything was how I had left it this morning, slightly messy with the bed unmade, dirty clothes spilling out of the hamper, and shoes from my indecision scattered around.

I placed the bag of fast food on my vanity. I finally unpeeled the paper wrapper from the straw. I took the drink and sat on my bed. I pulled Roni’s note from my pocket. Why had I saved it? Roni had gotten a letter from my father, and I got elephant: “Oh,” I exclaimed as I smoothed out the card.

Roni hadn't exactly gotten a handwritten note from my father as I had assumed. It looked like a spreadsheet with names an dates. Under the list, it said, “Did you think I wasn't paying attention?’ I set aside the catalog of what I assumed to be Roni's lovers and got back to my feet. I needed to check Daddy's room.

“Harleigh, why arent you resting?” Mr. Sanderson said as I ran into him.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Why Elephants?” I asked.

“You should rest”

Ishook my head. “I need to check my father's room.”

“That's a good idea.’ He didn't say anything else as he followed me into the large room.

The medical equipment had been removed leaving the room mostly empty. There was still enough furniture for Tina to have pulled out drawers and thrown them across the floor. I knew what she was looking for, and hopefully, she didn't know where it was. I was looking for something too, only I did know if what I was looking for existed.

“It looks as if Tina was aware of the safe. That is why we are here isn't it?”

I nodded. I wasn't surprised Mr. Sanderson knew about the safe. “No elephants,” I said.

“Pardon?”

“No elephants. My father didn't have a penchant for elephants, Mr. Sanderson. So, why is he giving the money to an elephan sanctuary?”

“Your father liked to make sure he got the results he wanted.”

“He manipulated people. I'm well aware of that." I kicked clothes out of my way and I stepped into the dressing room.

The dressing room was a large walk-in closet the size of my bedroom back at the apartment. The walls were lined with built- in drawers and shelving. The drawers were for things like socks and underwear, the shelves held everything from shoes to small pocket items, wallets, watches, flasks. Rows of suits and shirts, jackets, and trousers typically hung from rods. A large mirror took over the wall near the door. I sighed with relief when I saw that it was intact, and not shattered. Almost all of the hangers were off the rods and strewn about the floor.

“I expected him to give almost everything to Devin. After all, I'm a girl and my father had insanely old-fashioned ideas about that.”

I continued talking as I accessed the safe. It was well hidden. Daddy made sure that everyone thought he kept his valuables, in a deposit box at the bank. But I knew he had at least two safes in the house. It wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Sanderson key of more.

I pushed the few straggling shirts aside. The wood-paneled wall looked perfectly innocuous. Beneath the hanging row of shirts, was a stack of shoe shelving. I pulled the base of the centermost shoe cubby forward until I felt it click. I leaned and pressed against the wood paneling. The entire section popped away from the wall and slid to the side. The safe sat there sturdy and undisturbed.

“So that's where the second safe is,” Mr. Sanderson chuckled. “He never would tell me. I know about the one upstairs.”

I figured since it was closed, Tina hadn't found this. I spun the dial. I think the only other person who Daddy would have trusted with the combination would have been Devin. I hadn't exactly been trusted, I had been told in a panicked moment after my father had drunk too much during a health scare. The only reason I remembered the combination was because it was my birthday. This was surprising, since most of the time I thought my father didn't like me.

The dial whirred and the door clicked. I pulled it open.

Itouched nothing. There were stacks of bills, and other documents, I think they were stocks and bonds. Small boxes held jewelry, diamonds, and sapphires. Other boxes held gold coins. Everything was still in place.

“I anticipated a small percentage. I honestly didn't have my hopes up. But to get nothing. And to rip the business out from under Devin, that was cruel”

“But it isn't that you haven't inherited nothing. You will get the house, and several large accounts.”

Ilooked at him in disbelief. “I have to marry Devin, and that's not going to happen. I don't know if you've been paying attention, my father certainly didn't. Not only is Devin much older, he doesn't like me," I tried hard not to whine. I failed. “You have access to enough funds for the short term.’— He gestured to the contents of the safe.— “Take some time before you make your decision. Elephants were chosen because of how ridiculous it would be to give everything away. Your father wanted you and Devin together”

I closed the heavy doors and spun the dial. And then I reversed my movements to close the wood panel and put the shoe shelf back into place.

“There are better match-making ways he could have taken. If it doesn't happen” I glanced back at the wall hiding the safe- “I'm on my own. I don't have a hidden fortune, and I barely made enough to cover my bills. Allowance covered my rent.”

If Devin didn't marry me I didn’t know what I was going to do. The pay-off money my mother had received after the divorce for having a child ran out with my next birthday. After her death, the money came to me. I would turn twenty-two in not quit six months.

“Why don't you settle in for the evening. I'm going to go back downtown, catch Devin and McGrady. See about getting a crew in here to clean up. Find a specialist for that paint issue.’

I followed him downstairs and said goodbye. In a daze, I walked around looking at the destruction. Purple and green paint covered meticulously hand-painted wallpaper. The historical showcase was mauled in the name of boredom. I called Seth to see if he wanted to earn some extra money. Then I made some hot tea.

Istared out the bank of windows along the back kitchen wall, watching the sky. I didn't want to marry Devin because he didn't want me. I was still holding out for my prince charming, and a princess-quality wedding. I was going to have to let all of that go. At one point I had thought Devin was my prince, but that had just been a childish fantasy. My fantasy mocked me, Daddy's words came back to me, he had hoped that Devin would have married me by now.

“Harleigh, what are you doing sitting there in the dark?”

I looked up. Framed in the open back door, backlit by the sunset was a figure shaped like a superhero, tall and broad- shouldered.