I sit down beside him, peering at the dark screen. “Didn’t he marry her because she was pregnant?”
Jake looks disgruntled. “She told him that she wants Dad to sign over some of his properties to her because she doesn’t trust us not to throw her away once the kid comes along.”
Disgust fills me. “How convenient. What did Nick say?”
“He refused. She told him she wants all the buildings on Park Avenue. He said he wasn’t going to force Dad to sign them over, and that those buildings belonged to our parents, not him. She’s not happy. That’s why we stayed around. He wants his happy family, but...”
“...She wants his money. Why not just divorce her?”
Jake doesn’t have an answer to that, but knowing our brother, Nick isn’t one to give up because things are hard. However, I don’t think he understands that human relationships are vastly different from how businesses work. Every relationship needs a foundation. His relationship with Elisha has none. He was introduced to her through a friend, and he ended up sleeping with her and knocking her up. Although he wanted to do the honorable thing by marrying her, I don’t think marriage is all his wife had in mind.
“There is something I wanted to talk to you about.” I glance at my twin.
He sets his phone aside, spreading his arm over the back of the couch. “If it’s about the interior decoration of this apartment, I have a few pointers. Everything in here is ugly. Get rid of it.”
“Thanks for the pro tip. I’ll keep that in mind,” I say dryly. “No, there’s a private investigator you use sometimes. I want to make a few inquiries.”
“About?” Jake’s eyes are sharp.
“Natalie.”
My brother slaps his hand against his thigh. “I knew it! You couldn’t trust her! That conniving?—”
“You better be careful about what you say next,” I warn icily.
He frowns. “You’re the one investigating her?—”
“I’m not investigating her, Jake. I want to know what happened five years ago. And I want to find out the relationship between her family and her.”
“Five years ago?” Jake blinks. “Why?”
“Just get me his number, will you?”
My brother examines me before sighing. “You don’t need his number. I already looked into her.”
I go rigid. “You did what?”
My brother moves his shoulders casually. “You may not like it, but I don’t need your approval to watch your back.”
“I don’t need you doing things behind my back, Jake,” I growl, displeased.
“Yes, well, it’s done.” My brother waves dismissively. “What do you want to know?”
I normally don’t struggle with moral dilemmas, but I hesitate to answer. If Natalie ever finds out what I’m doing, she’s not going to be very happy about it.
“Why did she move five years ago?”
“Move?” Jake shakes his head. “The apartment wasn’t hers. It belonged to her mother. She was evicted a week after your fling with her. From what I found out, her belongings were thrown out. It was a family dispute.”
He leans forward. “She was in the hospital for two weeks, Ethan. That’s all my PI managed to find out. She’d been in some sort of accident. It was pretty bad. She moved immediately after she was released from the hospital. I can forward you everything else I have, but it’s not a lot.”
An accident? Why would her mother evict her so soon after an accident?
“What about her finances?”
Jake raises his eyebrows. “Now you’re asking the right questions. Her mother likes the track a little too much. She’s a gambler. Your girl is paying her debts. She transfers more than half her salary to her mother, then some. She barely has any left over for her car payment. Her savings are depleted. Natalie Thorne is broke, to put it nicely. That’s why I’ve been telling you to stay away from her. You’re her new piggy bank.”
My jaw becomes rigid. “Do you ever think before speaking?”
