“Before you head to the hotel, tell me why you’re listening to the advice of your doctors now?” Carson asked.
“Destiny’s got my bun in her oven.” Corny patted Destiny’s abdomen. For the first time since Destiny arrived, Tennyson saw her smile. She covered his hand with her own. “I’ve finally got something to live for.”
Carson’s mouth dropped open in obvious shock. The angry look on Cole’s face darkened. Both brothers remained silent.
“Well, we’re off to the hotel! Gotta feed my little woman. After all, she’s eating for two. Later, boys!” Corny hopped up from his seat as if it were on fire. He took Destiny’s hand and led her out of the room.
“Motherfucker,” Carson muttered. “Am I having a stroke, or did that just happen?”
“That just happened,” Fitzgibbon agreed.
“Why didn’t you tell us about the bun in the oven?” Cole asked, looking shell-shocked.
“I didn’t know.” Ten shook his head. “I don’t know if he was blocking me from seeing it. Same for Destiny, but I’m just as surprised as you are. The two of them have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, and I feel like we fell for them all.”
“What the hell are we going to do?” Cole asked.
“I don’t know,” Carson said on a sigh. “We need to call a family meeting. If you all can make it tonight at six, we’ll talk about everything then. Jude and Fitz, I’d like you to be there. We’re going to need to corroborate everything he told us and find out if there are any warrants for his arrest. If you can do that without breaking police procedure.”
Fitzgibbon nodded. “I’ll speak to Cisco and see what we can find out. Why don’t we have the meeting at my house. The kids can hang out in the pool while we talk. I’ll call out for pizza.”
“Thanks, Fitz.” Carson headed out of the room with his head bowed. Cole was right behind him.
Ten stayed in his seat while the others filed out of the room. He was having a hard time coming to terms with the hurt Corny had inflicted on his sons when he said that his new baby gave him something to live for. Even with the help Carson offered, and undoubtedly of the help to come, Corny had still gone for the jugular.
The first thing Ten was going to do when he got home was hug his kids and tell them how much he loved them. Just thinking about being estranged from Everly and Ezra made Ten feel sickto his stomach. Ten’s kids were his life. How the hell had Corny walked away from his two sons and Bertha?
Ten had a feeling he was about to find out.
7
Ronan
Ronan was on pizza duty. He’d offered to pick up dinner for the family meeting. The pies smelled so good that he’d nearly pulled over twice to cram his face full of pepperoni goodness. Thankfully, he made it to Fitzgibbon’s house without digging into whichever pizza was on top of the stack of boxes.
Twenty minutes later, with the kids happily munching away and their feet dangling in the pool, the adults sat around the large patio table with their own slices. All of the usual suspects were there, with one new addition. Cisco Jackson had come by with his husband, Luca, and their adorable son, Frankie. Everly had taken the little boy under her wing and was wiping his sauce-covered face with her napkin.
“Just to catch everyone up,” Fitzgibbon began. “After Corny and Destiny left, I had a meeting with Cisco. I filled him in on what Tennyson knew and what Corny admitted to. We ran his criminal record, along with Destiny’s. Her real name is Martha Stewart. No,” Fitz snickered. “notthatone.”
“What did you find out, Fitz?” Carson asked, looking as if he didn’t want to know.
“Your father has a criminal record as long as my arm,” Cisco said. “It’s mostly for petty crimes, but there were three charges of fraud. One in California having to do with a yoga studio and the second being the GoFundMe scam out of Colorado and the one you knew about in Arizona. The Colorado case is the only open case against him, which, to be honest, surprised me more than anything.”
“What are the ramifications of that charge?” Cole asked.
“It’s a Class 2 felony, punishable by up to twenty-five years in prison and fines, which can total a million dollars, which would be on top of the money fraudulently raised during the scam.”
“He said they’d raised a quarter of a million dollars. Did they take all of the money?” Carson asked.
Cisco nodded. “Yeah, every last penny. We might be able to mitigate his sentence if the money is returned to GoFundMe so the donations can be given back to the people who donated the funds.”
“Where the hell are we going to get two hundred fifty thousand dollars?” Cole’s voice broke. He swiped angrily at tears flowing down his face. “I’ve got a mortgage to pay. Three kids to put through college. I just can’t—”
“Why do we have to pay his dues?” Carson asked angrily. “We’re under no obligation to help him or Martha.”
“That baby is our little brother or sister. No matter the situation, no baby should be born in prison. I guess we could take a second mortgage out on the house.” Cole looked to Cassie, who shook her head.
“Before we even talk about the money, the two of you need to figure out what exactly you want from this man. Do you want him to stick around Salem and be a father? Do you want to help him out and not see him for another thirty years? Do you just want him to take his circus full of monkeys and leave town?”
