Page 90 of The Best Bad Decision

That really didn’t surprise me.

“If I ask to be able to reimburse you for the cost of that, are you going to get upset?” His whole body felt offended when he sucked in a breath and the drama made me smile. At some point he was going to have to come to terms with the difference in our incomes, but it seemed like we hadn’t reached it yet. “Never mind.”

I’d figure that out later.

He’d hired a private investigator.

Well, the first thing that hit me was my utter lack of surprise. He’d been remarkably patient with the whole situation but Casimir could only hold back so long. He’d somehow even gotten a copy of my initial divorce proceedings and brought it to the pizza place so I could get delivery again.

He hadn’t actually let me order pizza because he liked doing that for me, but I could if it came down to it.

“What did he find?” Was that the problem? “Um, the whole hiring one thing doesn’t really surprise me if that’s what you were wondering.”

I’d seen more dramatic situations playing out in an online group for subs I’d joined recently, so this was small potatoes on the my Dom is up to shenanigans scale. “Oh, and I’m proud of you for not doing anything to end up in jail.”

My family hadn’t shown up in the past couple of days, though, so that might’ve helped his restraint.

“Thank you.” Casimir kissed my cheek before snuggling back into me, now feeling relaxed instead of like he was hiding from an incoming explosion. “You’re not going to like the answer to that what did he find question.”

Could the situation get any worse?

Well, my dramatic Dom thought so, but I wasn’t sure how.

“What did they do?” Someone had to have done something, so it was a reasonable place to start.

He sighed again.

This was going to be interesting.

“Do you remember your grandfather?” Casimir paused long enough to sit up, but not long enough for me to answer before he kept going. “The PI said he died when you were young.”

He’d done some research.

“Kind of?” What did I remember? I closed my eyes to think. “He was older. I remember a big beard and smiling eyes. I remember he had a deep voice and liked to take me from my nanny and we’d go to places like the zoo or to get ice cream. That’s about it.”

From what I’d been told, he’d driven the staff crazy once he’d retired, but I didn’t remember anything about that firsthand.

“Well, he seemed like he really wanted more kids but he and your grandmother couldn’t have them.” None of that was new information, so I nuzzled against him and just waited to see what the shocking part was as he curled into me again. “Your mother and father only wanted you.”

That time when he paused, it was my turn to sigh. “Neither of them liked kids, hence the nanny and lots of staff. I think my grandfather was the only reason I wasn’t sent to boarding school, but I’m not one hundred percent sure on that.”

“You’re right.” Casimir finally sat up all the way, running his hand over my head as he frowned at me. “His will and the trust he left for the family had a lot of stipulations for things like that.”

I seemed to come from a long line of control freaks, so that didn’t surprise me either.

“I was given access to some personal funds in a trust when I turned twenty-five but I won’t get access to the rest until my parents pass. I think?” They’d always pushed me to succeed on my own to prove that I wasn’t spoiled, but I’d just thought that was because they planned on living forever and burning through as much money as possible along the way.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t need their money.” I was doing very well on my own, which seemed to drive them crazy sometimes. It seemed like they weren’t planning on leaving me any money but I was supposed to desperately want it. “What did they do?”

Had they gambled everything away on stupid investments?

Pyramid schemes?

“It turns out that the main trust is set up so that the bulk of it is only released to the heirs when the next generation is born.” He paused but I must’ve looked confused enough that he kept going without being prompted. “Your parents can’t get access to the next chunk of the trust until you have a child.”

For fuck’s sake.

My head hitting the back of the couch got a slightly strangled chuckle from Casimir. “Yeah, that was kind of my reaction too. Even the PI guy was stunned.”