Hidden in the Shadows

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Hannah had called her at least ten times. The first had been when she’d realized exactly how large a client Angel would be. She’d known she’d be rich, but this wealthy had never crossed her mind. She’d told Angel that the partners at the firm had congratulated her for going outside the box and bringing in a new client. They had even given her multiple associates and a paralegal to help solely with Angel’s legal matters. It was around three that afternoon when they arrived back at the ranch; she realized she’d spent more in a single day than she had in her whole lifetime. But her father had insisted she pay the fees to expedite everything.

She’d taken one look at her still empty house and called her grandmother to ask, “Is there any furniture outlets that have stock that you don’t have to order?” Which was why she was now standing in a furniture store outlet that was owned by a friend of her grandfathers and she was being given the royal treatment. Anything she needed he promised would be delivered tonight. 

With the help of her whole family, she chose the pieces she liked and some things for the bunk houses and foreman’s housing. She had everything she realized, but washer and dryer and electronics for her new home. She’d done a walk through and selected an area she wanted to put a private gym. So, after a stop at Wal-Mart which had gotten her raised eyebrows by her family, she had everything she’d need to get started. She had towels and sheets for the new beds, pillows, comforter sets, dishes, silverware, pots and pans. The store associate who had checked her out had given her odd looks until the credit card purchase had gone through then she’d glared as if all her life problems were Angel’s fault. 

When they arrived back at the ranch house there was a black range rover parked in front of her house. When they entered, she found her Uncles all present and accounted for. Cody had been directing deliveries for a while; she told him which went to which house and which to the bunk houses. Her grandmothers rescued him and began to tell people where to place things. Her life was in chaos, and it was about to get better. 

Hannah arrived with paperwork for her to fill out, the new table became a semi office until her office was finished being setup. At this point all the family members were present to see what the attorneys had worked out. Hannah said evenly “In this document you will see the deed to property that your mother owned. Some of it is commercial property, and some is residential. All of this is outside the funds that were placed in your account. You’ll sign this document, and all the deeds will be transferred to you.”  

When Angel had signed it, Hannah continued saying “And this is from your great grandparents. It was set in trust a long time ago just for this purpose and has accrued interest over the years.” Angel glanced at the amount and nearly swore out loud, silently she signed the trust paperwork. Then Hannah said, “These papers are from your father, his parents, and his sisters, it lays out what you receive from each of them in lieu of the fact they didn’t know of your existence before.” Angel read the paperwork over carefully then signed it without saying a word. She was suddenly beginning to realize when her father said what she had from her mother was only the beginning he’d really meant that. Hannah pulled out more paperwork, the deed to this property, and finally the paperwork from the Denae’s, she said “This is from your mother’s family, it is the sum they had set aside for each future grandchild, plus the amounts of gifts they would have given over the years, as well as money from each of your uncles.” When she read it, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

Her father had seen fit to match her mother’s estate even before his death, which she hoped would not be anytime soon. His parents and his sisters had given her over 2 billion, and her uncles and grandparents had matched what her mother had given her as well, and then there was the trust from her great grandparents. It had apparently been managed well for over twenty years now and it was four times the size of what her mother had given her. The final paperwork she signed stated that her total estate was worth more than two hundred and eighty billion dollars. She was suddenly very aware of why her father wanted her to have security. 

When, everything was signed dated and over with she said “Is it possible to have my clothing delivered from the penthouse and for me to stay here tonight? I’d like to work on things around here. Though I’ll need to hit a grocery store or something, but I don’t have a way to go.” It was Michael who said “That’s not exactly true see we all pitched in and bought you a vehicle. They led her out to her garage where she saw a Dark Grey and Black Range Rover, it was beautiful, she adored it. 

Justin promised that her things would be delivered within two hours. Her grandparents headed home for the night, but her father and uncles decided they were tagging along for the trip to the grocery store, but she informed them she wanted to go by Best Buy first. After a quick trip through Best Buy she had ordered a new washer and dryer set, kitchen appliances, gym equipment, electronics and gaming equipment including new laptops all of which she had setup to be delivered in the morning. 

She settled for heading back to the Super Wal-Mart for her groceries, until she could find a good Whole Foods nearby. She was only mildly surprised when her Uncles took off in different directions once they entered the store, her father did as well, Justin stuck close enough he could help if anyone tried to harm her. She looked at Justin and said, “I’m going to need help to keep that big house clean and get things done.” Justin nodded and said, “your grandparents are already working on that.” She had just finished loading up a buggy with groceries when her errant family members reappeared with buggies of their own. It was a good thing they brought two vehicles. 

When they arrived back at the house and about thirty trips later, they had everything inside but nowhere near unpacked. She had just loaded the last of the groceries into the pantry when Cody came in and said “All the deliveries for tonight are done. You get you some rest missy you got a bigger day tomorrow getting this place up to snuff. 

I got some men coming for interviews tomorrow, Justin’s running background checks on them. He’s also hiring more ex-military men to handle security around the place.” Angel nodded then said, “It’s amazing how your life can change overnight.” Cody turned to Hunter who stood by the counter after Angel had left the room and said, “You’re going to have to keep an eye on your girl; they’ll be coming out the woodwork.” Her Uncles left shortly before midnight, and her father not long after. He took the time to show her how to work the security system and teach her the code before leaving. 

When Hunter made it back to his penthouse the last, person he expected to see was Gwen. He’d given her a card key to enter when they met up, but she’d come when he hadn’t asked. He asked coolly “What are you doing here?” he didn’t miss the widening of her eyes; she was shocked he’d call her on her presumption. He said evenly “I need my card key back you won’t be coming here anymore. I can’t have my mistress meeting my daughter.” Her eyes got huge as she said, “Your what?” he said evenly “You heard me, my daughter.” Gwen said angrily “You don’t have any children.” Hunter sighed he’d dreaded this, but he said “Yes, I do. Did you seriously believe I shared every aspect of my life with you?” Gwen said coldly “We do share, everything you know we do. We are perfect together I admit I’m not mother of the year material but if you want to raise your daughter then I can help you.” Hunter laughed loudly and said “Gwen, there is no need for help as my daughter is fully grown.” When she stared at him, stunned he said, “My daughter was born when I was fifteen.”  

He saw her mouth moving but no sound came out until she opened her mouth and put her foot in it by saying “Well surely she can’t expect anything of you. I mean after all her mother trapped you with a pregnancy.” Hunter said coldly “Wrong, her mother never even told me she had my daughter, I’ve just recently found out. And if it came to my daughter or hearing your incessant, rambling I’d choose her every time. You might be good in bed, but no s*x will ever be more important than my child.”  

Gwen only seemed to catch onto that one word and said, “We could have a child together.” Hunter laughed and said “We’re done here, don’t call me, don’t come back, you have until the end of the month to be out of the apartment. Do you seriously think I would ever have a child with my mistress?” I watched her storm out, he knew he’d been cold but seriously how could she think she compared to his daughter. 

His family’s company and the Denae’s were going with a joint press release about his daughter tomorrow. He was actually glad she was out, of the city now. For Angel, the next morning came at 5 a.m. she hit her pool until her gym equipment came in, she did four miles. She figured Cody would be up by, now so she included a thermos of coffee in with egg sandwiches she had made for breakfast. 

She’d dressed in her new cowboy boots her Miss Me jeans, a t-shirt and her leather coat. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail atop her head, she knew that just made her look younger, but she didn’t care. She found Cody in the barn talking to the man who was delivering the feed. She handed him the coffee and the food and said, “Make sure you eat something.” To which Cody said, “I thought I was supposed to take care of you kid, not the other way around.” They watched as the hay was unloaded as well as, the feed bags. 

She and Cody discussed the types of horses they would be looking for and the differences in confirmations. He showed her some photos of great horses. They were interrupted when her phone rang, a quick conversation later and she looked at Cody and said, “My grandmothers are coming with some help for the house. I’m sure Justin has vetted them all but if you would like to be there to meet them your more than welcome.” 

As she was leaving the barn a truck came barreling up, which grabbed Cody’s attention and he followed her out the doors. When the man climbed from the truck, he wasn’t old nor was he young but boy was he fit to be tied. He yelled “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, coming in here buying up land and thinking you can just do whatever the hell you choose to.” He paused to get breath and said, “You don’t belong here city girl; go back where the hell you belong.” Angel didn’t even dignify him with a response as she turned to Cody and said, “I’ll be at the house when you’re done here.”