Chapter 66

Three months later . . .

Walter Lee Dawson’s estate had finally been settled in the court’s eyes. Violet Dawson was being seen around the city here and there with a distinguished hotel chain owner she had known for years.

Deidre was the hottest new heiress in New York Society. Men, most of them a little too old for her, were beating the door down to take her out on a date.

Derek was officially head of Dawson Inc. Businessmen stood in line to shake his hand and propose deals. Most of them weren’t good or too high risk. Derek figured some of them thought they could get away with taking advantage of him. What they didn’t know – and learned later was Derek had been doing business most of his life – it just wasn’t always for Dawson. He knew when something didn’t smell right.

Derek was at home, at Hilltop House, listening to his cousin rant and rave over the phone. But he managed to get a word in. “When did Amanda leave you?”