Diamond (Rare Gems Series) by Kathi S. Barton

so-called friends were telling him to get a job and to start helping out with bills and such. Not to mention it would be nice if he paid back what he had borrowed from them. This was going to be his ninth move in the past year, and it seemed to him that his pickings were getting slimmer and slimmer each time. But he had his list, and it wasn’t to pay any of them back. It was to tell them what he’d taken from them without their knowledge.
    Pulling it out now , he looked it over. It was a list of what he felt were crimes against him. He’d started out with a list of people he was going to pay back for all the help they’d given him, but it wasn’t long when even those people had ended up on his other list. The list that kept running totals of women who wouldn’t let him fuck them. Also, he had a list of men who had snubbed him at parties he’d crashed, as well as when he’d ask to borrow money. When one of them had asked him when he was going to pay them back, he’d only stared at the man. Did they really expect Ward Galloway to pay people back? This was just not done.
    Standing in the terminal , Ward looked around for someone who would pick him up. There were all sorts of signs being held up with names printed on them, but none for him. Ward moved to the front of the airport and out into the driving rain. He shivered in his suit, wondering where the hell he was supposed to go now.
    He had cab money , but he wasn’t going to spend it unless he had to. And that possibility was looking stronger and stronger with each passing minute. Going back inside, he went to the terminal and had Morton paged. It was a big airport and maybe the old fucker got lost in there. After forty minutes of waiting and two pages for him later, he knew that he’d been forgotten. Time to take a cab.
    But to where? Ward was going to stay with Morton until his brother invited him to stay with him, or at the very least gave him enough money to get a house or something. He didn’t want a large house, just ten or so bedrooms so he could party when he wanted. And he needed enough to pay for the help it would require to keep it up. And he wanted pretty, fuckable bitches too. Ward didn’t want to have to clean up after himself. Having fuckable bitches cleaning up after you was what having money was all about.
    He was slipping in the dirty cab when he pulled out his phone again and called Morton ’s house. This time no one answered and he decided that he’d simply go there and wait. And if Morton didn’t show up, he’d make due until something better came along. Besides, tomorrow he was going to see his brother. Then things would be just the way they should be for him. Ward Galloway was going to be something. And his long-lost fucking bastard of a brother was going to make it happen for him. Even if he didn’t know it just yet.
    ~~~
    Thad walked around the site twice. There was something so appealing to him to start a fresh project. And this one was going to be huge. The amount of people that would need to be hired for this portion of the business was going to help the area out and make it so he could keep his hands in his business. He looked up when Blair walked toward him.
    “ The land is being held by the bank, pending the judgment against the owner. He bilked nearly ten million from the bank on this deal, so you can imagine they’re just a little skittish about letting it go without proof that this time the deal is going to be solid.” Thad could understand that and waited for him to continue. “Along with the five hundred acres, there are the three partial buildings that I would simply tear down, as well as an additional seventy-five acres that has a house on it. The house is in good repair, if only needing a few updates. It’s been sitting empty for nearly two years, with the exception of the staff that has been living there because they’ve had nowhere else to go. The bank decided that them staying there was better than leaving it