CHAPTER 62

Chaney

I was not happy but I was at peace. I’d finally decided to take charge of my own destiny. I was sixteen and that was a huge problem.

Mr. Xavier smoothed the way once he knew what I needed, or demanded was more like it. His lips twitched after that talk. It was the closest I’d come to a smile when he wasn’t with Madison and Brightly.

I had to be emancipated. It required a judge. In less than a week it happened. Financials were turned over to me and I spent another week discovering how rich I was and what all the investments were. It boggled the mind and I didn’t understand half of it. I knew someone who would—no, not Dante, but Caine. He would tear through the info and have a plan in hours not days or weeks.

I started looking at real estate. I narrowed my search to California, Colorado, and Oregon. I needed to be as far from the families as possible. I also needed to be safe. I started looking into security and came up empty. I talked to Mr. Xavier on one of his visits. I’d leas