Neve (Silver Skates #3) - Helen Scott
1
Neve
“But, Daddy, I don’t want to leave the city!” My father was a complete jerk sometimes. Didn’t he realize he was asking me to completely uproot my life?
“Neve, you will go to Silver Springs and you will take over this paper and make it successful, or so help me, I will cut you off. You can kiss that trust fund goodbye.” My father’s voice was harsh and brooked no argument, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try.
“Why do I have to go to the middle of nowhere in New York just to prove I’m a responsible adult?” I demanded as I paced back and forth between the seats of the jet. The caramel and cream colored leather and faux wood paneling mocked me as I tried to think of a way out of my current predicament. I’d gone along with it initially because I thought my father was just testing me, making me prove my loyalty to the family. I didn’t think he’d actually want me to move to Silver Springs.
“Because all evidence I have right now points to the contrary,” he replied with a sigh. “You’re twenty-six and still acting like you’re eighteen. You need to actually grow up and not act like a party girl for the rest of your life. We aren’t the Hiltons. If you want your trust fund, then you will do this. If you don’t, then you won’t like the turn your life takes, trust me on that. Now, get on the plane and go. No more putting this off and fighting with me, or I’ll cut you off right now.”
I let out a noise of frustration.
“Neve Elenore Astor, get your behind off the plane, or you’ll never see the inside of the family jet again.”
“Fine. I’ll go, but as soon as that paper is making a profit, I’m out. You can’t keep me there like some kind of prisoner!”
“That’s fair, but you have to turn a profit first.”
“Oh, I’ll make it profitable, don’t you worry, Daddy.”
“Legally, Neve. It has to make a profit legally, and without using magic.”
“Every time you talk about it, you add on more restrictions. How am I supposed to work if you keep moving the goalposts?”
“It’s business. We’re not involved with anything illegal. We’re upright citizens, and if that means not using magic as well so we don’t draw attention, then that’s what we’ll do. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good. Text me when you get there, and I’ll be calling in a week to check in.”
“Love you,” I said, but the line was already dead.
Typical Dad—once he got what he wanted, nothing else mattered. I looked out of the window of the plane to the car waiting below. The small jet was the height of luxury, since Daddy would have nothing less, and I felt sure the car would be the same, but what about when I got to Silver Springs? He said an apartment would be waiting for me, but what kind? Would there be food in it already? Did it come with a car?
Dad loved his cars, but I loved the jets and the boats, anything to get me as far away as possible from the responsibilities he wanted to pile on my shoulders. He never let me run too far though, and apparently, now he wanted to chain me down to a desk at a boring old newspaper.
Yes, I was the heir to the Astor family since I was an only child, but that didn’t mean I wanted it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the money, it was just everything else that came with it. Apparently, I didn’t get a say in my future though.
I grabbed my carry-on and made my way down the stairs to where the car was waiting. The black town car made me feel old. I wanted something sporty to fly around in, something that would make the world tremble when it heard me coming, especially this sleepy little town in New York.
Speaking of tricks, that was another one of the ways my loving father got me on the flight in the first place. I’d assumed he meant New York City, but oh no, I should have realized. Daddy only ever says exactly what he means.
The driver greeted me and had already put the two large suitcases I’d packed into the back of the car while he was waiting for me to come down. I wasn’t sure where we were going, other than the fact that it was