“What a nightmare.” She was shifting in her chair and then sat up straighter. “My trust fund. Can they access that?”
“I doubt that,” he said. “Hailey Bond manages most of the trust funds, correct?”
Her cousin had her own firm in Boston with a smaller satellite office on the island. A practice she’d bought years ago with her own trust fund, or so the rumor went. Hailey came from one of the sides that had more money than the rest. Edward’s side opened Bond Retreat generations ago and it could only be handed down to another male. Antiquated tradition for sure, but right now Hailey’s brother, Hunter, ran it with his semi-retired father. That didn’t mean that Hailey didn’t have a significant amount of wealth just because she didn’t run the hotel though.
“She does. I’ll call her right after this. I guess I should be happy my rent was paid for this month, but it’s due in a few weeks and it’s an auto deduction from my account.” She put her hand to her head. “All my payments are and if you put a hold on it then nothing will be paid either.”
“Go get your affairs in order. Find out what comes out and make those calls and see if you can get an advance payment today to cover you for the next month. Then that buys you time.”
“Okay. That makes sense. Thanks. I think. I can’t believe this is the president’s job to deliver news like this on a loan application.”
He smiled and even in this chaos she noticed how handsome and young he seemed. He was patient and thoughtful on top of it. “I’ve had a lot of dealings with your family as a whole on the island.”
She supposed that was true. It was the biggest banking company in the state so she figured her family did their business with it both on the island and in Boston.
“How did you know I was part of the Bond family?” she asked. “Not many put it together.”
“I’ve met your brothers. You look like them. They’ve been in here a few times and word gets around.”
She should have figured. Everyone talked on the island. Which meant if anyone knew about this it’d be everywhere. “Ah, about that and this situation.”
“Don’t worry. This was flagged when I came in this morning and I locked it down from anyone else seeing it without my authorization. Your loan officer might come in here asking questions, but she won’t get any answers from me. This won’t leave the bank.”
Ava breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said, reaching her hand out for his. “I’ve got a lot of work to do and am glad I was on the island today taking the day off.”
She’d planned on driving around to look at some of the properties she’d seen online for sale, but that was out of the question now. First thing she needed to do was call Hailey and get legal...something started. The second thing she needed was a good cry. There was only one place to go for that.
4
Scuttlebutt of Whispers
Seth watched Dr. Ava Mills walk out of his office. He’d never seen her before and hadn’t even realized Hudson and Carson Mills had a sister.
He knew her older brothers, as they did their banking here. When they came in. Most people didn’t come to the bank often or at all anymore. But they’d both been in a few times and he’d been walking around when he heard the scuttlebutt of whispers that occurred anytime any Bond was in.
Introductions were made. It was good practice for him as the president. This was the biggest branch on the island, located closer to the Romeo port on the north end. The small hospital where the twin brothers worked was mid-island about five miles away. Ava was at the clinic—which he discovered today—that was a few miles south of the hospital. Nothing was far on Amore Island that was about sixteen miles north to south and five miles east to west.
He knew most of the Bond family that lived on the island and did their banking here. He was close to the casino and the amount of cash flowing from there alone made it good for public relations to get to know them.
And when he came in and saw that alert, he knew right away he had to handle this situation delicately. He’d locked Ava’s application and secured it, then personally called her to come in. He hadn’t expected her to be on the island today though, after seeing her address in Plymouth.
Nor had he expected the vision of loveliness that had walked through his office door.
Dirty blonde hair that was long and flowing down her back. She had on stretchy jeans that might be illegal in some states and tan UGG boots. It was close to fifty out today and she was wearing an olive green North Face fleece over a shirt he couldn’t see.
She was in her early thirties but looked to be closer to a college kid the way she was dressed.
She was ruffled—he knew and he expected it—but she tried to control it when many others would have been in tears discovering their identity had been stolen.
By the time she walked out the door, he’d given her his card and told her to call him personally when she was ready for the hold on her accounts.
He felt bad for her. For anyone else this could be a crippling situation, but for a Bond, not so much. With her family and the resources at her disposal, she’d be fine. She wouldn’t be left on the street with no money. She could probably even buy a house with her trust fund, but who was he to mention that. Everyone’s personal financial planning was their own business.
Either way, things like this didn’t go away easily, even with lawyers and all the money in the world. The fastest way to
