by Stella Gray
My husband and I had hardly left our bed in the two days since he’d come home from prison. If it was up to me we would have stayed there forever, but we were expected that afternoon at an appointment with my father’s lawyer. He and Michelle had already rescheduled the reading due to all the pomp and circumstance of the funeral, and then the KZM raid immediately following, which had hit me pretty hard. There was no more postponing it. It was pretty much the one thing that could put a damper on my desire to seduce my husband.
During the drive, I was a huge ball of nerves. This would be my first time back at my father’s house since the day of the funeral, and I braced myself for an overwhelming rush of unresolved feelings. Of grief.
But when I saw the house, and Michelle standing in front of it, all I felt was relief at seeing her. She looked better than she had in years. She was still the same Michelle, of course—classy, polished, the very picture of composure—but something about her seemed softer. More at ease. Stepping into the house, I could sense the change inside as well. There were no staff members running to and fro in their uniforms, the huge vases of formal white flowers had been switched out for bouquets bursting with color, and I caught a whiff of lavender and vanilla.
The house projected an air of welcome and warmth. For the first time, it felt like hers.
My father’s lawyer met us in the library, and I couldn’t help noticing that Michelle had taken the dark, heavy curtains down—allowing bright light to pour into the room. She also had a diffuser going in the corner: the source of the lavender smell. The usual thick scent of cigars no longer lingered, and I noticed the windows had been cracked open as well.
“I love what you’ve done in here,” I told her. “It feels nicer. Less like a cave.”
“Thank you,” she said, smoothing back her hair, which was down for a change.
I would bet my father had rejected all her decorating suggestions when he was alive, given how obsessed with appearances he’d always been.
We settled onto the sofa while the lawyer pulled my father’s will out of his briefcase and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
“The document is fairly straightforward,” he said, looking up at all of us. “Mrs. Lindsey, Mitch left you the deed to this house, along with some funds—” here he passed a sheet of paper over to Michelle, “—specifically set aside for your sole use, at your discretion.”
I wasn’t sure what was on the page Michelle was looking at, but she’d let out a little gasp. I couldn’t imagine she’d been left anything less than a high seven figure number. My father had always given her a generous allowance and I was sure he’d made certain that she would be taken care of for the rest of her life.
“It’s…too much,” she choked out, her voice raspy with emotion.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “I’ll help you spend it.”
She let out a tiny laugh at my joke and I gave her hand a squeeze. I knew the money couldn’t come close to making up for all the lies and infidelity my father had put her through during their marriage, but at least now Michelle could live on her own terms. Maybe she could even sell the house and start over. Or do some of the traveling she’d always dreamed of.
There were tears in her eyes, but she managed to hold it together, giving the lawyer a firm nod before handing the page back to him.
He turned to me next, and Stefan tightened his grip around my shoulder.
“Victoria Lindsey,” he began.
I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Everything else is willed to you. Cash, stocks and bonds, as well as personal property, vehicles, and some real estate, including the apartment in Chicago and some acreage in Florida.”
“Are—are you sure?” I sputtered. “There are no…amendments?”
“No amendments. It’s all yours,” the lawyer affirmed.
I was genuinely shocked. After I had married Stefan, I half-expected my dad to either completely write me out of his will, assuming my husband would take care of me, or do something archaic like add stipulations to the inheritance, or leave it all to my husband.
“Wow,” I breathed, and this time, it was Michelle who squeezed my hand.
“Your father loved you,” she said. “I know you two hit a rough patch a few months back, but he loved you just the same. This is what he wanted.”
So he hadn’t been holding a grudge when he passed. He could have easily changed his will at any time—hell, I knew he kept his lawyer on speed-dial—but he’d chosen not to. I felt a huge weight lift off my chest, and I leaned into Stefan with tears stinging my eyes.
“This is an itemized list of each and every asset,” the lawyer said, passing over another sheet of paper. “At the bottom you’ll see the total cash value, should you choose to liquidate.”
My eyes widened as I scanned it. I was suddenly battling a host of conflicting emotions.
If he had died at any other time, this inheritance could have been used for absolutely anything I wanted, including my education. Even a divorce, if Stefan and I hadn’t fallen for each other. It went a long way toward helping the bitter taste I was left with in my feelings toward my father. He’d been controlling, and he’d made some bad choices, but he had loved me.
Not only that, but by way of my arranged marriage—whether intentionally or not—my father had given me Stefan. When I looked over at my husband I saw a brilliant, beautiful man who had opened his heart to me. A man with integrity, who I trusted implicitly. Our marriage was a gift I would forever be grateful for.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I whispered, dropping a kiss on the page in my hand that now contained a whole world of possibilities.
After the rest of the will was read, Stefan and I had lunch with Michelle before heading back to Chicago.
“How do you feel?” he asked as the car pulled away from my father’s house. What was now Michelle’s house, I reminded myself. Perhaps I’d send her a house re-warming gift.
“Overwhelmed,” I answered. “I’m grateful for everything my dad left me, but I don’t know what to do with it. The cars, the stocks, the real estate.”
“You’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’m just glad he decided his ultimate legacy would be to take care of his family. To do the right thing.”
A lightbulb went off in my head.
“I have an idea,” I told him, before asking our driver to head to the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, instead of going straight to our condo.
Anja greeted us at the door to her suite when we arrived, Max hanging back shyly behind her. After the raid on KZM, they’d been forced out of my father-in-law’s apartment. Stefan and I had set them up at the Four Seasons until things got settled, but we still hadn’t decided what their next move should be.
“Is everything okay?” Anja asked, frowning with concern. “How did the lawyer go?”
She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping very well, with dark circles under her eyes. I couldn’t blame her. The whole ordeal must be taking a toll on her, and I knew she was doing her best to protect Max from everything that was going on.
“It was good,” I told her as we went into the suite, taking a seat on the couch. I’d brought the thick manila envelope that my father’s lawyer had given to me. Inside it were various legal documents, including a copy of the will and the list of assets I now owned.
Anja settled into a chair across from us, Max dropping onto the ottoman beside her.
We still hadn’t informed him about who his real father was, or the nature of my relationship to him, but I was hoping that would change soon.
“The thing is…my father left me a lot more than I expected,” I confessed. “Not even just money and cars and stuff, but also his condo here in Chicago.”
Anja smiled sympathetically. “It sounds like a lot to deal with.”
“It really is. And that’s why I was thinking you could help me out,” I continued.
“Of course,” she said. “I’m not much for bookkeeping, but I can make some calls,
help you figure out how to go about liquidating the assets. What can I do?”
Stefan nodded imperceptibly beside me, and I leaned forward and smiled at Anja.
“Actually,” I said, clearing my throat, “I’d like to give the apartment to you and Max.”
Anja let out a little gasp, her hand flying to her mouth.
“To us? But why? We could never—”
“Because you’re family,” I said firmly. “And I want you and Max to have a home here.”
Max looked between his mother and me. “Are we going to live here forever?”
“I can’t accept this,” Anja said, shaking her head. “It’s too much.”
“Please,” I begged. “I want you and Max to stay in Chicago. I want to have a chance to get to know him better. To watch him grow up. He’s my—”
I stopped before I accidentally said the word. Anja looked conflicted. Max, seeing that his mother was upset, gave her a hug, looping his little arms around her neck.
“Don’t cry, Mama,” he said.
“I won’t,” she said, hugging him back. “Can you go play with your toys for a little bit?” she asked him. “So I can talk to our friends about some grown-up stuff?”
“Okay!” He got up and nearly ran across the room, flinging open a door to the bedroom and his stash of toys and games. When the door closed behind him, Anja burst into tears.
“This is too generous of you. Maybe we can work something out, I can pay—”
“No,” I cut her off, going over to her with the big envelope in my hands. “Max is my father’s son. My brother. It’s only right that he gets part of the inheritance.”
I rifled through the papers until I found the deed to the apartment, and I handed it over to Anja. Her hands shook as she took it.
“This isn’t all,” I said. “I’m going to have the rest of the assets split up evenly between me and Max. This isn’t about charity or me being kind. It’s the right thing to do.”
Anja looked up at me.
“Max is very lucky to have you as his sister,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
“I’m the lucky one,” I insisted. “I always wanted a sibling.”
Her tears started flowing anew.
Reaching over, I gave her a hug. “It’s the least I can do after everything you and Max have gone through.”
Stefan moved closer to us. “Tori and I talked about it on the drive over, and we agreed that we want to be a part of both your lives,” he told Anja.
“Max is family,” I said, easing back from her. “And that makes you family, too.”
Looking down at the deed to the Chicago apartment, I could see that she was considering it. Finally, she looked up at us and smiled.
“I can’t thank you both enough,” she said. “We’d love to accept.”
We all cheered so loudly that Max came running out of the other room.
“What happened?” he asked, clearly not wanting to be left out of the celebrating.
“How would you like to stay here in Chicago, with our new friends?” Anja asked, pulling him into her lap.
Max thought about it for a moment. “Can we go to the zoo again?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I said. “You need to show me all your favorite animals.”
Max smiled at me, and then at Stefan and then his mother. “Okay!”
Anja gave him a kiss. “Then this is what we will do, my darling. We will live here in Chicago so we can be closer to the people who care about you.”
“About both of you,” I said.
Anja nodded, clearly getting choked up again.
We stayed at the hotel for a few more hours, playing with Max and making plans with Anja to get them moved into the apartment by the end of the month.
When we left, Stefan pulled me into his arms, kissing me gently.
“I’m so proud of you. Of what you’ve accomplished.”
I kissed him back, realizing that everything in my life was finally falling into place.
Stefan
Chapter 29
Chicago disappeared beneath a layer of clouds as our plane reached its cruising altitude. I linked Tori’s fingers with mine as we eased into our first class seats, relaxing completely for the first time in…ever. Things had finally started to settle down, one major thing after another reaching closure. So much so that I’d booked us last minute tickets to the Caribbean for Tori’s Christmas Break.
The flight attendant came by with complimentary glasses of champagne and little squares of decadent chocolate. Without Tori having to ask, I slid my piece over and watched her devour it in a single happy bite that made me smile as I sipped my champagne.
She snuggled against me, and my heart felt full. I couldn’t wait for us to get to our final destination, where she could throw her thick scarf and winter layers into her suitcase and not touch them for weeks. There’d be no need to wear anything but bikinis in the Caymans, and I had bought her a suitcase full of very revealing suits that I couldn’t wait for her to model for me.
“Looking forward to the weather?” I asked as she leaned back in her seat. “It was nothing but sunshine and eighty degree days last time I checked.”
“Yes,” she practically moaned, letting out a sigh of relief. “I’m going to live on the beach. I was barely able to focus during my last exam—all I could think about was this vacation.”
“How did the rest of your finals go this week?” I asked, having witnessed her round-the-clock studying over the past few weeks. I knew she hoped to end the semester on a high note.
“Good, I think,” she said. Then she shrugged. “Though I don’t know that I’ll be looking at straight As this term.”
“I’m sure you aced all the written questions,” I told her. “Don’t stress about your GPA.”
“I’ll try not to,” she said. “But I’m going to work twice as hard in the spring.”
“You’re gonna kick ass next semester,” I said. “But I don’t want you to spend the whole trip thinking about school. Your homework is to just sit back, relax, and let me take care of you.”
Raising my glass, I gestured for her to do the same. When we clinked, Tori toasted, “To a well-earned vacation. With my very sexy, very generous husband.”
We drank our champagne, and then I tilted her chin up and kissed her. I wanted to do far more than that, but I knew it would have to wait until we got to the hotel. And even then, I had a few surprises up my sleeve. For now I settled for ordering us two more glasses of bubbly.
“What a year we’ve had,” I mused, taking her hand. “Thank god it’s over now.”
“Six months,” Tori corrected me in a low murmur. “But we got through it. Together.”
“We did,” I agreed. “And now we’re stronger than ever.”
She squeezed my hand tightly, looking over me to stare out the window at the thick clouds flying beneath the plane. I could tell she was thinking about her dad again, the way the little frown line formed between her brows.
Tori had gotten closure on her relationship with her father, and I knew his final gift had gone a long way toward healing the rift that had opened up between them over the last few months, but it was going to take a lot more time for her to process the sudden loss of him. Still, I’d be with her every step of the way.
I was lucky to have gotten closure on my search for Anja and the answers I’d sought about what had happened to her. Now she would be a permanent part of our lives, and I was heartened by the fact that she and Tori had grown so close. We’d also finally sat Max down and told him that Tori was his half-sister. Even though he was confused at first, and sad to know that his biological dad was gone, he had been thrilled to learn that he had such a cool older sibling.
I loved watching the two of them play together. Tori was such a natural with him and it was clear that the affection and awe they felt for each other was mutual.
“Did your lawyer have any news, earlier?” Tori asked, nervously twisting her hands.
“He was denied bail again,” I told her. “I was glad to hear it.”
Tori nodded. “I think it’s for the best.”
“I heard from Gavin’s brother as well,” I continued. “They were very strategic about his placement in the prison system so they could keep a close watch on him 24/7.”
“You don’t think he’ll still be able to rebuild his network?” Tori asked.
It had been a major concern that I had shared with the feds from the beginning. My father was cunning and persistent. If there was a way to manipulate the system from in jail—to command a network of criminals on the outside—he would find a way. But his power to do that had been systematically disassembled, thanks to frantic negotiations between me and the feds, as well as a team of lawyers and law enforcement working together from across the globe.
“I think the right people have been alerted about my father’s ability to make connections,” I told her. “He’s not gonna be pulling one over on anybody.”
The relief was visible on Tori’s face.
“My lawyer said it’s likely he’ll be in prison for the rest of his life,” I added.
There was too much evidence, too many witnesses for my father to get away with his crimes. We’d built an ironclad case against him, and his ability to do harm was finally at an end.
“Too bad he took the company down with him,” Tori sighed. “How is Danica Rose coming along? Have you signed any new clients?”
“Business is a little slow,” I admitted. “But the scandal will pass eventually, get replaced with some other news.”
Tori nodded. “I think it speaks volumes that the KZM models have all stood by you and signed new contracts with Danica Rose. The press releases have to be helping, too. Everything I’ve read says that they trust you, they’re excited for the future with DR, and they’re grateful for what you did. The public will come around soon enough.”
