Chapter 33
“Call me if you need me,” Marcus said against her lips as they stood in front of the elevator bank. “I’m not far, and I’ll leave my car at the club and catch a ride here after we shut down, if you’re sure you don’t mind the company tonight. I don’t want to wake you.”
She kissed him back hard. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I’m way too wired now. Call me as soon as you leave the club. I’ll make sure Gerald lets you in.”
“Sounds good, baby. Now, I gotta go before old Morty makes me leave.”
“He would never,” she whispered against his lips. “But go before I start begging for you to stay.”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Call me if you need me.”
“Deal.” She stepped back, and it was the most difficult step of her life.
Marcus Quinterro was like a rare earth magnet, and she was happy to stay glued to his side.
But she knew he needed to work. And she needed to check her voicemail, which she was not looking forward to, but it was the last step before her total freedom.
After her trust was officially under her control, she never had to speak to her mom ever again, if she chose.
“See you soon,” he said as he backed across the lobby. “Real fucking soon.”
“Promise?”
“As fast as I can be outta there.”
She smiled and pressed the call button behind her. “I like the sound of that.”
The elevator opened with a ding, and Flynn forced herself to step back toward it.
“Soon,” he said.
“Soon,” she repeated.
She watched him turn to walk through the open glass door as she stepped into the elevator. Thankfully, there was no one inside.
As it closed, she caught the sound of his Porsche revving and grinned. He was perfect for her.
She rode the elevator up to her floor on cloud nine. She didn’t know if her feet ever hit the ground as she made her way to her apartment. Once inside, she leaned back against the door and sighed.
The last time she’d been in this space, she hadn’t known what it was like to fall in love with Marcus Quinterro.
“How is this even real?” she whispered to the quiet room.
Even though her apartment was more luxurious, she longed for his little house.
She loved it. This place had never felt as homey as that little white house with avocado-green appliances in the middle of a scrapyard.
Being there was living a whole different life.
A life she was falling in love with just as quickly.
She’d give this up in a heartbeat if it meant she could have that.
And maybe … just maybe … she could.
Everything was happening so fast anyway. Maybe he would ask her to move in sooner rather than later.
Her hand pressed over her belly, and since she’d been abstinent for several years, she hadn’t paid attention to anything to do with her cycle.
She had no idea if she could even be pregnant right now.
With anyone else, the thought would terrify her.
But with the memory of Marcus’s dark brown gaze locked on her, it felt right.
She wanted to luxuriate in this amazing feeling forever. She never wanted to let her mother intrude on this happiness she’d found.
So, why should I? Flynn realized she had a choice. She didn’t have to listen to the voicemail. She could just call the lawyer and financial adviser herself. I don’t even have to hear my mother’s voice.
The realization was freedom. She could just … ignore her.
Flynn laughed and reached for her phone.
It was 4:57 on Wednesday afternoon. Even if the law firm people were already gone for the day, Flynn figured it was worth a call.
She tapped her screen and found the attorney’s number in her Contacts.
Rudy Norman. He’d taken on the trust when her grandfather’s lifelong counsel retired.
She’d only spoken to him a couple of times before she realized it was just easier to not deal with her mother and temporarily ignore the trust fund.
Hence, the street racing had gone from a hobby to a career.
She tapped his contact and waited for it to ring. After about six times, it went to voicemail.
“Hi, Rudy. This is Flynn Elliott. My twenty-fifth birthday was yesterday, and I believe that means, according to the terms of my trust, I am now in control. I don’t know what legal documents may or may not need to be signed, if any, but you can reach me at this number.
” She spelled her name and left her number slowly.
“Thank you for getting back to me as soon as you are able.”
She hung up and stared at her phone. Well, that was anticlimactic. She paused as reality swept over her. But yesterday wasn’t.
Her whole life was different now, and it had nothing to do with getting control of the money in her trust.
How sad would her birthday have been if money was all she had to look forward to?
Instead … Marcus had given her a whole new world of possibilities, and she loved every bit of it.
She dropped onto the sofa and leaned back. Life. Is. Grand.
Her phone vibrated a few minutes later.
She grabbed it off the sofa and was shocked to see it was the lawyer. That was quick.
“Hello? This is Flynn.”
“Ms. Elliott, this is Rudy Norman.”
“Thank you for calling me back so quickly.”
“Of course. But I think there’s been some kind of mix-up. You terminated your trust last year. It doesn’t exist anymore. Don’t you remember? We handled it all via email. I have records of all the correspondence.”
Flynn’s mouth went dry. “Excuse me? When? What are you talking about?”
He paused. “You don’t remember?”
“No, because it didn’t happen. I haven’t been in touch with you in years.”
“I beg to differ, Ms. Elliott. You were very insistent that I help your mother terminate your trust last fall. You said you no longer needed it and were waiving all legal claims as a beneficiary so she could have the money for her health issues. How is she doing, by the way?”
“What? What health issues? My mother was part of this? What in the world are you talking about?”
Rudy was quiet for a long moment. “You don’t remember.”
“No, because it didn’t happen, Rudy. What is the email address? Who were you corresponding with?”
“Wait a minute. She said you were studying abroad and the time difference made calling too hard for you, so you wanted to handle it all by email.”
“My mother said this?”
“Yes, she was in the hospital. She needed emergency treatment. A transplant. Insurance wouldn’t cover it. It was life or death. How could you forget?”
All the blood seemed to drain from Flynn’s body as she stared at the phone.
“So, it’s all gone. The trust? The money?”
“Yes, as you requested. All the funds were transferred to your mother for her medical expenses. You said there was nothing you wouldn’t do to save her.”
Flynn felt wooden. The words he spoke were so laughable. She couldn’t help it. She started laughing.
“Wow … she really got you … damn. That must have been quite the performance.”
“Wait, you’re saying … your mother wasn’t ill?”
Flynn could tell the moment it clicked for Rudy.
“Not that I know of … and trust me, if she were on death’s doorstep, I would know. She wouldn’t leave me alone.” Flynn knew her mom would never pass up an opportunity like that to drown her in guilt.
“That—that’s not possible. She couldn’t have … it’s illegal. That’s fraud. She’d go to prison.”
Flynn took a deep breath. “Yeah, I don’t know that she’s worried about that. In fact … I’d be surprised if she’s still in the country. Twenty million, or whatever was in there, was probably enough to set her up with a whole new life in a country without extradition.”
“I believe the final balance was thirty-four million dollars, Ms. Elliott.”
Flynn couldn’t stop laughing. Wow. “Cool. You got insurance for that?”
“I … I need to call the loss prevention partner. I have to go, Ms. Elliott. The firm will be in touch. Very soon.”
He hung up, and Flynn let the phone fall from her fingertips onto the floor.
All she could do was laugh. It echoed through her apartment. Part of her was amazed at the audacity and creativity. Plus, it was either that or cry. And Flynn didn’t feel like having puffy red eyes when Marcus came back.
You got me, Antoinette. You really got me this time. Cheers.