Chapter Eighteen
Jonah
Carlotta called me hysterical because someone had sold the jet.
She was confused because she would never sell the family’s jet.
Raphael had purchased that jet for their anniversary a few years ago.
He knew how much she loved flying down to Boca Raton with her friends, and he figured the jet would make her life more convenient.
That shit showed me that was the exact way I wanted to treat my woman. It was exactly how I wanted to treat Yalina. I wanted to make her life easier, make her softer, and get her to see that her man would handle shit for her.
She knew I was a nigga that took care of business, and she witnessed it with her best friend. I had been here since Karim passed, and I wasn’t going anywhere. I was going to handle any problem Tatiana had because I hated seeing her stressed.
That was what I wanted to do for Yalina, while giving her dick in the process. I wanted her to look into my eyes and know that the promises I made to her would never be broken. All she would have to do is make a call, and I would make sure it was handled.
Feeling her body on me while she slept felt like I had hit the lottery. My baby was able to rest without worrying about shit. As pissed as I was that my room had been overbooked, it was meant for me to be in her room that night.
I was supposed to witness her unravel, because she was a woman who didn’t come undone.
She couldn’t become undone because she had too many people depending on her.
Aside from her role as Tatiana’s assistant, she took on many responsibilities, making sure to provide for her family.
Although she was only a few months older than Bloom, she took on the role of the older sister–– always trying to direct her to the correct path.
Bloom was free-spirited and did whatever she wanted, while her sister was the opposite.
Not to mention the fact that she was holding Sav’s ass down while she was locked up.
There wasn’t anyone to see her unravel at the seams when she was alone.
She did that shit on her own, and I was meant to see that.
It told me that I needed to apply pressure and show her that I wanted to love her.
Shit, I wanted to let my own walls down and be real and open with her, too.
“Jonah, the man I have needed to see. You and Tatiana are hard to get in contact with. Shit.”
Joseph Cozzy was the Sterling family’s lawyer, and we had become close since I handled most of the things. Usually, we would shoot the breeze and make small talk before handling business. This time, I couldn’t sit and have those conversations because I was confused.
“I would normally ask about the kids and shit, but right now, I don’t care. Why the fuck was the jet sold?”
Joseph stared at me like I was the one tripping. “Carlotta wanted to sell it. She said the memories made her feel sad, and she just wanted to get rid of it.” He pushed his chair out from the desk and then went over to a file cabinet, licking his finger as he flicked through files.
“Why in the fuck would she do some shit like that? Raphael got that for her. She cherishes that jet.”
He continued to look until he pulled a paper and then rolled back behind his desk. “Right there…she signed the paper to transfer the sale into Malcolm’s name.”
I snatched the paper so fast that Joseph jumped back.
“What the fuck do you mean, transferred the sale into that bitch’s name?”
“Her signature is right there…even got it notarized. Jonah...” His voice was low as he looked at me.
“Why the fuck are we whispering when I’m ready to set this bitch on fire?”
He looked out the glass, where the other associates and paralegals were staring at us. Joseph quickly hit the button to frost the glass windows.
“Sit down. I have been trying to call Tatiana for weeks now, and she won’t return my calls.”
“That’s because every time you call, she gotta sign some shit that reminds her that both her husband and father-in-law are dead.”
He leaned forward, his voice still low. “Malcolm Rich invested all of his money into some Ponzi scheme and lost it all. He’s broke and has been for a while.
He managed to keep up appearances by slowly selling off his belongings.
Before Raphael died, I went to visit him.
He told me about all the large amounts of money he found out that Karim was giving Malcolm behind his back. ”
“Why the fuck would he do that?”
This shit had me about to pull my damn beard out and scream because I was so confused.
“Raphael told Karim to cut him off, because whatever deal they had had been fulfilled, and that was when Karim died a few weeks later. He suspected Malcolm of his death.”
My heart slammed against my chest listening to what he was saying to me. “No.”
He returned to the filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. “I have been moving some assets into Tatiana’s name, because I hate what I’m about to tell you.”
“The fuck you talking about?”
“Raphael had a son before Karim was born. He’s older than Karim.
Raph had him when he was younger. Karim was born before Carlotta and Raphael got married.
When you have enough money like Raph did, you can hide and cover things up.
His older son is older than him. In Raphael’s will, the Sterling fortune goes to his next heir or if his heir has children, which would have been Nazira. ”
I jumped to my feet and paced his office, unsure if I wanted to hear what would come out his mouth next. Everything he had said had blown my mind. The fact that Malcolm had tricked Carlotta into selling her jet.
“How the fuck was Malcolm able to do some shit like that without Tatiana? Her signature is needed on any sale.”
“Raph bought that jet and put it in Carlotta’s name. Carlotta has always been the sole owner of that jet,” he explained, making me want to lose my shit even more than before.
She trusted his slime ball ass, and he betrayed her for greed. He fucked over his money, so he felt like he was entitled to the Sterling money because his daughter was married into the family.
Carlotta looked at Malcolm like family, and he betrayed her like that. That was the shit that was so fucked up about the entire situation.
I sat back down in the chair, holding the arms while looking at Joseph.
“What the fuck are you trying to tell me? Stop feeding me bits and pieces. Tell me what the fuck is up?”
He hung his head like he didn’t want to be the one to break the news, but he had to because he was legally obligated.
Raphael treated every person he came in contact with like family.
You were family until you proved him wrong.
Loyalty was important to him, and even the staff he surrounded himself with knew it.
This was breaking Joseph more than I knew, because he was about to say some shit that would change our lives.
Messing with his hands, he looked up at me. “Carlotta and Tatiana have to vacate their homes. I’ve been holding him off, but I cannot hold him off any longer. He wants everything. All of the Sterling fortune goes to Raphael’s older son…Malcolm Aman Sterling–Rich.”
To be continued . . .