Chapter 13
“Mr. Manwarring, this is Augustus from?—”
“Is it done?” I barked into the phone.
I needed to know how much longer I had to wait.
She was fast becoming an obsession. I was impatient to get my hands on her again, and maybe a few other body parts.
“Yes, sir,” the man on the other end said, no doubt picking up on my limited patience. “She left ten minutes ago. Her room has been cleared, and the transfer came through just a moment ago. Her bill is paid in full.”
“Good.” I slammed the phone back into its cradle and turned my attention back to the spreadsheets in front of me.
Something was wrong.
Deiderich was wealthy.
Everyone knew that, but looking at his wealth, all clearly labeled in ordered cells showing money flowing in and out, he had more money than he should. Even with his little princess living full-time at one of the most expensive hotels in the world with round-the-clock medical care, spending nearly six figures a month, there was more money coming in than going out.
That wouldn’t be unusual, except for his untimely death.
His assets should have been frozen. The lawyers and accountants were still dividing everything up.
Only a portion of the estate should have been available to his daughter, with his businesses bringing in less after his death, not more. The stocks in his own company should have plummeted after his death, especially with no heir apparent. Even if just temporarily, it would have been normal for there to be some flux.
There was nothing, no signs of anything slowing down or taking any kind of dive. His assets were as strong as ever, even growing, which was not possible.
Something very… unethical had to be fueling this.
Maybe Deiderich was more of a man than I thought.
I sat back in my chair and stared at the numbers, trying to figure out what the fuck Deiderich had gotten himself into.
Was he part of some shady underground dealings? Maybe running with the morally depraved rich and their sick little islands? Deiderich certainly had the money and influence, but he didn’t seem like the type.
He didn’t seem skeevy enough for underage girls and blow.
Maybe he ran his own outfit, using his legitimate businesses to traffic weapons or drugs.
That didn’t fit either.
I couldn’t see him interacting with the lower classes to sell such merchandise, but it was still a possibility. It wasn’t like true drug kingpins dealt with the sellers and buyers of illicit goods.
God knows I never did.
But that still didn’t feel right.
He was too white-collar for something like that, but that didn’t make sense either. Most white-collar crimes that would bring in that kind of money would end with his death. He wouldn’t still be making that kind of money with insider trading, corporate espionage, or stock manipulation.
He was dirty.
Looking at these numbers, there was no other explanation.
I just couldn’t figure out how.
Luc would have been able to figure it out, but if it was something below board, I didn’t want him to know.
Not until I figured out if it was something I could do instead.
Luc had already severed our ties with the Irish mob like it was nothing. His ties with the fucking Astrid DA were an extreme inconvenience.
It was such a shame, as Harrison could have been used to our benefit. Instead he seemed to be using Luc to his.
If I could take Deiderich’s place in whatever shady business he had going on, I needed to do it without Luc’s knowledge or involvement.
I raised my children to be strong. It had gone well until they bit the hand that fed them. I would not make that mistake again.
My exploration of the spreadsheets stopped when the doors of my office banged open with another unwanted interruption from a spoiled intruder.
She was not going to get off as easily as my daughters had.
Stella stood in my office in front of my desk with her fists on her hips.
She was dressed in another skirt that hit her mid-thigh, but now those sexy legs were covered in thick black stockings.
I wondered if that was to cover the marks I had left on her ass and thighs. My mouth watered just thinking about how wet she got when I spanked her sweet little ass.
“How dare you!” she screamed at me, drawing my attention from her shapely legs back to her tear-stained face.
“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to be more specific.” I closed the laptop, not wanting her to see what I was looking at.
I wondered for a moment if Stella would have known what her father was into.
She might have the answers I was looking for.
I dismissed the thought just as quickly.
The last thing I needed was for her to figure out that I was digging into her family’s finances and the estate that would have been hers had I not interceded.
Thankfully, the loose papers that were spread out when Olivia and Charlotte were there had been neatly gathered and moved into a locked drawer.
“You know what you did.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to be defiant, but all she managed to do was to push her perky breasts up, giving me a particularly enjoyable view in her deep V-neck sweater.
I wasn’t sure if I approved of her wearing something so revealing for anyone’s eyes but mine.
Maybe next time I got her alone, I would have to mark up those pretty breasts along with her pretty little ass to make sure they were for my eyes only.
“I do a lot of things, though it seems like I am being far less productive as of late. The women in my life just don’t seem to want to let me work.”
“What gives you the right to cancel my accommodations? I’m homeless now because of you. I demand that you call the hotel back immediately and fix whatever it is that you broke.”
Her voice didn’t waver like it had at the courthouse. It didn’t shake. She didn’t look at her feet or above my head. She stood firm, her shoulders pushed back, her jaw clenched, and her eyes full of fire and hatred staring straight into mine.
Had she been a man approaching me like this, I might actually have been impressed with the direct and almost forceful way she spoke to me.
“Calm down,” I warned. “I did not leave you homeless. You will be staying here with me.”
“You had no right!” she screamed.
Just like that, all of the respect I almost had for her melted away.
“I have every right,” I yelled back, getting to my feet and placing my hands flat on my desk.
I gave her the same menacing expression, the same wordless warning that I’d given every other asshole who dared enter into my office and make demands.
And just like every other person who stood before me, she shrank.
Her shoulders, which had been pushed back defiantly, were now rounded in front of her. The hands that had been crossed in some type of power pose were now gripping her sides, trying to protect herself.
And her eyes that had boldly met mine were now firmly on the floor.
“I—” Her voice cracked.
“No. You come into my office, barge in here without so much as knocking, like you own my fucking house or are in the least bit entitled to my time, and then yell at me? I don’t think so. We are going to have a conversation right now that more clearly defines our roles so you better understand your place in the world, and what is and isn’t appropriate behavior.”
“I—” she tried speaking again, but I wasn’t having any of it.
“Sit down now.” I pointed to the chair in front of my desk and stared her down until she finally moved.
She sat in the chair, curling her arms around herself, trying to make her body as small as possible.
When she was seated, her eyes still on the floor, I took my seat.
“Apologize,” I demanded.
“What?” She looked up at me, fresh tears gathering in her eyes, making them shiny and bright.
“You barged into my office, interrupting my workday. You did not knock, and you did not make an appointment. The days of you acting like a spoiled little bitch are over. Apologize, and we will go over the new arrangement.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Have the marks from our first lesson faded so quickly? Though I probably should tell you, next time will not end so pleasantly for you.” I sat back in my chair to have a more civilized conversation. “As soon as you apologize, then we can go over the arrangements, and you can get your new cards.”
She stared at the floor for another few moments, watching as she kicked her legs under the chair, her chest moving up and down with deep breaths. She was trying to work up the nerve, going over and over it in her head and trying to figure out how she’d gotten into this situation.
She could sit there and think about it all she wanted. It wasn’t going to change a damn thing.
“I’m sorry.” Her words were whispered, barely audible even in my silent office.
“You’re going to need to speak louder.”
She huffed out another breath, then sat up in her chair and tried to make eye contact again. “I’m sorry that I came into your office without knocking or an appointment, sir.”
“Good girl. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Being intentionally condescending may have made me an asshole, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t fun.
Her cheeks turned a darker red, and her little hands rolled into tight fists. “No, sir,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Good, so let’s go over your new arrangements. I’ve spent the last several days going through your family’s estate and seeing what has been coming in and out. I’m afraid your father was not as financially savvy as he let his investors believe. Really, he’s barely a step above a Ponzi scheme at this point,” I lied.
“No, that can’t be?—”
“I’m afraid living in hotel suites is just not financially responsible given your current situation. Thankfully for you, I have generously agreed to let you stay here rent-free. This will give me some time to rearrange the estate and put you back into a positive cash flow. In the meantime, I do understand that you are used to a certain level of lifestyle, although I’m afraid that will have to be reduced greatly. I will be putting you on a monthly allowance of two hundred dollars.”
“You mean two hundred thousand?”
“No, I do not. I will also be selling your family’s estate. I’m afraid that’s the only way to pay off the debts that your family has left you.”
“That can’t be?—”
“But it is. It’s all here in black and white, if you want to look it over.” I opened my drawer and pulled out a file folder with her father’s name on it, handing her falsified documents showing exactly what I wanted her to see and nothing more.
“So, you’re saying I’m?—”
“I’m saying you’re extremely lucky that I have decided to take you in. I will be going over everything with my financial planners and seeing if I can turn this situation around at least enough to find you a proper husband.”
“I don’t believe you. My father would have never left me in financial straits. Not to mention my mother’s net worth was in the hundreds of millions, and my father never touched that money.”
“That you know of.”
“I do know this isn’t right. You can’t?—”
“No, the court says I can do whatever I deem appropriate. I am the trustee of your estate, such as it is. I am the one that controls everything you own, and I have decided the appropriate thing to do with you is to keep you here under my roof and give you a generous allowance of two hundred a month.”
“You won’t get away with this,” she said, getting to her feet.
“I already have,” I said, standing as well. “As your trustee, I decide what’s good for you. I decide what you deserve, and if you were smart, you would learn how to make the best of that.”
“Fuck you,” she spat at me.
“Your father really didn’t teach you any fucking manners, did he?” I moved around the desk, as she backed away from me.