Chapter 41
SIMEON
Ileave Alice to sleep. She is exhausted with emotion and, if anything, our visit has been an awakening. She may have lost something today, but I will never let her mourn it too hard. I will replace pain with happiness if it takes me my whole goddamned miserable life.
Jack sits across from me, two glasses of bourbon catching the sun’s rays from the sky we are cutting through like a steel blade.
“Jason Greyson.”
His tone is soft, conversational even.
“He is a good man. Works on the ranch and raises cattle, and his sons assist him. The eldest, Will, works there full time, Gus is at university studying business, and Scott has just finished high school.”
“A normal family. I wonder what it’s like?”
Jack nods. “Sarah became Annie and moved to Idaho, taking work in a roadside diner that provided accommodation. She met Jason, and they set up home together.”
I’m sad for Alice, but I can see the appeal because a woman like Sarah Goldsworthy was much like her daughter. Raised in luxury, and wanted for nothing, materially speaking, and yet never received the love every child should have as a standard.
I suppose I am one of the lucky ones despite my birthright because our mom loved us with a fierce passion that has never diminished. She taught us love gives strength, and I never fully understood that until now.
“Edward Goldsworthy.”
Jack’s tone prepares me for the full dossier on the creep’s life, and I raise my glass to my lips.
“He was set up by Vittorio Sorcusi as soon as he became a big player in the world of finance.”
I’ve heard this story many times before; hell, we’ve even scripted a few ourselves, so I know how the plot turns out.
“His proclivity is young girls, underage girls, and Vittorio exploited it.”
I shiver with revulsion, vowing Alice will never discover that side of him.
“Vittorio used it to his advantage and collected the evidence, using it to pile on the pressure to bring Edward under his control. What better person to launder money than the owner of a banking empire. Edward was backed into a dark corner and took his aggression out on his wife. His aggression also turned to his daughter, which convinced his wife to act. She made certain to leave and never backed down under the pressure, and carved a new life out for her and Sarah which didn’t include Edward.
It was only when he told her Sarah was in danger married to Enrico that she had the intelligence to remove her inheritance to save her.
She hoped without it Enrico would divorce her daughter, as she was of no further use to him.
It never occurred to her that a small baby with a billion-dollar inheritance would be used.
I’m guessing she hoped her daughter was as strong a woman as she was and would have fought for her child. ”
“Then she received a visit from the Sorcusi mafia and suffered a stroke. I can only guess what caused that.”
Jack nods. “I’m guessing they saw a chance to gain a hold over her because Savannah Goldsworthy was also a wealthy woman in her own right. They probably used her daughter and granddaughter as bait, holding their fate over her head, convinced she would sign everything over to them.”
“Nature has a habit of dishing out retribution, and I’m guessing she had an easier way out than most.”
Jack nods. “So, Alice’s inheritance was secure and under Enrico’s control until she was twenty-five. It was enough to use as collateral against the many loans he took out to keep his business going.”
I drain the glass. “So, the debts against the company and the line of creditors means there is no inheritance from his side. The only money the girls have are the trust funds set up by their powerful families.”
“Correct. The Sorcusi mafia will receive nothing when the girls come of age and fulfill the terms of Enrico’s will. I’m guessing Morgan teamed up with Rafael Dimitri to rectify that.”
“So, it was never about the trust funds; she had no claim to them.”
I’m thinking hard as I ponder the problem that goes by the name of Morgan Sorcusi.
“When the trust funds revert to the girls, the collateral vanishes and the bank will foreclose on the loans.”
Jack, as always, has it all figured out and appears to be enjoying himself.
“But the Sorcusi mafia has money of its own. Morgan would just slink off into the shadows and plan the downfall of her next victim.”
“Of course, it goes without saying, but why waste the opportunity of finishing the job?”
He leans forward and lowers his voice.
“I believe she murdered Enrico when she had no further use for him and made him sign the will under duress, leaving it all to her. When she learned of the full nature of his finances and realized nothing was left, she turned to the next three assets she had control of.”
My anger is building as he paints a devastating picture, and I have no reason to doubt his assumption.
“She intended to sell the girls to Raphael and walk away with the proceeds.”
Jack nods. “When they ran away to the convent, they were safe from her. She tracked them down and then let slip the conditions of Enrico’s will into the underworld, guaranteeing that every criminal worth his title would be waiting for the convent door to open.
Liam Dettori was one step ahead and placed Ludo on the inside.
As you know, he almost succeeded, but there is still one problem left. ”
“Tiffany.”
I lean back in my seat, my mind racing because Tiffany is the final piece of the puzzle and, as it happens, the most important one. Her marriage is the key that unlocks billions, and where the older two girls were expendable to a point, she is not.
“So, you conclude Raphael intended to sell Rose and Alice to his usual buyers and split the proceeds with Morgan. Tiffany would be a different proposition, though.”
Jack nods, a thoughtful gleam in his eye.
“Yes. She is the golden goose if you like because the last will and testament of Enrico only stands if she is married and pregnant by the time she turns twenty-five. However, Tiffany Zaferelli’s inheritance supersedes both of her sisters because her grandfather is Walter Van der Hudson, the oil billionaire. ”
“Therefore, the other two sisters are not really required for the inheritance to fall on Tiffany.”
“No. They only get theirs if Tiffany fulfills the conditions of the will.”
“But how did the three girl’s inheritances combine? I thought they were all tied up separately by their families.”
“When Enrico took charge of their trust funds, he added a codicil of his own. It was done to protect the three sisters, and it’s not the only thing he did.”
“What?”
I lean forward, sensing Jack’s starring moment, and he grins.
“The sisters were given three keys. Nobody knows what they unlock, and I’m guessing this is Enrico’s final card.”
“The keys we left for Joseph to retrieve when he collects Tiffany.”
Jack nods. “It will be interesting to discover what they unlock.”
“Do you think Morgan knows of their existence?”
“I doubt it. I’m guessing her intention was to sell the two girls to make a few fast millions and throw Tiffany to the wolves just for the hell of it. However–”
He takes a deep breath and drains the final remnants of bourbon in his glass and sighs heavily.
“I heard word she is refusing to leave the convent at all, which makes Joesph’s task a difficult one. Short of breaking the door down and abducting her, he is kicking his heels, waiting for the bird to fly the nest.”
“Which may never happen, and the keys remain in the Order of the Holy Mother of God.”
He nods, and I tap my fingers on the table to aid my thoughts as my mind races. Jospeh has a hard task ahead of him because it’s possible that Tiffany will spend her twenty-fifth birthday locked in the convent and nobody gets anything.
We still have two years by my reckoning, but they have been there a lot longer than that.
If Tiffany takes the vow before God, it’s game over, no matter what Joseph does to mess with that.
She must marry and be with child, and that is an impossible task for any man who has had the convent door slapped firmly against his face.