Chapter Sixty-Four
Charles surveyed the room in front of him, now redecorated and looking nothing like the house he'd lived in once upon a time. Kelley had changed everything in the house, except the study upstairs. He'd wanted it to remain the same, to keep him in check and keep his vengeance alive.
“You want to talk in here?”
“You want to talk about Petey’s allegation I assume.”
“Allegation? We had a deal, Kelley.”
“Your deal was for my silence, not my retribution. I was very careful with my words and I said I’d stay quiet, I never said I wouldn’t get even.”
“He’s paralyzed from the waist down. He’ll never walk again.”
Kelley smiled and leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m so pleased to hear that.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“The new King of Yorkdare Bay, don’t forget it. I was in St. John’s City when Petey had his accident and him pointing fingers at me will lead to people thinking that he has a vendetta against me. Perhaps you should talk to him about that. Connor will see you out, Charles.”
Kelley stood up, buttoned his suit jacket and walked out of the sitting room leaving a flabbergasted Charles to stare at him with his mouth half open. Kelley smiled as he took the stairs to his study located on the third floor and he stood at the windows watching Charles walk to his car, shaking his head and driving away from his house.
An hour later the door to his study opened and Lee and Mason strode inside. Lee closed the door quietly behind them and they sat down on the plush sofas adorning one corner of Kelley’s study. Kelley looked up at them and joined them by the sofas.
“I take it you have news.”
Lee nodded his head grimly.” I do.”
“Was Charles here?” Mason crossed his ankle over his knee and leaned back against the sofa.
“Just like you said, Mase. He was speechless for once but I don’t expect any retribution for Petey and if he does, I’ll handle him.”
“How are things progressing with JenCorp?”
“I’m remaining in the shadows for now, JenCorp’s shares are rising but I expect it to skyrocket when they release their new smartwatch.”
Mason looked pleased. “That’s good.”
They had all invested in JenCorp as a single unit and they’d sell those shares at the peak and then JenCorp would be ruined a few weeks later. They had built up an investment profile, buying shares, keeping them steady and then selling when the shares were at their highest. It would leave a paper trail of how they invested and nobody could point any fingers or yell prior knowledge about JenCorp when it folded.
“The addendum to your grandparents’ will was buried under a shitload of paperwork. I’ve filed probably twenty motions to have it sent over and even then we received thirty boxes to work through. Someone really didn’t want you to ever see it.”
“Did you find it?”
Lee looked offended and snorted. “Of course I did.”
Kelley gave Lee a look as Mason started chuckling. “What does it say, asshole?”
Lee laughed and then leaned back in his seat. “The twenty percent shares are a ploy basically. They’ll be given to you in the event of your marriage to a Romano daughter before your twenty-fifth birthday.”
“Are you kidding me?” Kelley looked at a laughing Mason. “Is he kidding me?”
“In the event of you failing to marry a Romano daughter, the shares will go to Charles.”
Kelley stood up then and turned his back on them, his fists clenched by his sides. It had to be a joke. He was turning twenty-five in four months. He had four months to find and marry a Romano daughter. What the hell did that even mean?
“Congratulations, Kelley.”
Kelley turned his glare on Mason who seemed unfazed by it. Kelley sighed and sat down again, raking a hand through his hair. It was an insane idea but he couldn’t let Charles get his hands on those twenty percent shares. It was his, had always been his.
Charles would force him out of the hotels and he wasn’t going to allow that. “Fine. Where do we find this Romano daughter?”
Lee pulled a folder from his briefcase and slid it over the glass coffee table. Kelley picked it up and flipped through the pages. He had to hand it to Lee, he was always thorough. Kelley looked at the picture of a young woman smiling into the camera.
She was twenty with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wasn’t ugly but she also wasn’t the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. She was young too, too young to get married. She had no allergies, liked shopping, and lunching with her girlfriends and was currently busy working with various charities. A spoiled little rich girl, Kelley decided. The next page was almost exactly the same, except that the girl smiling in the picture was better looking but more plastic.
“She’s twenty, Lee.”
“She’s legal and she’s yours for the taking.”
Kelley narrowed his eyes as he looked at Mason who’d spoken. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Lee also found an old contract, signed by your grandfather and her father, it’s an arranged marriage contract. They receive twenty million dollars from a trust account in the event that you marry their daughter.”
“This is great. It’s so great it’s unbelievable!”
“Angry sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Kelley.”
Kelley felt the frustration rising and he scrunched up the folder that Lee had given him. “I know.”
“You wanted to know the details, now you do. Nobody’s saying marry her but if you want to one up Charles then you know what to do.”
“You’ve already talked to this Ernesto Romano haven’t you?”
Lee smiled secretively. “Of course I have. Do I ever give you anything except exactly what you’ve asked me?”
“When do I meet with him?” Kelley’s voice was resigned now, softer than it had been, almost like he’d been defeated. Mason laughed loudly and Kelley wished he could just pummel him.
“Tomorrow night at eight. Razz on Fifth.”
