“How does he know this?”
My turn to talk. Thecabróndoesn’t get to pretend I’m not sitting right here.
“My family is extremely wealthy. We own an international conglomerate with holdings in multiple industries. I have my personally owned businesses that make me independently wealthy. We have connections to people in government and the highest echelons of the business world. Many of them have dubious connections.”
He stares at me. Let him read between the lines. I can tell he’s about to accuse me of being in a mafia—ahem, no, thank you very much. I doubt he knows how to distinguish the various syndicates. I’m proudly cartel—the Cartel—not some shitty little mob or mafia.
Never let the Mancinellis see their name associated with mafia with a lowercase m. They’ll be quick to correct you. The only “legit” Mafia is from Sicily—Cosa Nostra—but they acknowledge other branches from mainland Italy and “allow” them to share the title. Pompous fucks.
The fucking mob and bratva—they’re lucky they’re smart enough to spell their own syndicates. Fucking morons across the board.
Liesel gives him a hard stare that makes him back down rather than challenge me. I can tell he’s chomping at the bit to grill me or put me in my place. He’ll wait until he can get me alone. Fortunately for him, this suite is well lit. Make it a back alley, and it’ll be doctor heal thyself.
“My brother is gathering as much information as he can and sending it to me to analyze. I’m a certified forensic accountant. It’s my job to examine financial statements and extrapolate what’s going on from the numbers on the screen. If there’s a money trail, my brother will find it, and I’ll follow it back to where it started.”
“Why?”
I cock an eyebrow at his sneering question. I watch Liesel squirm before I sweep my gaze across everyone seated together.
“Why wouldn’t I? No one here asked to be thrust into this crisis. None of you are equipped to handle something like this.”
“And you are? I doubt being rich and knowing other rich people is why youthinkyou can handle this.”
“Without being gauche discussing money, you need to understand who I am. By the time I was twenty-four, I had more money than you will make in a lifetime. More than all of you combined will make in a lifetime. I’m an astute day trader, and I invest my money wisely but aggressively. I study all potential ventures with a microscope. It means my businesses and investments do extremely well. My uncle is CEO of my family’s company. He’s led the organization for more than thirty years. My wisdom comes from watching him. He’s amassed wealth even greater than mine. When you have what my family does, people get fidgety. They want what you have, and they don’t always want to gain it legitimately. We’ve lost family members to rivals. We’ve had family members kidnapped by rivals. We take all threats seriously. We take protection details seriously. We don’t tolerate anyone coming after people who are important to us.”
“And why is Gunter—or is it my girlfriend—important to you?”
“Both. Investing with them could make my family’s business close to a billion dollars in the next year. Gunter can’t make that deal happen if he isn’t around. I wouldn’t expect Anne to focus on that while her father’s missing. I need them both back to business.”
“This is all about money for you?”
“It’s motivating. I’ve witnessed people murdered and had to help rescue others. I wouldn’t wish that on most people. Icertainly wouldn’t wish it on Anne, her mother, or her sister. Mrs. Schlossberg and the Ms. Schlossbergs deserve to have their family complete rather than grief. If I can help them, why wouldn’t I? It’s the right thing to do for them.”
Let the little pissant question that. He’ll come across as an ungratefulcarechimbaif he keeps pushing the issue. Without fail, he does just that.
“You’ve watched someone murdered.” Bastian practically scoffs at me.
“I was eight when someone blew a hole through my father’s head while he protected my two older brothers and me.”
That shuts the fucker up. Finally.
Friedrich intervenes at the right moment. I’m certain he wanted to know the same things. He’s just far more diplomatic.
“If Heidi and her family need six million euros, how will they get that? Will you lend it to them?”
“I’m hoping it won’t get to that point. We made it look like Anne transferred a million euros to them as a deposit, claiming the Schlossbergs will pay the rest after an updated proof of life. It’ll buy my brother and me time to see who goes into the account. It’ll take leapfrogging to get back to someone local. It may take even longer if they’re only in town for this. We need to hold them off for a while without angering them so much that they lash out.”
Friedrich looks down at Heidi before meeting my gaze. “I can get that six million. It’ll take a few hours, but I can do it.”
I stare at him suspiciously. He matches my gaze, and there’s more for us to discuss. But it’ll definitely be a private conversation. He’s got ties to someone or something. Glancing at Heidi tells me she doesn’t know what it is.
“I can too. But I’d like to keep the least amount of money transferring hands as possible. Sums that large will raise redflags if it isn’t a merger or acquisition or inheritance. I want this to remain a private family matter.”
“Why is that?” Bastian just can’t shut the fuck up.
“Because I’d like to keep Gunter alive.”
Chapter Fifteen
