Maria leaned forwards, her eyes growing bright with excitement as she pulled a manila file out of her sizeable handbag and slid it across his desk. He opened it and scanned it quickly, surprised at what he saw. It was a file containing information about his father’s businesses, their income, expected growth, and more. If he didn’t know better, he’d have said that she’d hired a forensic accountant to look over everything.
“These are my father’s business accounts,” he said, looking confused. “Why do you have these?Howdo you have these?”
“How and why isn’t important,nipote,” she said, tapping the folder with a finger. “What’s important is that I’m entitled to half of it.”
Antonio stared at his aunt in shock, wondering what on earth she could mean by that, but was interrupted by a knock on his door. It was Douglas, who waved him outside with an anxious gaze, offering Maria the smallest smile Antonio had ever seen.
“Apologies,Zia. I’ll be back in a moment,” he apologised, before getting up and heading outside. WilliamAnderson stood outside, his face surprisingly neutral. For a moment, he looked at him, and then drew him away from his office.
“What does she want?” he asked, his voice hushed. “What does she think she’s entitled to halfof, exactly?”
“She wants me to help her get half of my father’s businesses,” Antonio murmured, refusing to look back into his office. “Quitewhyshe thinks she’s entitled to half of it, I don’t know, but that’s apparently what she wants..”
William’s face went pale, and he swallowed hard, throwing a quick glance at Antonio’s office, where Maria was looking interestedly around the room. From the back you’d be forgiven for thinking she looked somewhat normal, although the dated fashion gave it away a little.
“I’m calling your father,” he said, reaching for his phone. “I’ll deal with your aunt, you just … let me call your dad.”
“I can’t just walk out of the office and leave her alone!” Antonio snorted. “She’s not stupid, sir, she’ll soon work out something’s not right.”
“I’ll tell her then. Just play along,” William hissed, before smoothing his tie and walking into Antonio’s office with an imperiousness that Antonio was ninety per cent sure he didn’t feel.
“Oh!” Maria said, getting up from her seat and extending a bejewelled hand, which William took and shook. “Is something wrong? I’m sorry if I’ve landed my nephew in trouble – I telephoned this morning and he very graciously squeezed me in. I’m his aunt, you see, so I didn’t think you’d mind if I just popped in for some advice.”
“Not at all, Mrs …?” William said smoothly. His voice sounded oily, almost like a shady car salesman, and Antonio half expected him to start rubbing his hands with glee.
“Blackwood,” she replied.
“Mrs Blackwood, a pleasure to meet you. Unfortunately, your nephew needs to deal with another client who is due in court this afternoon,” was the response, which wasn’t entirely a lie. Antonio breathed a silent sigh of relief, eternally grateful for the court’s haphazard scheduling system.
“Well, I shall wait here for him to come back,” his aunt replied imperiously, but William shook his head regretfully and gently gestured for her to get up. Antonio looked at the floor, trying to appear as regretful as possible, but inside he was jumping for joy.
“That won’t be possible, I’m afraid,” William explained, gently ushering her towards the door. “These hearings, you see, they tend to go over their allotted time, and there’s always the chance that someone will need a recess or a continuance ? Janice here would be happy to make you an appointment to see Antonio at another time?”
“Yes,Zia, why not make an appointment for another day?” Antonio interjected, reaching for his desk calendar. “I have the entire afternoon free on Friday – we could go out for dinner afterwards?”
“No, no, that won’t be necessary. I see where you stand, Antonio – family comes below your career, just like your father. A pity, really, but what can you do?” Maria said caustically, before snatching up her handbag and stalking out of the office towards the elevator. Antonio scuttled after her, trying desperately to appear contrite, and breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed. The faint smell of her perfume was still lingering in the air, but it quickly faded as Janice sprayed some lemon air freshener around the room.
“Thank you, sir,” he said to his boss, who waved him away and pulled out his phone again. It rang twice, and then he heard his father’s voice on the other end.
“Mr Blackwood, it’s William Anderson here. Your sister has just left our offices,” he said, his voice more serious than Antonio had ever heard it before. “She tried to … engage our services. How do you want to proceed?”
Antonio couldn’t hear a word of his father’s reply, but he knew from his boss’s face that it was serious. William nodded a few times, murmured his assent, and then ended the call, his face tight with concern.
“Go home, Antonio,” he finally said, his voice uncharacteristically tense. “As soon as Douglas confirms that Maria isn’t lurking around the building or surrounding areas, you need to go home. Your father wants to have a family meeting.”
“What’s going on?” Antonio was very confused, and his eyes darted around the room as if expecting Maria to pop out from behind a plant. He knew his aunt’s request was a little odd, but surely it didn’t warrant his immediate absence. “What about the client this afternoon?”
“Don’t worry about the client. Someone else can handle that,” was all his boss said, before shaking Antonio’s hand and giving him a sympathetic smile. “Listen to me, Antonio. The wolves haven’t just kicked the door down, they’re after a seat by the fire.”
11
The house was eerily quiet when Antonio walked in, the atmosphere unmistakeably tense, almost like someone had died. Every step felt like treacle, every breath took a little more out of him, and he wondered if the drama was ever going to end.
“We’re in here,” his father called from the dining room, and he made his way through the house to join them. Everybody was there – Damon, Matthew, Alyssia … even Michael Richardson. Whatever was going on, it was clearly a lot bigger and a lot more intense than he’d ever imagined. He closed the door softly behind him, before turning to face everyone.
“What’s happened?” he asked, his voice terse.
“Sit down first,” his father replied, raising a hand and gesturing for him to sit down, which he did. David sighed heavily, looking as if he’d aged ten years in the last few hours, and looked down at the table before speaking.
