“Her death enabled Enrico to hold on to his daughter and marry the next woman to complete his empire. Priscilla Van Der Hudson tossed many more millions onto the pile, courtesy of her oil billionaire father, Walter. Enrico now had the means to expand his empire exponentially, and he had all the cards in his hand to ensure the cash kept on rolling in.”
“I don’t understand.”
She is slumped against me and for once I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying a different kind of intimacy. She sure beats Jack to speak to, and I register how protective I am over her. It’s not just because of the money either. It’s her. She is so fragile inside despite her hard exterior, and I admire the way she never backs down. She fights for what she believes in, and that is what I like most about her.
“Think about it, Alice. If any one of his wives left with their daughters, Enrico would lose out on the inheritance. With the mothers out of the way, the money would automatically go to the child. As their father, he would control their trust funds until the child turned twenty-one, giving him a constant cash flow to invest in his business.”
“But Priscilla Van Der Hudson isn’t dead; she ran away.”
“Because she was smart.”
“And Morgan isn’t an heiress; she brought nothing to the table.”
She references her stepmother, and I tighten my grip on her shoulders as I hiss, “That woman brought something differentto their relationship. She brought her sharp and devious mind. That would have been more valuable to Enrico than the money he already had, and to answer your question, yes, Priscilla ran away, but she never once tried to see her daughter. It appears that she made a deal with the devil for her freedom, which is why the entire inheritance hinges on your younger sister.”
“I’m sorry, Simeon, but I’m getting a headache. This is too much if I’m honest, but why is Tiffany the hinge as you say?”
I smile to myself because Alice is already done with this conversation. Her weariness is evident as she believes I am talking shit.
“Because I’m guessing that was Morgan’s idea, knowing that it would be easier to take one sister out than all three.”
“Wait, what?”
She pulls away and stares at me in horror. “You mean Tiffany is in danger?”
“You areallin danger because if the terms of your father’s will are met, Morgan will lose control and her access to billions. If Tiffany doesn’t marry and bear a child, even if the rest of you do, the inheritance no longer stands and Morgan gets everything.”
“Oh my god, Simeon!”
Her tears tug on my heartstrings because I’m not callous enough not to be affected when an angel’s heart breaks. If anything, it touches me deep inside and powers up the part of my soul that remains dormant most of the time.
The part of me that has compassion and emotion, and as she falls against me and sobs on my shoulder, my arms close around her instinctively. A surge of emotion hits me as I make a vow that Morgan will not be successful.
My family is the shield these girls will hide behind while we fight for their rights—hell, fight for their lives and for the firsttime since I learned of this mission, my respect for my father grows exponentially.
He was right. It is better in our hands than in our enemies’ and that also goes for the three angels because imagining them navigating the horrors of this life without our protection scares the fuck out of me and not many things have that pleasure.
CHAPTER 18
ALICE
It’s too much. I never realized what a tangled web of thorns my father had placed around us. Simeon is right. We must work together. This isn’t just about me and my desire to find my mom anymore. It’s protecting Tiffany, Rose and, well, me.
If anything, it fills me with desolation because it’s more than likely my mom is dead. It makes sense given the timeline of our father’s marriages, and after a while I edge away from the comfort of Simeon’s arms and sniff, “It makes sense.”
“What does?”
“Life, I suppose.”
I shrink against the car door, my head against the window, and I tangle my fingers in my lap.
“Our father was always cold toward us. He was respectful, protective and cared for our physical needs but not our emotional ones.”
“I have a father like that.”
Simeon surprises me by opening up a little to me, and I smile my sympathy.
“It sucks, doesn’t it?”
