He hesitates and glances at Gabe. His expression falters. “How much does she know?”
“I don’t think she knows anything.” Gabe watches me. He’s carefully composed, and I get the feeling there’s something big dangling in the air of this office. Except it’s hanging just out of my reach.
“What’s going on?” I ask Sorokin. “Why are you two acting like you’re about to put my dog down?”
Sorokin chuckles and runs a hand over his thinning hair. “Ah, no, it’s nothing like that. You see, I’ve been getting paperwork, and all this time, well…” He trails off and clears his throat. “Veronika, how much do you know about your father’s business?”
“Nothing,” I admit, on alert now. Nothing good happens when an authority starts using my full name.
“Your father was, ah, very paranoid. I think that is probably putting it lightly, to be frank.” Sorokin shuffles more papers. “He didn’t keep much officially under his own title. You see, the more layers between him and his assets, the safer they would be. And so he kept the majority of his sizable fortune… somewhere safe.”
My eyebrows raise. My heart patters rapidly. “Sizable fortune?”
“Your father was frugal. His business was very profitable. He also made some extremely smart investments. His estate… or it would be his estate, if it weren’t… well, there is a lot of money.”
I turn to Gabe. “How much are we talking here? He’s been giving me an allowance my whole life, so I figured we had some money, but it sounds like it’s more than I realized.”
Gabe’s smile is tight. “Nika, you’re filthy fucking rich.”
I laugh sharply. What a stupid idea. Me and Aunt Yelena never struggled, but it wasn’t like we lived in luxury. “Come on, be serious.”
“Ah, well, he is being serious.” Sorokin pushes a paper to me. “This is a list of your accounts and their current balance. At least, the biggest ten. There are several more, actually…”
The numbers swim in front of me. I have to blink a few times. The zeroes all run together and it makes no sense. “There are… millions here. Hundreds of millions.” I look up, heart racing. I feel sick. I’m sweaty and it’s sweltering in this room. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No joke, Veronika. Congratulations. Although, if someone had told you sooner the truth about your relationship to your father’s wealth, we wouldn’t have needed to go through with this big reveal.”
“What truth?!” I shake my head and struggle against the urge to run screaming. Instead, I do what I always do, and shut down. I get tiny and crawl into myself.
“These accounts are all in your name. Your father’s entire fortune is in your name, actually, aside from a small fraction he kept for his living expenses. Those are in his estate and will pass to you as well. Didn’t you know? All those forms you’ve signed over the years? The transactions you approved?” He looks desperately at Gabe and back to me. “You never once wondered?”
“Oh god.” It hits me. The visitors almost always brought paperwork with them. They never once explained why I had to sign, but they always made it clear there were no other options.I never complained. I signed my name dutifully, because that’s what I did. Give them what they want until they go away.
But all that time, I’ve been rich.
And not just rich, but filthy, stinking, wildly rich. The sort of rich that means I’ll never have to think about money again. I could erect a statue of a giant middle finger in the middle of New York City, modeled perfectly on my own hand, and still have enough for fifty yachts.
Actually, my biggest problem is going to be finding ways tospendthis enormous pile of wealth.
This is the definition offuck youmoney.
This is more likefuck the worldkind of cash.
I burst out into laughter. It’s inappropriate, but I can’t help it. Sorokin looks panicked, but Gabe stays calm. “I really am Smaug!” I howl, and Gabe’s grinning too. He gets the joke.
I’m a big lizard perched on a fat pile of gold.
Did my mother know about this? I can’t help but wonder what she’s been doing all this time while I’ve been drowning in more money than I could ever possibly use. What if I could have helped her sooner if I had known?
A part of me wants to storm out of here right now, hire my own private detectives, and hunt her down.
But I wouldn’t even know where to start. That’s the real problem. My eyes flick to Gabe, guts churning with fear and elation, and I know deep down that all the money in the world won’t help me right now.
That’s how deep this goes.
Gabe can do more with his limited resources than I can do with my vast riches.
Eventually I calm down and Sorokin gets to work. There are papers to sign, sums to go over, accounts to finalize. It’s a few months’ worth of upkeep on top of my father’s official estate. He left me everything in his will—everything that wasn’t already mine.
