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“Do you have any issues with anyone at work?”
I furrowed my brow. That was an odd question. “No.”
I was certain some employees didn’t like me, but that was the nature of business.
“Who advises you about investments?”
“Real estate? No one. Some team members might present potential properties, but the final decision is always mine.” Why would I trust my area of expertise to anyone else?
“And beyond real estate? A stockbroker? Anyone like that?”
I shook my head. “I have a portfolio my mother left me. But I dismantled it. Stocks aren’t my thing.”
It wasn’t wise not to be diversified, but I always wanted my money to be in something I could see. There was risk in any investment, but I’d witnessed people who were left standing with nothing but worthless paper when their stocks collapsed.
Maybe I had trust issues too.
If I selected where my money went, the responsibility was firmly on me. I had my best interests at heart. A broker? His interests were his own. I’d never liked anyone acting or speaking on my behalf.
“You don’t have any stocks?”
“No.”
“Currency? Bonds? Futures?”
“No. No. No.”
“I think I need to look up the definition of securities fraud again. Because if you don’t have any, how can you commit fraud?” He downed half of his drink.
He was right. I needed one too, but I wouldn’t.
Zegas set his glass on the coffee table. “When you say ‘dismantled’ what do you mean?”
“As I needed money to invest in real estate, I sold the pieces I didn’t want.” It had been hard. My mother had personally put together that portfolio. She’d catered it for me. I’d kept the properties she’d included to save a part of her.
“Did you pay taxes on those transactions?”
I grunted. “A few times I had to sell more of the stock just to pay the taxes on the sale of the other.”
“Do you have proof of payment that you can get me?”
“Yes. Paper and electronic.”
“Did your accountant handle these transactions or you?”
“My accountant.”
“Who benefits if you’re out of the picture at your company?”
When had Zegas become an investigator? I felt like I was under a microscope.
I thought about Hollingsworth Properties. Everyone wanted to play a vital role in their work. But in our organization, it wouldn’t function without me. That wasn’t pompous. Strictly fact.
Beau had the ability to keep it afloat until she could steady the ship, but there were aspects I performed that no one else did.
My father came to mind, but even if he never said it out loud, I had made him more money than he ever could on his own. He definitelydid notbenefit with me gone.
“Dad.”
