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She looks at me, pushing her hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. “Me and your father always agreed that we’d set aside some money for your inheritance. Then we got divorced after he spent everything and I assumed he spent your inheritance too.
“Only he called me this morning and told me it’s time to give it to you. He kept it safe all these years. Hasn’t touched it at all. It’s what Winnie was holding out for and it’ll all be yours instead. You got to bet that she is pissed about it.”
She laughs coldly. “Winnie thought she was onto a winner when she started up the affair. Thought Derek was loaded. No wonder she’s pissed. You get what’s left and what’s she getting? A husband with a gambling problem and loan sharks clawing their way up his shirttails.”
She walks through the gates, crunching her way through the gravel that leads up to the house. “Sorry, Natalie,” she adds after a moment’s silence. “I didn’t tell you before because I never thought he’d actually give it to you. I didn’t want him to let you down like he let me down.”
“He treated me like I never existed. Never once sent maintenance. Never came to visit me. I’ve not seen him in ten years, Mom. Why would he change his mind?”
“At heart, he’s a good man, Natalie. He just got corrupted by Winnie. She’s the real evil here. Went from secretary to home wrecker to the power behind his throne.”
We weave between the cars and I look up at the mansion I’ve not been inside for years. “How long has it been since you were last here?” I ask.
“I haven’t been up since we left. I remember you clinging to me when I took you out of there. You begged me to go back, couldn’t understand why we were leaving. How could I tell you that your father chose his secretary over the mother of his only child?”
She winces. “She was in the house when we left, waving at us from the window. I wonder if he kept the bed. I bought it, you know. Hand carved in Milan and it was a thing of beauty. It really was. I hope it gives them both backaches every single night.”
I give her hand a supportive squeeze.
“Ten years,” She adds quietly. “Where does the time go? It seems five minutes ago since you were a baby, Natalie. Eighteen. I still can’t believe you’re actually eighteen. When I was your age, I was already pregnant.”
She grabs hold of my arm. “Promise me you won’t make the same mistakes I made. Don’t get together with anyone from the families. They can’t be trusted, none of them. You’ll end up like me, pregnant at eighteen and divorced at twenty-eight.”
“Mom, relax. I’d need a boyfriend first, don’t you think?”
“I thought you and Chris Cooper were a thing.”
“That was six months ago, and it was one kiss. And he never even took his gum out to do it.”
She grins at me. “Never take drugs and be sure to use protection if you don’t want to end up like your mother. That’s my advice.”
“I’m on the pill, remember?”
“For your periods. Not to give you a free pass for sex whenever you want.”
She walks up the steps, and pushes open the front door. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s go find your father, Natalie. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible.”
Chapter Two
Angelo
* * *
“What are you there to do?”
I lean back in my armchair, taking a deep drag on my cigar, letting the smoke roll around my mouth before exhaling slowly. “Steal the box,” I say at last.
“And what are you not there to do?”
“Have any fun.”
Father slaps his hand on the desk, sending papers scattering to the floor. “You are not there to fuck any of the Mason family. You are not there to get distracted when you have a job to do. Everyone knows Natalie turns eighteen today. He’s giving her the box before he gets tempted and wastes it all at the track. You get in there first. They’ll all be coming out of the woodwork to try to jump her for it once they hear it’s in the open.”
“Relax, Father. I’ll bring it back and you can wipe out your own debts. Everyone wins.”
He slides the invitation across to me. “I worked hard to get that. You do whatever it takes to get hold of that box. Anyone gets in your way, you kill them.”
“When I get it, will you tell me how one candy box holds the key to an entire fortune?”
