Page 38 of Vicious Crown
He holds up his palm. “Please. Take it. We insist.”
“But—”
Aron leans in close, keeping his voice low. “I’m her father. Please. Let me do this for her. I couldn’t be there for her until now, but … Anyway, it’s all legal. Completely above-board. You don’t have to worry about IRS, feds—”
“Okay, we get it!” I grab the envelope out of Gia’s hand. “And thank you, Aron. This will help if there’s anything left over after the scholarships she’s won tonight.”
He blinks, then gives us a blank stare. “Wait, you think this is just for college? No. It’s foreverything.” He taps the envelope. “The accounts in here should cover her for the rest of her life.I can give you our contact info in case it ever runs out, but it shouldn’t.”
It’s now our turn to stare in disbelief. “Aron, how did you amass this much without Syndicate help?”
“Matt’s good with the stock market.” He says it with a nonchalant shrug, but the wink at the end makes me think that maybe there’s more to it. “Just please, take it. Give her access on her eighteenth birthday. I don’t care what story you make up for it. I just want to know she’s taken care of, even if I can’t do it myself.”
I pause a moment, turning the envelope over and over in my hands. “Do you want us to … Aron, she should know who it really came from.”
“No!” Aron shakes his head violently. “She can’t know. That’s the one and only condition. Whatever story you told her about Emily and me, leave it at that. It could destroy her to know the truth.”
I open my mouth to protest, but Gia stops me.
“We understand … Don Aron.”
He smiles as he watches Maria chatting with her uncle. “Don Aron died a long, long time ago. It’s just Aron now.”
There’s a sadness in that smile, a wistfulness that I feel in my core.
“Come to dinner with us. We’re going out with the whole team to celebrate, so there’s no pressure, but I think Maria would love it if her godfathers could come.”
Just as I finish my sentence, Matt and Maria walk up. Matt’s arm is draped around Maria’s shoulders, but she looks happy, so I won’t cause a scene. “What do you say, Matt? Do you think you and your husband would have time for dinner tonight?”
“Unfortunately, Aron and I have a flight leaving in a couple of hours. We were only able to make it for the competition.”
Maria pouts, and for a second, I think it might work.
“Sorry, kiddo.” Aron pats her arm. “We’re due in Rome in the morning. Business trip. Can’t miss it.”
Well, maybe it’s for the best.
We say our goodbyes, and Maria, Gia, and I head for the car, the three of us a little loaded down with her bag, the flowers, the envelope, and her trophies for the night. Gia walks ahead of us, like she always does, and she makes her sweep for bugs and bombs look natural. By the time Maria and I get there, she’s got the trunk open and ready for us.
Back home, I open the envelope after Maria’s in bed. Gia sits next to me on the couch, and we go over the documents.
Aron wasn’t lying. There’s everything Maria could possibly need, at least as far as money goes.
There’s something else in the envelope: a sealed greeting card, with the words “Happy 18th, Maria” in delicate script on the front. The back has a wax seal in addition to the usual adhesive, with a small, elaborate crown stamped into the wax.
“Should we steam it open?” Gia asks. Always thinking like a bodyguard.
I shake my head. “No. This is something private between Maria and her father.” I place it back in the manila envelope along with the rest of the documents. “She’ll read it when she’s ready. Until then, we’ll lock this up. Keep it in the safe for now.”
“What do you think it says?”
“Who knows? Whatever the kings of the underworld would say to their estranged daughter, I guess.”
Gia sighs. “I suppose as long as they’re not passing on the crown, it doesn’t matter.”
“Exactly.”
And there the card sits, in our safe, awaiting Maria’s eighteenth birthday.
The End
