Heart hammering, hoping against hope that it was him, she answered. The deep, dark voice that poured into her ear almost had her pile in a heap on the ground.
Because it wasn’t Antonio.
It took her a second to recognize the voice. Jakob Wolff.
“Hello, Lili, it’s Jakob. I have Ivan with me and we were wondering if you could see us.”
Trembling with worry, she croaked, “Of course. When and where?”
“Right now. We’re parked right outside.”
“Oh. Oh! Please, come right in.”
Tripping in her haste, she rushed to the door, opening it in time to see the two men step out of an imposing Rolls Royce. Breath bated, she watched these two who were an intimate part of Antonio’s life walk up to her door.
Inviting them in, leading them where she’d had Sofia just yesterday, Lili and Ivan were soon immersed in their first face-to-face meeting. He seemed as curious about her as she was about him. Until recently, Ivan had been the closest person in the world to Antonio. If they’d gone through with the wedding, Ivan would have been his best man, would have become the brother she never had.
Suddenly Jakob sat forward, making Lili aware of his presence again, and of his impatience. “We’re not here for chitchat.”
Ivan sighed, nodded, got a dossier out of his briefcase, handed it to her. “Indeed. We’re here to give you this.”
Confusion deepening, she took it from him, and at his prodding, opened it and read.
With each line, each page, her shock deepened.
These were legal documents. Written in extensive, meticulous terms. Turning over Antonio’s R & D empire to her.
When she finally raised flabbergasted eyes to them, Jakob’s lips curled in disgusted disapproval. “Antonio believes you’re better equipped to benefit the world with what he’s built. He also believes you’d probably want to segregate it from Black Castle and become your own independent business, which he believes would be best for you and for your nonprofit policies and pursuits.”
“If you’re wondering what he’d do instead,” Ivan said, watching her closely as if to document her reaction, “he’ll turn full-time to what he’s best at. Surgery. But he says he’ll now emulate you, direct his skills and resources to nonprofit work. But as a surgeon, that would take him into the field of humanitarian work. He’s already organized his first mission.”
Lili stared from one man to the other, as if they’d suddenly laugh and tell her it was all an elaborate joke.
But from their grimness and their clear dismay at their brother’s bequest, and mostly from the wording in those papers, which she knew was Antonio’s, this was real.
“Needless to say,” Ivan said, “we are extremely disturbed by his decision. We know no one could ever replace him, but since it’s you, the others have empowered us to extend you an offer. We will accommodate anything you wish, if you agree to keep the division part of our joint business.”
She could only stare at them, totally numb.
Jakob added, “He also said you’d have qualms on account of having no financial or management skills, but he assures you everything will be run by his deputies, while you orchestrate the scientific direction of the o
rganization. He himself will always be available to you as a consultant whenever you wish.”
And it was as if a dam burst inside her, making her blurt out, “Is he insane?”
Ivan nodded with another sigh. “Bonkers.”
“It gets worse.” Jakob produced another file from his own briefcase. “These are the deeds to his mansion in LA, his penthouse in New York City, his best jet, and assorted assets and holdings with a collective net worth I couldn’t stomach registering.”
She felt as if she’d been caught in an explosion, and the shock waves were widening, tearing down everything.
All she could finally manage was a whisper. “I—I don’t get it.”
“Don’t you?” Jakob tilted his head, a contemptuous edge creeping into his steel-hued gaze, making him look pretty sinister. “From where I’m sitting, you seem to have gotten everything you could have wanted and way more.”
She shook her head, shell-shocked. “I only want him.”
“Now that’s priceless.” Jakob scoffed. “You dare say that, when you put the man through a hell far worse than all his ordeals combined?”