and says, “We did it! Look,” she shows her a shaky hand, “I’m so pumped but afraid. But we did it.”
“You did it,” Sophia reassures her. “You should be proud of yourself. As I said, he gave you power without even thinking because he thought he had you under his control.”
“Never again,” Martina states.
“Ladies, this is all great, but what the fuck just happened?” I ask.
“Sophia made me step out of my box and look at my life from a different perspective. My father never thought about the power he had given me until I took away his precious company.”
“Is this legal?” I ask, still confused about the transaction and apparently now I own a fucking electronics company.
Pierce nods. “Yep, we did our homework. Mr. Parrish here confirmed to Martina that what we’re planning was allowed.”
“Look at this as a horse race,” he says. “Cyril bet his company if his horse didn’t come through, you’d have to rescind Merkel. Owen bet his company. If Ms. Edelstein didn’t reach the finish line…well, here we are. If you ask me, it was a stupid contract.”
“Thank you for this. Once I can access my trust fund, I’ll pay you, Mr. Parrish,” Martina offers.
“We’ll take care of his fees,” I amend. “Just… I feel like I shouldn’t be just keeping something that isn’t mine.”
“That’s in our contract,” she says, turning it to page four. “How much you’ll pay me, when, and why. I don’t want you to gift me anything. I want to earn it which is why I asked your brother to set it that way. An incentive, you know…”
“What about your brothers?” I ask her.
“One of them had already sold his part of the company to the other two. They bought it without realizing that he didn’t own shit until our dad dies. He’s the one who helped us get all the documents Sophia needed and gave us the inside information to shut down the system and freeze the accounts. The other two can figure out what to do without Daddy’s company.”
Vance arrives at the house a couple of hours later assuring us that Mr. Edelstein wouldn’t bother us. He then helped Martina with her bags. She’s leaving for New York where she’s staying with her mother until she starts school.
“Why did you leave me in the dark?” I ask Sophia once everyone leaves her house and it’s just the two of us.
“Payback,” she says. “You left me in the dark for three years. I think a few days was punishment enough.”
I shove my hands in my pockets and say, “You were incredible.”
“Well, I learned from the best,” she admits.
As I’m about to ask about us, her dad enters the house holding two tote bags. “Lunch is ready. Your mom is spending the afternoon at the library, and I was wondering if you wanted to eat.”
“I guess it’s time for me to leave,” I offer.
“There’s plenty,” Emilio announces, but it seems like he wants to spend some time with his daughter.
There’s a lot I want to discuss with her, but it can wait a few more hours. I salute him and glance at her, “I’ll talk to you soon,” before I make my way to The Lodge.
Thirty-Seven
Sophia
Since I skipped going to Aldry’s in the morning, Julian drives me in the afternoon. I don’t have much to do, but I like to be consistent. As I’m about to enter, Jerome Parrish is standing by the main entrance.
“Listen, I appreciate your assistance with Ms. Edelstein, but—”
“This won’t take long,” he promises. “But I prefer to discuss it in your office if you don’t mind.”
I look at him suspiciously, but I accept. My hands tingle, and it’s not fear but anxiety, because this man is like the grim reaper.
Is he going to offer me money or a way to destroy the Aldridges? Not like I would accept the deal, but what is he up to?
“The way you handled this entire situation was surprising,” he states as I close the door. “I don’t understand your angle, Ms. Aragon.”
“There’s no angle. If you think I’m here for the money, the answer is, I don’t work for free,” I state. “You bill your hours, don’t you?”
He smiles. “I didn’t mean it that way. Not even Cassandra, William’s ex-wife, would’ve handled herself the way you did, and she loved William.”
“Never met the woman, but I’m familiar with her work.” She was horrible with Blaire when Carter was dying. I’m not a fan. “What do you need?”
He hands me an