“That was then. We’ve been at peace ever since and I don’t want any more bloodshed. I’m getting too old for it.”
“So you wouldn’t mind me marrying a Mason, then?”
“Not them. Not after what Derek did to us. Took my money and ran like a coward. You will not marry a Mason, that is final.” He sighs, shifting in his seat. “How’d you get on with Winnie?”
“Gave her a week like you said.”
“If only the box you brought me wasn’t a fake. We wouldn’t have needed to do any of this. I could be enjoying retirement on some beach somewhere, not still trying to find the right damned box all these years.”
I think back to that night, to saving Natalie. I get the feeling the only reason she’s still alive is because my father doesn’t have the right box. Once he gets it, she’ll be whacked to tie up all the loose ends.
“How did you even work out it was a fake?”
“That’s not something you need to know.”
“What if I bring back another fake?”
“I’ll be unhappy, let’s put it that way.”
Once I get the box, I’ll need to decide what to do with it. Give it to my father and Natalie dies.
I won’t think about that. I’ll think about how good it felt to fuck her last time, and how I want to do it again when I go back to collect my money.
Not a good idea. Would only complicate things, especially when she’s got herself a family on the go. Unlike me.
Father wants me to marry Andrea, cement a union between our family and the Marinos.
Sure, Andrea’s attractive enough but she’s only interested in my money, nothing else. She’s also got one big flaw that stops me wanting to marry her.
She’s not Natalie.
Chapter Seven
Natalie
* * *
I can see the problem before I cross the street. The door’s boarded up, the window too. Something’s been taped to the front, a piece of printed paper. I cross over, my heart sinking. I can guess what it is.
This store has been closed by order of the mayoress and town council due to rent arrears. It will remain closed until further notice. Do not attempt to enter. All contents are property of the town council until arrears are cleared.
I dig my cellphone out and call the number on the sign. It’s Winnie that answers. “I thought I’d be hearing from you this morning,” she says.
“Why have you done this?”
“I told you. I want the money you owe me.”
“How am I supposed to earn any money if the store’s boarded up?”
“I don’t give a shit how you get it but get it. I want ten thousand dollars by the end of today.”
“There’s no way I can get that much. You’ve got to cut me some slack, please.”
“I don’t like whiners and I don’t like begging. I don’t care how you do it but get that money by midnight tonight.”
“It’s not possible. I can’t do it.”
“Sure you can. Borrow it. Steal it. Rip it out of some little kid’s hands. Dig out that box your father gave you and open the vault. Do whatever it takes but get me that money or you’ll never be open again.”