“Where's Guntram, my Duke?” Goran fired the question, not even sitting in his chair, his eyes fixed on the boy's picture over the large polished desk. “He lives with his father, Michel Lacroix, in Germany.”
“What? Of all places?” Ferdinand shouted.
“Aschaffenburg. Goran send one of your teams with Milan or Ratko as leader. He goes every morning to a park near the Residenz. Find out everything you can, but do nothing. Lacroix does not want us near till three weeks.
He has accepted the surveillance, but your men should not frighten Guntram. He's health is frail in the moment.”
“It will be done as you wish, Sire.”
“Since when Jerôme de Lisle sets conditions to us?” Ferdinand barked but Konrad ignored him as he was still speaking with Goran.
“If a Russian shows his nose five hundred metres from where Guntram is, eliminate him. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sire. Ratko is my best man for such things.”
“Regarding the other issue, the Art critic, do nothing. We need proofs of Lacroix's words.”
“Why do you call him like that?” Ferdinand roared. “We should have eliminated him by ourselves!”
“Be quiet Ferdinand.”
“Don't you dare to shut me up!”
“Do you want to lose my only link to Guntram? Should I kill this man and then tell him; sorry, I killed your father this time for real? Never! If I want my consort back, I have to negotiate with him. From now own you will also call him Michel Lacroix as I don't want any of our associates asking questions about him. Officially, he saved us whether we like it or not! I have granted him a full pardon. He's the person who will take over the Presidency of the Lintorff Foundation in six months. We need someone with broad experience in tax law.”
“Are you exchanging Elisabetta von Lintorff for this snake?” Ferdinand shouted and Goran looked more sombre than ever.
“Do you prefer him sitting in the Council? Knowing him like we do now, he would be in your place in two years.”
“You can't fire Elisabetta!”
“We'll find something else for her and she has told me several times she gets headaches with all the legal and money issues. Lacroix will do a better job and I prefer to keep him busy than plotting against us. Pray that I find nothing against me from your wife in the document's he's going to give me.”
“What?”
“As a proof of good will, Ferdinand. I want that you make a transfer for one hundred thirty-five million euros from my own money to an account number he will give you. Before you yell again, the money is for Guntram.
Make sure that he has no access to that money, only Guntram. Once I give you the order, complete that amount up to two hundred twenty-five millions.”
“You're crazy. Utterly crazy.”
“I agree with the Duke, Ferdinand,” Goran said after considering for a while. “The lad needs some cash if something were to happen to his Excellency. He has the children to support now, because he's still their Guardian of Estate and legal Tutor, right?”
“As it was decided.”
“Then, I would suggest that you increase the sum over the years, my Duke. If you're satisfied with his performance and behaviour as Consort, that is.”
“It's a good idea. I'll take it into consideration,” Konrad said and returned his attention to a full brooding Ferdinand. “Is everything clear, my friend?”
“I'm the only one with some sense in this room!” He smirked but then the idea landed in his brain. “If I have to suffer this “Michel Lacroix” again, I also want your support in a project of mine.”
“I hear you, Ferdinand.”
“I want to divorce and to marry Cecilia Riganti. I'm also tired of running to hotels Konrad. We are too old, exactly as you said and she's a decent woman to be treated like this. I had enough of Gertrud. I coped with her for 25 years.”
“This is unexpected. You married by the Church!”
“I'll go to the Rota, if I have to. I will not be the first one to tell that was not understanding his vows. I was only twenty years old when I married!”
“Do you swear that this would be your grounds for your annulment request?”
“Yes, of course. I will say nothing about Marie Amélie not being my daughter or remove her from my will. Her brothers like her.”
“What about my cousin?”
“She has more money than I! May I remind you that we married under a separation of property regime?
We have a contract and in case of divorce I don't get a single penny from her although I expanded her capital several times! I have paid for everything over the past twenty-five years! Even for her bastard… and quite expensive she was!” Ferdinand roared at the injustice.
“She's a woman! She depends on you to protect her! You're her husband and swore before God to protect her!”
“Protect her? Even you say that she's a cunning snake! Of all the money I've made over the years, she took half of it!”
“That's true. If I remember correctly our calculations about how much your wife and children were costing you, the result was that from every franc you were making, you only got thirty cents for yourself,” Goran supported an astonished Ferdinand.
“I insist that you provide for your wife. She spent twenty-five years of her life at your side! Remember her actual position! Her accounts are frozen! If you stop to support her, she will have nothing!” Konrad barked.
“Fine! I'll give her a house and pay for its maintenance! It's more than I should do according to my lawyers! Really Konrad this is too much! I was married to Lady Macbeth and I have to support her? I didn't want to marry her! Your uncle almost forced me! Did you ever take a look at my prenuptial agreement? I only stayed for the boys!”
“Not enough,” Konrad replied unmoved by his friend’s fury.
“All right, 10.000 dollars in addition for the supermarket. That's final Konrad.”
“Please! That's what I was giving to Stefania!”
“It's half of my salary here. Give me a rise and I'll pay her more!”
“Should I remind you how much was your bonus or your representation expenses?”
“Not included in the salary: windfall. Ten thousand.”
“I can't believe you're denying your own wife your support. She's the mother of your boys!”
“Karl Otto is twenty-five and in Harvard and I pay for that! Johannes is twenty-three and in Chemistry Faculty! Old enough to fend for themselves. Guntram was on his own when he was eighteen!”
“And he thought that the best idea was to move in with Repin!”
“You have a point there. They can move with me and Cecilia. I'm going to live with her and introduce her as my fiancée. Are we finished?”
“I will not forget this offence, Ferdinand.”
“Then, do your own dirty work! I refuse to! Live you with her! It's YOUR fucking cousin. She was not even pregnant when I married her! All was a deception from your cousin Georg! She married me to get your uncle's money so his second wife wouldn't get it all! I left my career in the Army for her! I was an idiot to believe that one night's fuck would be enough to impregnate her!” Ferdinand stood up and left the room, furious and determined to call his lawyers and finish everything once and for all.
It was very late when Michel Lacroix descended from the train at Aschaffenburg. He took his car from the parking lot and drove home, hoping that everything was fine for Guntram. His son had not liked at all that he was going away for the day, even he believed that he was only going to Brussels to visit some of his customers. He truly hated to lie to his child, but telling him the truth of his business would only drive him nervous. He passed by the huge castle, lightened in the night in an eerie way and turned left to the small street where he had his house, bought some five years ago before it was put down because he liked its old style and the view over the river. He opened the door with great care as he didn't want to wake up Guntram.
“Papa! You're back!” A very happy Gu
ntram shouted from the stairs
“You should be in bed, my son,” Lacroix smiled while he mildly scolded his boy.
“I was waiting for you. Did you have dinner? Fairuza left something for you. I can warm it.”
“Yes, thank you. I had something in the plane, but nothing that could be compared to her cooking.”
“I agree with you, she cooks great! I'll do it in a minute,” Guntram smiled and disappeared toward the kitchen to set the table and serve the food. He took from the refrigerator the prepared dish, removed the plastic film and put it inside the microwave without giving much thought to his actions. Living with his father had been awkward at the beginning but now he was getting more and more comfortable around him and starting to dull the pain of Konrad's betrayal. He was sad all the time, although he did his best to conceal it from his father, thinking and remembering his lover's face, expressions and the void left by his absent body in his bed. 'How could he do it? How could I not see it? He told it in my face several times! I loved him more than anything and he lied to me! There's nothing more to do. I won't return and he will not have me back because I didn't fulfil my promise to be there for his babies.'
Guntram took the chicken out of the microwave and set it on the kitchen's table, waiting for his father. A few minutes later, he came with different trousers and a plaid shirt. “Tomorrow, I'm staying with you. I have to be in Paris in five days to help Nicholas with a case. Big mess, exactly what I love,” Michel smirked.
“I worry every time you go there. What if Repin goes against you? He knows where you live! Where you work! What if he goes against Lefèbre?”
“Guntram, you should stop worrying yourself so much. It's harmful for you. Everything was a calculated risk and it wouldn't be the first time we do something crazy together. I met him when the fool was trying to set a Molotov cocktail with a piece of paper!”
“That's sounds more like suicide!” Guntram laughed.
“And he even argued with me when I took the bottle away!” Michel also laughed at the memory of those crazy days in May 68. “We slept that night at the police station. My father was furious with me the next morning. He almost sent me back to Poitiers in chains! Imagine, one of the cops asked me if I preferred to stay with them! After all, I had showed them how to save money in their tax declarations.”
“The grandfather had a very strong character,” Guntram chuckled not surprised that his father had a good relationship with the policemen. 'Probably he convinced them to join the revolution by paying less taxes to finance De Gaulle's police state.'
“Very hard man; stern to no end. Well, he had three boys to keep under his rule. Pascal was always starting the ruckus, Roger immediately following him and I saving their asses. Literally. Therefore my father sent me to Law school!” Michel said, enjoying the laughter of his son. “Really Guntram, don't worry about Repin. He's looking for you in Venezuela or Colombia.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I paid a French student, looking very similar to you to use a fake passport with your name and take a flight to Buenos Aires that same night. When he arrived to Buenos Aires, he used his own passport and entered the country under his name. He must be travelling around Argentina. I'm offended with Repin because he lost my son from what was supposed to be the simplest thing in the world. After all, you have no experience at all in such matters!
None of the Russians lurking the hotel knew Chano and he drove you to the Airport.”
“Papa, Constantin is a very clever man and he's ruthless!”
“Guntram, I know who he's because I work for him since 1995. Last year, his companies paid my firm over fifty million Euros for our services. If something were to happen to me or to Nicholas, a dossier with vital information about him would fall in the wrong hands. You know what you have to do if this happens. Go to Frankfurt and take from the safe box all the papers in there and leave the country or return to Lintorff. He will help you.”
“I don't want to lose you again!”
“You won't. I'm here to stay this time, my son.”
“Lintorff would kill you if he finds out about you! He killed Uncle Roger and that journalist!”
“I know and that was my reason to let Repin show you the photos. I never wanted to cause you such a pain, but I needed you out of there! I'm starting to believe that I made a horrible mistake. Perhaps it was a real car accident. Everything seems to be in order with the police investigation.”
“How could it be a mistake? He's a murderer! He killed all our family and fucked me all what he wanted just because I look like my uncle! Do you have any idea how dirty I feel? He told me he had not ordered the murders and I believed him! I pitied him and even comforted him because he felt bad and sad because of Uncle Roger!”
“Roger and Lintorff's relationship was not easy. It was a minefield built by both sides. They loved to fight just to fix it in the bedroom. Most of the time Roger was playing with his feelings or his jealousies, insecurities and Lintorff always answered in a violent way, when in fact he was like a poor puppy following him everywhere. He was obsessed with my brother and forgave him many things that I would have never accepted, not even from your mother. In a way we used him to achieve our goals, Guntram. I remember one night I was working late, I think it was 1986 or 1987, when Lintorff came to the bank in Paris looking for Roger. He had worked non stop for over 64 hours, depriving himself of sleep, flying directly from Shanghai, just to be on time for Roger's birthday as he had promised he would. Roger had left with a secretary, a hot looking girl. He asked me if I knew where he was because he was not at home of course, his wife was working in the hospital, and I didn't know what to tell him. I felt bad for him. Really Guntram, I felt bad because there I saw how he really was: just a man desperate to be loved by someone. He would have gone to Hell for my brother.”
“He was always very generous and careful with me; tender to an incredible point. Never giving me flowers or saying romantic things, but in his own way, he was checking that I was taking my medications, that I was not cold or that no one was rude to me. When we started to date, he was always thinking in me before him and I loved him for that because he made me feel respected. Sometimes I believe that he loved me so much that he was hurting himself with his devotion.”
“Do you still love him?”
“I'll get over it. I got over Constantin. I long for a new start, papa.”
“You didn't answer my question. Do you love him?”
“I guess so, but it's over. I will not return with him! He's a bad person and he is dangerous for you!”
“Forget about me, son. I'm old enough as to take care of myself. Since you're with me, your health deteriorates day by day. You sleep bad, are permanently nervous, sad and afraid. Perhaps, I'm not what you need.”
“NO! I want to stay with you!”
“I also do, but you're twenty-three years old and almost had your life organized. Lintorff took you as his Consort and offered to share his children with you. It's an important position in the Order. In his eyes, he married you the best as he could!”
“Are you his lawyer now?”
“Old habits die hard. One of my first clients and the most problematic,” Michel laughed. “All I want to say is that you have to carefully think about your future. Think on yourself only, not in me, the family or any other person. I will support any decision you make.”
“I must be a big disappointment for you, father. I have not finished school, achieved nothing as painter, favourite whore of a Russian mobster and former substitute whore of a German mobster. Let's do not mention that I can't even run after the bus and take more drugs than a junkie. Ah, I'm gay too.” Guntram spoke very slowly and his father only looked at him for a long time.
“Your life didn't turn out as I expected, that's true. I hoped that you would study a career, get a job, a wife, children perhaps and that would be all. Nothing more. You would have died when you were more than 70, probably loved by all the people who knew yo
u but forgotten two days after. Graveyards are full with nice people, Guntram. But no, you decided to move to London to study Art History with great success, had an exhibition in one of the best galleries there with excellent critics and everything sold out, before you were twenty-two years old. Survived what would have killed most people and accepted your illness with more courage than many men I know. You returned to school and did your best to finish all what you could and continued to paint, this time under the tutelage of one of the most renowned art commissars in Europe, have one portrait at the Cardinal's gallery in the Vatican, next to the great artists at twenty-three and sold two other works for the Vatican collections. Finally you were in a collective exhibition and got one bad review over five goods, and your pieces were sold, because of the scandal it was. Not what I expected from you at all.”
“Father, I…”
“Let me finish, Guntram. It's my turn to speak,” Michel said very crossed and Guntram looked down ashamed. “Your choice of boyfriends leaves a lot to be desired, especially regarding your first one, but I can't really blame you if you were only 18 when you met him and the second wanted to marry you and endangered his position as Hochmeister of one of the most terrifying secret societies known to mankind. The man wanted to give you his children too. Almost all high society in Zurich respects and likes you. Tita von Olsztyn was almost strangling that critic with her Louis Vuitton's leather purse. Ah, I forgot to mention that she has two of your paintings in her collections, next to a Picasso or a Miró. It's really not what I expected from my child in my wildest dreams.”
“Father…”
“I thought you were going to be a grey little man like most of us, but you outshone us all. When your time comes, Guntram, you could look Death in the face and tell her, “I go now, but how I lived my life!” I never thought that my son could be so much and achieve so much only with his talent and courage. I'm proud of you as I'm ashamed of myself for not being with you when you needed me most.”
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