by M T Stone
“No, thanks, we just ate,” Officer Martello replies with a wave of her hand.
Mandy
Hearing the visitors introduce themselves as an officer and a detective, I finish getting dressed and creep over to the doorway to sneak a peak. I’m shocked to see two officers from the NYPD. Detective Kelly is dressed in plain clothes and is plunking away on an iPad with one finger.
“I have been told that you were in Geneva at the time of your father’s death, correct?” he asks while scrolling through his electronic notes.
“Yes, I was attending a meeting with the CEO of a biotech firm that I invested in,” he affirms.
“Did you or did you not, layover at Westchester County Airport before flying to Geneva?” A steely glare suddenly replaces the friendly facade.
“Yes, we stopped to refuel and pick up a passenger who joined us for the flight to Switzerland,” Trey replies confidently. “That jet holds just enough fuel to make it across, so I can’t fly direct from California.”
“I see,” the detective replies adding it to his notes. “Is this the passenger you picked up?” He holds up the iPad for Trey, while both Officer Martello and I watch his reaction. He remains perfectly composed.
“Yes, that’s Mandy Grayson,” he replies in a cool and calm manner.
“And this blonde is your girlfriend?” He shows him a picture of Liv that was taken when she entered the airport.
“My ex-girlfriend, yes.” Trey seems to know exactly where this is headed. I can tell by the little crease in the center of his forehead that he is thinking ahead to the next possible question.
“What is the relationship between you and this girl, Mandy?” He flips back to the picture of me.
“It’s complicated,” Trey says with a chuckle. “She was a friend of Liv’s, but since that day we have become close.”
“In the past five days?” he asks sarcastically.
“It seems like much longer than that, but yes.” Trey reaches up and begins rubbing his forehead. He should know better than that; it’s a sign of duress.
Officer Martello picks up on it immediately as well. “Is something bothering you?” she asks.
“Yeah, I was just thinking about Liv. That didn’t end very well.” He looks directly at them once again. “I don’t like to hurt people.”
“Okay, well I just have one last thing for you,” Detective Kelly adds, moving quickly past the emotional moment. “The one person we can’t place is this man.” He holds the iPad up for him again. “He never entered the airport, so we don’t have a high resolution image of him.”
“He is a friend of mine,” Trey answers with no additional explanation.
“And his name?”
“Why is his name relevant?” Trey asks with a puzzled look on his face. He is doing a great job of controlling his emotions. I wonder if he ever took acting lessons?
“Because when the man arrived, he was only carrying some sort of envelope in his hand.” The detective shows Trey another picture, before flipping to the next. “But then he leaves with a briefcase.”
“That sounds like normal business to me.” Trey shrugs and gives him a blank look.
“Here’s something you probably didn’t see.” The detective smiles and flips to the next picture. “Here is where you said goodbye to him.” He begins to flip through a series of pictures. “And after you head back to the plane your buddy opens the briefcase, takes out a stack of bills, examines them and shoves them into his pocket.”
Even though Trey looks calm, he has to be stunned by Jake’s stupidity, but so far he hasn’t even flinched. “Yeah, those were extremely rare documents that I purchased from him. I actually got them for a pretty fair price,” he says, coming up with a plausible explanation on the spot.
“And you had to pay for them with a briefcase of cash?” Officer Martello chimes in. “Is that how you normally do business?”
“No.” Trey laughs. “I normally do business just like everyone else. However, he told me I would get a five percent discount if I paid him in cash, so I did.” He turns his palms toward them and raises his hands. “Is paying with cash a crime?”
“It all depends upon what was in those documents.” Detective Kelly sneers. “Some people have speculated that the money was a down payment for taking out a hit on your father.”
“Really? That’s what this is about?” Trey bursts out laughing. “Oh my God! If I were taking out a hit on my old man, would I give someone a briefcase full of cash in broad daylight? You two must think I’m an idiot. Well, I’m far from an idiot!”
“We aren’t implying anything,” Officer Martello scoffs. “We just thought that the timing of this transaction was incredibly coincidental.”
“Unfucking believable, have you been talking to my brother or something? If so, you might want to take a good look at what he has been up to as well. Even his fiancé is becoming suspicious of him.” Trey shakes his head and turns away from the officers. “First the media, then him and now the fucking NYPD. I’m calling my attorney in the morning and putting an end to all of this bullshit.”
“We aren’t here to accuse you Mr. Addison,” Detective Kelly exclaims. “I’m sure you would like to see us get to the bottom of this too.”
“Of course! But I guarantee you, I had nothing to do with it,” he says confronting them directly once again. “Absolutely nothing!”
“But from what I’ve read in the papers, the two of you weren’t getting along,” Detective Kelly counters. “And with him gone, you just became one of the richest men in the world.”
“Yeah, and so did my brother,” Trey replies struggling to maintain an even keel. “If there is nothing else, I would like to get on with my day.”
“We are going to need a copy of those documents that you say you purchased,” Officer Martello adds. “Just to corroborate your story.”
“I already delivered them to a third party in Switzerland, but I’ll see if my attorney can retrieve a copy of them for you.” Trey gives the officers a cooperative smile.
“Oh and are you going to be in the city for a while, just in case we have additional questions?” the detective asks on his way out.
“No. I’m going to Monaco tomorrow for Grand Prix week, but I’ll give you my attorney’s card.” He retrieves a business card from his wallet and hands it to him. “You can contact him if you need anything.”
“Perry Walters,” officer Martello utters in disbelief. “The best money can buy. I’ll bet you just put him on retainer, didn’t you?”
Trey stands there in silence with a slightly smug look on his face.
“The Monaco Grand Prix,” the detective muses. “God, it must be nice to become a billionaire over night.”
“I think it’s actually going to be quite an adjustment,” Trey replies politely, despite the snide nature of his remark. “I don’t think it’s actually hit me yet. It’s not like I was poor before this happened, but I am definitely being thrust into a whole new world.”
“I’m sure you will adjust just fine, sir,” Officer Martello says with a chuckle. “You’ll have to forgive Detective Kelly. He has always had it in for the one-percenters.”
“Honestly, so have I,” Trey replies. “I don’t have very much in common with most of them.”
After they leave, Trey turns his back to the door, leaning back against it. “Holy fuck,” he mutters, looking up at the ceiling.
“Don’t worry, Trey, you’ve got this,” I assure him while slipping my arms around his waist. “You handled them like a seasoned pro. I was impressed.”
CHAPTER 19
L ate the following afternoon
Trey
Even though it delayed us for several hours, I’m glad we decided to take Dad’s corporate jet to Monaco. It seemed foolish to leave a brand new Gulfstream G650 standing idle. I’ll have to pay the corporation back for the crew and fuel, but that’s a small price to pay for first class luxury.
The meeting with the attorneys
this morning had a few interesting twists, but nothing in Dad’s will had been changed since right after the divorce. That means that all of his stock will be placed into a trust for Tyler and me. Over the next twenty years we will gain control of the stock and voting rights, but for now we will only receive the quarterly dividend payments.
The remainder of his estate will be split evenly between the two of us as well. It was a smart move for Dad to protect the stock and allow us to gain control over time. Neither Tyler nor I have managed our inheritance from Papa very well. Besides, our first quarterly dividend payment is only about three weeks away and it will be more than four times as much as our entire inheritance from Papa. So, neither of us have anything to bitch about.
“I still can’t believe Dad is gone.” The words tumble from my mouth as the thought strikes me. When my phone rang yesterday afternoon, part of me still expected to see his name.
“I’ll bet there will be times when you are going to miss him,” Mandy says in that soothing voice of hers.
“I have missed him for years,” I confess, reflecting on how our relationship had changed back when I was just a kid.
“What do you mean?” she asks, confused by my statement.
“Dad missed our eighth birthday party.” I clear my throat, surprised by the sudden upheaval of emotions. “It was the day Tyler and I realized that we were no longer his priority.”
“Because he was working instead?”
“Yeah, he was closing a big deal, so he couldn’t make it to our party. But he had promised to call us when he finished,” I tell her, recalling every detail of that day. “We waited for him until an hour past our bedtime, but we never got a call.”
“Ouch. That’s rough.” Mandy runs her fingers through my hair; soothing me in the same exact way Mom had done that night.
“Things were never the same after that,” I continue. “Even when he was home, he would be in his office returning phone calls or working on the computer. Once we were teenagers, he would call each of us in there for a stern talk every Sunday afternoon. It gave us a chance to review our mistakes from the previous week.” I think back to how much I used to dread Sundays. “My talk always revolved around the fact that I didn’t have straight A’s or enough extra curricular activities,” I add.
“You must have had pretty decent grades,” Mandy says with an air of confidence in her voice.
“I graduated as an honor student with a 3.92 GPA overall.” I shrug.
“Really? And that wasn’t good enough?” she gasps. “That’s better than mine.”
“No, because Dad was the valedictorian of his class.” I explain. “Nothing was ever good enough. The only compliments that I ever heard from him were directed toward Tyler.” I shake my head in bewilderment. “When he became Captain of the football team, it was Dad’s proudest moment. You would’ve thought he had won the noble prize or something.”
“He obviously had higher expectations for you,” Mandy postulates, in an attempt to make me feel better about the past.
“He expected me to be him, but I’m nothing like him,” I explain, still frustrated by the notion. “I’m a lot more like Papa. He always treated people right.”
“Honestly, Dad never understood how Victor could have been his son,” Mandy admits. “He thought your grandfather was such a nice man.”
“He was a workaholic too, but yeah, he never seemed stressed and I only remember him yelling and swearing that one time.” I think back to how shocked I was that night when I heard him yelling at Dad. I immediately knew that something very bad had happened.
“Was that when he found out what Victor was doing to us?” she asks, with a sad look in her eyes.
“Exactly.” I lean over and give her a kiss. “It’s the only time I saw Dad left speechless. He had no rational explanation for what he had done to your family.” I can’t imagine how horrifying it was when he realized what his son had done to his best friend’s family. “Papa never forgave him.”
“Your dad wasn’t all bad though, you got to go on all kinds of great vacations,” Mandy says, changing the topic to something less sensitive. “Most people haven’t been all over the world like you.” Her voice is laced with a hint of jealousy.
“That’s true. Whenever we were out of school he would take us along on his business trips,” I admit, thinking back on all of the different places we had visited. “It wasn’t because he wanted to though.”
“It was your mother’s idea?” she asks with a giggle.
“Yeah, he was on the road so much that she demanded he take us whenever possible. He would go to meetings and we would go with Mom, shopping or whatever.”
“So that’s why you don’t like shopping,” she guesses accurately.
“Yeah, we always had to carry her bags. So, that was fun. I really hated Paris… and Milan.” I think about how we had to struggle with all of her bags after those two shopping sprees. Milan was the worst.
“I’m perfectly okay with picking out my clothes online,” she says with a big smile, having just picked out a dozen new outfits in a matter of minutes.
“Let’s just hope they fit!” I joke, causing a little worry to creep into her eyes. “Don’t worry, they will be perfect.” I glance down at her legs, imagining what they will look like in the short summer dresses she has been adding to her shopping cart.
“What are you thinking about?” she murmurs, giving me a sexy look.
“I’m thinking about whether or not Dad had security cameras installed in this plane.” I would prefer not to have a full recording of this flight.
Mandy
Even though it’s been less than twenty-four hours, I can tell that Trey is feeling the same urge that has been nagging at me ever since we left the ground. I’m not sure what it is about flying with him, but I am so turned on right now. Maybe it’s the lack of outside distractions up here. He has one hundred percent of my attention and right now I am focused on just one thing.
“Where would they have the cameras?” I ask, figuring we should be able to find a safe spot somewhere. “I’m not officially a member of the mile high club, yet.”
“The cameras are always hidden so passengers can’t tamper with them,” Trey replies, getting up out of his seat. “I’ll be right back.” He walks up to the cockpit door, knocks and enters. I can feel my excitement growing with each passing moment. I close my eyes and glide my hand across the smooth, supple leather beneath me. I’ve never felt such a soft, comfortable seat; it’s hard to believe we are in an airplane. I can’t even imagine how much this plane must have cost.
“We are clear,” Trey says, startling me. “Come here.” He reaches for my hand and leads me further back in the plane.
We stop at a double seat that reclines all the way down with a click on his iPhone. With another click, shades go down covering all of the windows. “Whoa, that’s a little too dark.” He laughs before clicking another button to turn on the ambient lighting.
“You did all that from your iPhone?” I ask in amazement.
“Yeah, I just got the username and password from the captain. It shows me all of the electronic systems onboard and allows me to control them. It also includes a button to turn off the security cameras,” he says with a wink.
“That’s so cool!” My mind is temporarily blown, but as soon as Trey moves toward me it quickly goes back to its prior obsession.
“Come here, sexy,” he says with a spark of lust in his eyes.
As his lips touch mine, I once again feel the surge of electricity. It is something that I find truly amazing. I can understand having that reaction to our first kiss, but it seems to happen almost every time he kisses me. It makes me wonder why I have never felt anything similar with my other boyfriends. Even my very first kiss pales in comparison and I really liked that guy. There is something between us that is not normal, at least not normal for me.
“What do you feel when we kiss?” I ask breathlessly when our lips part.
�
��Kissing you is absolutely a rush,” he replies with shimmering eyes. “And making love to you is almost spiritual. There is no other way to describe it.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard. He guides me back onto the reclined seat and straddles me while our lips and tongues continue their passionate tango. I could kiss this man for the rest of the flight… probably for the rest of my life.
I feel his hands slip under my dress and he begins to slide my panties down my thighs. My immediate reaction is to grab hold of his belt buckle and pry it free. “Just relax for a moment,” he whispers, slipping off my sandals and sliding my panties the rest of the way down.
I lay back and close my eyes as I feel his lips begin teasing their way up my legs. First he kisses the left one, then the right and slowly, painfully works his way up to my inner thighs. He then proceeds to linger between them, gently kissing and nibbling my sensitive flesh, teasing me in a way that is literally driving me crazy. In frustration, I grab hold of his hair and pull him toward me.
“Mmm… I like seeing you impatient,” he teases. “That tells me I’m doing it right.” He smirks and goes right back to what he was doing.
I feel his breath against my skin and my body yearns with anticipation. There is an anxious tension building within me, something so powerful that it feels as if a part of me is missing. Like a painful void that needs to be filled as soon as possible. My breath catches as his hot, moist tongue comes into contact with my most sensitive flesh. Again there is a sensation that immediately displaces the tension that has been building. I nearly orgasm when his lips envelop me; his swirling tongue is suddenly projecting a nearly perfect state of bliss.
“Oh, fuck that’s amazing.” I grasp his hair again while arching my back in an effort to pull back just a bit. The more I squirm, however, the more intensity he bestows upon me. It’s as if he is testing my limits, to see how much I can take before begging for mercy. I’m not the type who begs for mercy. My mind continues to drift into a deeper state of ecstasy with each passing moment.
He changes position just slightly and I suddenly realize that he’s got me. My body begins to shake even though I’m fighting desperately to maintain control. The fact that I’m losing it seems to encourage him even more. He apparently is not going to let up until he has sent me straight into oblivion. A now familiar feeling begins to wash over me and I want to see how long I can make it last. Just as that thought floats through my mind, I come to the startling revelation that I simply can’t take anymore. I squeeze his head between my thighs and push with both hands against his forehead. “My God! Are you trying to kill me?”