Page 39 of The Prince's Secret Daughter
She nodded, but wasn’t finished. “What if the profits were so good, because the land didn’t need that much refurbishment? So, Paul tried to convince you to buy up the initial piece of land quickly because there was competition.”
Raj folded his arms, rubbing one hand over his chin as he contemplated the possibilities. “You might have a point. If I didn’t need to spend millions to renovate the building I’m buying, and there was the possibility later of acquiring the rest of the land, I might take the risk and buy the property immediately.”
“Exactly,” she said and poked him in the shoulder.
Raj grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. “You found out that this is what Nathan and Paul were doing?”
She nodded, excited. “I don’t have proof, but I contacted some of my colleagues at one of my previous firms. They mentioned hearing about two other buyers of that land who had immediately turned around and sold the land after the owners of the surrounding buildings wouldn’t sell. Or they’d sell, but at astronomical prices, making the whole deal collapse.”
Raj wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer. “That means that I would have bought the land, then turned around and sold it again. Giving Paul and Nathan another commission.”
“Nope,” she laughed. “There is a commission that they earn whenever they sell that property.”
There was a pause as he looked down at her, confused. “I’m still not following.”
Her smile brightened and she nearly bounced with her enthusiasm. “I didn’t understand either until I made a few more phone calls. The truth is that Paul and Nathan don’t actually sell the property. They’ve figured out how to fake a sale, pocket the money, generate fake documents and deed transactions, and…!”
“They pocket the money from the sale as well as their commission!” he finished for her.
“Exactly,” she said with another little bounce. “I don’t have all of the buyers’ information, but I know that they’ve pulled this scam several times, sometimes during the same time period, with different clients. They are pocketing the money over and over again. I have no idea how much they’ve earned so far, but I have enough information to go to the authorities.”
“Isn’t it going to be difficult to prove that Paul and Nathan stole the money?” he asked. “Won’t they have deposited the money into offshore accounts?”
She shrugged. “Probably. Since the property wasn’t ever actually sold, there’s no record of previous buyers in the county records. But if I contact each of the sellers and the new buyers, they’ll have records of the financial transactions as well as copies of the fake deed transfers. This is wire fraud, since all of the financial transfers were done electronically. This is also theft or, I think in the real estate industry, it’s called ‘illegal selling by affiliate’.” She shook her head slightly. “I don’t know, but I canbring all of my information to the authorities and they can figure it out.”
“That’s pretty heavy stuff,” Raj replied, giving her that charming smile. “I’m impressed that you were able to figure this out in less than three hours.”
“Oh, I don’t have all the details figured out. But when I was in the office today, I heard Paul and Nathan yelling about a scam. Several of the other employees heard it and I was able to talk to someone who pointed me in the right direction before she walked out the door.” Helen grinned. “I think by now, Paul and Nathan are wondering where their office staff have gone. The word was spreading fast and people were panicking.”
“Good! I’ll alert the authorities so that Paul and Nathan’s accounts are frozen.” He patted her on the butt and pulled away. “Give me a few minutes. I have no idea how long Angela should nap without interfering with her night time schedule, but she’s been out for about an hour.”
Helen watched as Raj disappeared into the next room. She heard the words, “Accounts” and “Fraud” before he closed the door.
Sighing with triumph, Helen walked over to the sofa and stared down at her little girl. The sight reminded her that she had one more problem in her life that she needed to figure out. Sitting down, she placed a hand on Angela’s shoulder. “What are we going to do?” she whispered.
Chapter 36
Raj stepped out of the office and stared at Helen. He heard her question and something inside of him tore open. He knew the solution he wanted. But how could he convince her?
“Marry me,” he blurted.
Helen’s startled gaze lifted from their daughter’s sleeping form. Raj tensed when her mouth opened.
“I’m sorry but…?”
Rubbing a hand over his face, Raj knew that he’d messed up. He should have done this over a romantic meal. He should have brought her flowers and a beautiful ring. He should have brought her back to Lativa and shown her everything he could offer.
“Why?” she demanded, standing up and coming towards him.
That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Rational, logical Helen should have asked him what he could offer. Right?
“Why what?” he asked, stupidly wondering how to get her to agree. What could he give her to convince her to be a part of his life?
“Why do you want to marry me?” she asked. Helen glanced over her shoulder at the still sleeping child, then back to him. “I would never keep you from seeing Angela. We’ll share parenting responsibilities.” She bit her lip and looked away,crossing her arms over her chest. “You don’t have to marry me to keep Angela in your life. It will be difficult, but –”
She couldn’t finish because he kissed her. Raj’s kiss was hard and demanding, but when he felt her tremble, the pressure eased and he tried to be more convincing, more teasing. But the need to marry her, to have her in his world forever, was too intense. He wanted Helen. She was unlike any other woman he’d ever met. She wasn’t like Tasha or Tila either, but in some ways, Helen was exactly like his sisters-in-law.
When he lifted his mouth, they were both breathing heavily, but he wouldn’t let her look away. “Because of that,” he replied.
