Page 72 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
Mitch pulled out a piece of paper that had my name on the top, along with a staggering list of numbers. “That means, Aviva Kenley, you are the sole beneficiary of Willhem’s four-billion-dollar empire.”
So many numbers. So many digits before a decimal place. My head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton wool, and everything swam in my vision.
I looked between the guys, who all looked in varying stages of shock. We’d never suspected this was what we were here for. I’d thought we were going to help repatriate his friend's body.
“I think I’ll take that drink now.”
Chapter35
Evan
Ibegrudgingly liked Mitch Goetz. Even though Chaos had looked at him like he was a popsicle for a split second, sharing her with the other guys had really reined in that possessive part of me.
Mostly. I still wanted to punch his perfect face for looking at her too long.
I kept it under wraps though—at least better than Sampson did. For the first hour, he legitimately looked like he wanted to pick up Aviva and carry her away.
But after a while, and a glassful of very nice scotch, everyone seemed to settle into a meeting that might have resembled a wake if we weren’t in a law firm. Laura the receptionist had returned a couple of times—once to bring us all water, once to tell Mitch that she’d canceled his afternoon meetings, and the last time to tell him she was going home and that there were several pizzas in the lunch room for us to eat for dinner.
She was sweet, and more than a little in love with her boss. Cute.
Fuck, Chaos was definitely rubbing off on me. I was becoming soft as hell.
Speaking of Chaos, she pulled out that last book that had been inscribed by Nemo—I mean, Willhem—from her bag and handed it to Mitch. “I think you should have this. The last message wasn’t really for me, I think. It was for you.”
The more I learned about Mitch and Nemo’s relationship, the more I thought she might be right. There was no doubt that Mitch had loved Will, best friends despite distance and time separating them. It reminded me of the relationship between Otto, Sampson and Hendrick. I knew that if anything happened to Hendrick, the other two would have been shattered the same way Mitch was right now. Probably worse.
Mitch took the book, tracing his fingers over the cover. “Are you sure?”
Aviva nodded, her smile sad. “The other books, they were for me. They were telling me to go on, to find the next clue, to keep the adventure going. This one was an apology, or maybe a lament.”
Mitch pulled it close to himself, laying his hand over the faded cover art like a trace of his friend still remained inside the pages. “Thank you.”
She waved a hand. “It's okay. This all feels like a weird fever dream. From the moment I drove into that goddamn tree until right now, it’s just surreal, you know?”
Mitch shook his head, rightly so, because I doubted that there was another person in this whole world who’d been through what she had.
Aviva had signed a bunch of papers earlier on in the meeting, and Sampson had sent copies to Tobias. He showed me the message that had just come back, which very eloquently stated, “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” It’s what we were all thinking.
Hendrick’s cheeks were a little flushed from the warmth of the whiskey. “Will you bring him back here? Repatriate him?”
Mitch shook his head. “No. That was where he chose, so I actually think I’ll leave him there. His family plot is in France, but I don’t think he’d want to be interred there forever. From what you described, there were more people who cared for him on that island than anywhere else, even though he was a total stranger.”
Hendrick nodded, looking far older than his years. “We’ve got a house over there, so if you ever want to visit his grave, you know our number now. You’re welcome to stay there.”
“You bought a house on a volcano, in a place you’d visited for a single day?” Mitch seemed incredulous, and I snorted. It was pretty ridiculous. Over the years though, I’d kind of become desensitized to their craziness.
Sampson shrugged. “Offer’s open.” He downed his fourth slice of pizza. I hoped this was what Nemo would have wanted, because it was exactly what I’d want if I died. Friends sitting around, eating pizza and drinking top-shelf alcohol, lamenting what a fucking asshole I was. But a loyal asshole.
I looked up to see Chaos staring at me like I was the best person she’d ever met, even though I didn’t deserve that at all. I winked at her, and she gave me that secret smile back. It was similar to the one on her face after she had her second orgasm in a session.
Mitch cleared his throat, looking around the table. “If I can ask… Hendrick is your husband, but these other guys? How do you all know each other?”
Viva laughed. “Is this covered under attorney-client privilege?”
Mitch snorted. “Sure.”
She used her pizza crust as a pointer. “Okay, so Hendrick is my husband, and Otto is my boyfriend and also Hendrick’s boyfriend. Sampson is my fiancé, and also Hendrick and Otto’s best friend. Evan—” She paused and smiled at me, and my heart grew three sizes. I felt like the fucking Grinch at the end of the damn movie. “Evan is my boyfriend too. He used to be Sampson’s bodyguard, but now he’s kind of my best friend too.” She looked quickly around the guys. “They all are, really. But Evan shored me up when I felt like my world was about to crumble.” She grinned at Mitch. “It’s complicated.”
