“Yeah.” I nodded and looked away from him again. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t tell him about my mother’s car accident and the fact that my father had believed that she’d been killed. I didn’t tell him that the real reason I was investigating was to get justice for my mother. I wasn’t sure that he’d understand. I thought back to the letter my father had left me; the letter that had led to my kidnapping and being stuck on this island.
My Dearest Bianca,
My darling daughter, as I lie here writing this letter, there are so many things I wish I could go back and change.
First, let me apologize to you. I spent too many years carrying around my grief at your mother’s death that there are many times I didn’t fully appreciate how alive we both still were.
Your mother meant the world to me and I see her living on in you. She would be so proud of the historian you’ve become. Stay inquisitive and beautiful, my darling. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to leave you anything in my will. I wasted my life away and there are many things I wish I had told you before today.
There’s one thing I think you should know. One thing I’ve agonized over telling you. I don’t think your mother’s car crash was an accident. As I’ve gone through my papers and recalled various conversations from the days before her death, it has occurred to me that there may have been people that wanted to see me incapacitated. People that knew that your mother’s death would change everything in my life.
My darling, I may not be able to leave you riches in the bank, but go through the papers in the box and you might find the truth. The truth will provide for your children and bring justice for your mother’s death. Writing this letter and knowing how strong you are is giving me great solace in the sadness of my last days. All I ask is that you be careful of who you trust. Friends can be foes and foes can be friends. Remember that I love you and I’m sorry.
Fight on like your beloved Mary, Queen of Scots.
All my love,
Papa
“Are you okay, Bianca?” Jakob moved closer to me. I could see the concern in his eyes. “You just spaced out for a long time.”
“I was just thinking of my dad.” My body trembled as his fingers ran down my arm.
“Thinking about the money?” His mouth twisted and I sighed. Jakob was really preoccupied with money. It seemed like he became irritated every time the subject was brought up. I was going to have to remember that.
“No, I was just wondering if we were kidnapped because the Bradleys think I’m about to take over their company.” I chewed on my lower lip. “A police officer, or someone posing as a police officer, came to my house recently. I’m pretty sure he was looking for some papers my father left me. Some papers that might entitle me to a majority share in Bradley Inc. Ever since I told my ex that I wanted to do some research on the company and meet his brother, Mattias, strange things have been happening.”
“Your ex, David?”
“Yes.”
“So you told your ex that you think you’re the rightful owner of his family company?”
“No, not exactly. I told him that my father used to work there and I was doing research on his inventions. The self-painter has revolutionized the way people get their home painted. It costs less than fifty dollars, and a room is primed and painted in an hour. The paint he created to work with the self-painter is only sold by Bradley Inc., and it made their company tens of billions of dollars last year. Even contractors are using it for their businesses.”
“I know what the self-painter does.” His voice was dry. “Let me get this straight. You told your ex-boyfriend that your father created the product, actually multiple products, that made his family company one of the largest corporations in the world. And then you told him you were doing research on said company, and you expected that he’d be cool with that?”
“I just wanted to talk to his brother, Mattias, the CEO. I know he has access to the files. I know his father had to have told him where the private files are kept.” My words tripped out of my mouth in a hurry as I sought to explain to him, why I’d tried to incorporate David’s help. “I just needed David to introduce me to Mattias.”
“That was pretty convenient that you ended up dating the heir to the company you were researching.” His eyes bored into mine and I didn’t even flinch at his question.
“Yes, it was.” I smiled widely at him. There was no way I was going to tell him how hard I had to work to get into a relationship with David. I was embarrassed by some of the things I’d done. Not even David knew the truth about our meeting.
“So did you meet Mattias then?” He leaned back and rested on his elbows as he stared at me.
“No.” My face paled as I remembered the phone call from David that told me his brother had no interest in meeting me. His voice had sounded odd, as if he’d been coached. “I never got to meet him. In fact, I don’t even know what he looks like.”
“How can that be?”
“I don’t know. The only information online about him is a brief blurb on the company website saying he is the CEO. He has no web footprint whatsoever.”
“Weird. I wish I knew how he did that. There are things I’d love to get erased from online.”
“So that’s basically it. A couple of days after David’s call, I started feeling like I was being watched. And then the letters came. And the police incident.” I stopped then and looked around me. “And here I am. Or I guess here we are.” I looked at the dark sky and stared at the stars glittering down at me. I felt as if they were communicating with me, telling me to keep some things to myself.
“That’s all of it?” I could hear the question in his voice. It was almost as if he knew that I was holding back part of the story. It was almost as if he knew that there were other things that David had told me. Things that I definitely was not going to share.
“Yeah, that’s it.” I said, and ran my hands down my matted hair and attempted to comb the knots out with my fingertips. I grimaced at the frizzy mess that met my touch and cried out as I yanked a few hairs too roughly. “Ouch.”
“Hey, be careful with yourself.” Jakob reached over and touched my hand and pulled it away from my hair. “Leave it alone. It looks fine.”
“Sure it does.” I smiled at him. “No need to lie to me.”
“It’s natural.” He smiled, his eyes lightening as the conversation changed. “I like women who are more natural.” His fingers touched the top of my head and then ran down the arch of my nose. “Your cheeks look rosy red and I know that’s not from blusher or bronzer.” He leaned forward and lightly licked my cheek. “Yup, no taste of makeup.”