the look on his face. It was as though I had accused him of murder.”
“And that surprised you?” Louis said.
“I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t,” Michael said. “I don’t trust you. I never have and-after this experience-I never will. But this is now personal for me, too. When I saw the look on Redman’s face, I knew he pulled that trigger and I want him dead for it. What you need to understand is this-once it’s over, I never want to see you again. You’ll pay off Santiago-just as you promised-and you will give me money to start over with. A lot of money. Those are my terms. Either you meet them or I’m out of here. Now, tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.”
There was a silence, almost as if Louis had been expecting something different from his son, perhaps another disappointment, certainly not this.
“All right,” Louis said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We’ll discuss everything in detail then.”
Momentarily relieved, Michael hung up the phone, knowing that if his plan was going to work, if he was going to protect Leana and her family, he would have to assume the role of a lifetime and convince his father that his resolve was genuine.
Leana turned to him, her eyes warm and liquid in the bedroom’s muted light. She was beautiful, he thought. If it cost him his own life, he would see to it that no further harm came to her or her family. He would see to it that his father was stopped. If Michael was wrong and George Redman had indeed killed his mother, then he would have to be brought to justice another way-not like this.
He brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. “Are you ready for this?”
Leana shrugged. “No. And I hope they’re not expecting too much from me tonight,” she said. “I’m not up to this at all.”
And here was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.
Last night, while they were relaxing in bed, it came to Michael that if his father would murder Celina, then he almost certainly planned the same fate for Leana. Louis didn’t want Leana to manage his hotel. He only gave her that job to publicly humiliate her father. And Louis wouldn’t stop there. Before Redman was murdered, Michael knew his father meant for the man’s family to die before him-so George would feel the pain Louis himself had felt for years.
On the clock radio, the music stopped and a segment on the morning news began. Last night, they’d intentionally turned up the volume so they wouldn’t oversleep. Ordinarily, he would have shut off the machine. But this bedroom was wired, and if the radio’s volume was loud enough, Spocatti wouldn’t hear what he was about to say.
“Then don’t do it,” he said quietly. “Don’t go.”
Leana looked surprised. “What are you talking about?” she said. “I have to go.”
“No, you don’t. Call Ryan and quit. You told me last night you don’t want this job. We can be back in Europe by the end of the day.”
“I can’t do that to Louis, Michael. He’s done too much for me. It isn’t right.”
“Ryan’s using you. You told me so yourself. Didn’t you tell me that you only took this job to hurt your father?”
“That was only part of the reason.”
“Maybe so, but the other night was a turning point. He cares about you. He came here because he wanted to tell you himself about Harold. Yesterday, I saw him reach for your hand at Celina’s funeral. Last night, he called to see how you were. Don’t mess with this, Leana. You finally have a chance to build a meaningful relationship with your father. Don’t you see how precious this is? I would give anything to be in your place to have a father who cares for me the way yours is beginning to care for you. Don’t deny him another chance.”
“I don’t plan to,” she said. “But I’m going through with tonight’s opening. This isn’t about my father anymore, Michael. This is about me-my abilities. All of New York will be there tonight. Those who matter will finally be watching me. I’ve waited too long for this. If I quit and go to work for my father-assuming he’ll hire me-there’s no telling how long I’d have to wait for a moment like this.”
She looked at him with such impatience, Michael was taken aback.
“Don’t you see?” she said. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve watched my sister and him shine. Since I was a kid, I knew I could do everything they could do-but I wasn’t given the chance.” She stepped out of bed and moved naked to the bathroom.
“I don’t want to discuss this,” Leana said. “I’m opening that hotel tonight and I hope you’ll be there to support me-”
She stopped suddenly and turned toward the radio, her eyes widening as it was announced that WestTex, the floundering shipping company George Redman reportedly paid $10 billion for, had become Redman International’s earlier that morning.
“Watch Redman International’s stock when the Dow opens this morning,” the commentator said. “How this plays out will be critical for George Redman. If it falls any further, some critics say Redman will be a prime candidate for a takeover himself. In related news, the same isn’t true for Anastassios Fondaras, the Greek shipping magnate who went public moments ago as Iran’s new chief exporter of oil.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Confident, magnificent, his heart full for the first time in years, Louis Ryan left his office, stepped smartly down the busy hallway to his boardroom and faced his directors, most of whom were spirited to New York only last evening-leaving behind previous engagements, summer vacations in progress, mistresses in foreign countries. The usual.
They were in groups of three or four, sipping steaming mugs of coffee or tea, unaware of his presence. As Louis stood in the doorway, only dimly aware of their quiet babble of conversation, his gaze swept the room for Peter Horrigan, the Wall Street lawyer who had been hired to advise the directors of their rights and duties, and saw with a smile that he wasn’t there yet. If he had been, if these men and women even sensed what he was about to propose, Louis knew he would be entering pandemonium.
He closed the door behind him and the conversations stopped. They looked at him, their expressions ranging from minor annoyance to genuine concern. Why had he brought them here? What couldn’t have waited until their scheduled August board meeting?
Louis moved into the room, an old friend greeting each director with a warmth that was almost beguiling. He asked after their wives, their husbands and their families, alleviating the tension with well-chosen jokes, a deep- throated laugh. He knew he had alarmed them with the suddenness of this meeting and if he was to garner their support, it was imperative that he make them feel comfortable now.
Never had he been more charming. His eyes shined with a light of mystery and sparkled with a sense of humor few had seen in him before.
And then, as he asked them to be seated, Peter Horrigan arrived.
To Louis, the crashing silence that followed was almost comical. As Horrigan moved into the room, smiling to those people he knew, nodding at the few he didn’t, Louis looked at each of his directors and knew the time to act was now, while they were still too stunned to speak.
While the others sat, he remained standing and faced them all with a strength and purpose that was as compelling as they had come to expect from a man who had built from nothing a multi-billion dollar corporation.
“Welcome,” he said to the group. “And again I want to thank you all for leaving your families and coming here on such short notice. I understand many of you were enjoying summer vacations and I promise you that your time in New York will be short. But since our last meeting, events have changed so dramatically with one of our competitors, I felt it was in the best interest of our shareholders to meet now and not only discuss the future of this great company, but also the fate of another-Redman International.”
He paused for effect, and noticed that all eyes turned briefly to Peter Horrigan, who was seated at Louis’ right, before turning back to Louis himself.
Louis continued. “As I’m sure most of you are aware, this morning George Redman and his directors went against the odds and purchased WestTex Incorporated, the large shipping company based in Corpus Christi, Texas.
