Page 48 of Legacy of Deception

“That explains Boca,” she said, sounding resigned.

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I settled on my jaw, scratching it. “That explains Boca,” I echoed. Exhaling, I reached a hand in my pocket and pulled out the pocket watch my aunt Babe had given me for my confirmation. I snapped the cover open and looked at the time.

“You better call me,” she warned, and I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t want to hear the next part of that sentence.

“Call me when you land.” I killed the call and flipped the watch over in my hand, letting my thumb trace the inscription.

In time you will rise.

I never knew what those words meant or why she had put them on the back, but I was hoping they meant something to her. At least, enough that she felt inclined to help me in this moment.

The fifteen-minute drive west to the large country club community where she lived was an easy one and the driver pulled up outside her estate house with ease after passing the security guard. Apparently, anyone with the name Deluca was on the list and automatically allowed entrance.

It’d been more than a few years since I’d seen her or any of my six cousins. They weren’t all Matteo’s. After him, Babe went on to marry a couple more times and had different children with different men, some she hadn’t married. Regardless, it went without saying that I hoped I made the right decision in coming.

I rang her doorbell and waited. With a three-car garage, it didn’t mean anything that there was no car in the driveway. After a few minutes, I decided to go around back to the tropical oasis that was her backyard. Sure enough, under the tiki hut next to her private pool sat Babe, drinking some fruity, colorful thing and reading a book.

Aunt Babe was always elegant. She had striking blue eyes that looked like blocks of ice, and for as long as I’d known her, she had snow white hair with streaks of silver illuminating it. It was once shoulder-length, but now it appeared to frame her face. She defined ageless elegance.

“Aunt Babe,” I called, alerting her to my presence as I lifted the lever on the gate to enter.

She turned to face me and slipped her sunglasses off her face after setting her book down on the table, her jewelry banging around on her wrist as she did so. “Is that my favorite Deluca?” She stood up and walked to meet me, her arms outstretched as she got closer.

“Let’s hope you mean that,” I muttered as she embraced me. “You look like you’re living the good life.” I studied her closely as she backed up from our hug. Indeed, she was the same woman I remembered. Dressed in those fancy pants that cut off at the calf and a silky blouse, she looked like she had found her way of bringing her flair for fashion to the Florida lifestyle.

On her lips she was wearing that same confident smirk she always had. Babe had what I could only refer to as an unapologetic zest for life. “Of course I am. This is South Florida, and I’m a very rich woman. The two are entirely distinct, unrelated reasons, but they are both true. Now, what brings you by? This isn’t exactly on your way home.”

Laughing, I took the chair next to her. “Actually, it is. I was in Las Vegas and decided I wanted to see you.”

“Wanted? Or needed? What do you need, Marco?”

It was the fact that she assumed I needed something that had me grinning. “Always so intuitive.”

“I’m not stupid. Now, out with it, so you can get back to that fiancée of yours,” she said, hitching an eyebrow in the air as she waited for me. “Have to say I was surprised to hear of the engagement the way I did.”

Brooklyn. She knew about Brooklyn. Of course, she did. Everyone did as far as I was aware. My father basically saw to it when he had run it in the announcements. Figuring she would see through whatever I offered her on the topic of my engagement, I decided to ignore it and get right down to the reason for my visit. “I need your help taking down my father.”

A sharp gasp sent her head snapping back as she stared at me. The way her eyes pinned me in place, it almost felt like she was trying to find something that wasn’t there. “How can I help you?”

“You know him better than anyone.”

“Your mother—”

“Doesn’t get involved in the business. But you, you, Aunt Babe, always were involved with anything and everything my father did.”

“The casket company was his dream.”

“Yes, like that. You know all his secrets and the way his mind works.”

“I don’t think I do. I never expected he’d sell the company only to come back and build a ridiculous empire. Going public like he did.” She rolled her eyes.

“You own stock?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

She laughed and slipped her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Of course I do, but that’s not the point.”

“No, it’s not, but it is all the more reason you need to help me.”

“Sweet boy, you know I’d do anything for you. But this?”