Her Ultimate Inheritance

the new partnership

CAMILLE POV

I was set to leave soon; the sooner I was gone, the better. I was looking forward to my two-week getaway, pushing away all my problems never seemed so beautiful before. It gave me a new spirit. Maybe I should be escaping from my troubles often and deal with the problems way after I have a new sense of direction.

I couldn't thank Greg enough for his brilliant idea. It was a perfect idea, talk about killing two birds with one stone. Damn, that man who I was so proud of calling my best friend needed something special done for him. He took care of me, and protecting me was just like something in his nature. Always looking out for me. That was my Greg.

“How long will you be gone? Seem like you are always on the move and I never thought you would be back to Canada it has bad memories for you.” Jacky said while she brought me some cold lemonade that I had requested her to prepare for me.

"I know it feels like I won't be relaxing anytime soon. The business is really doing well especially the new ventures. I never thought in a million years I would be interested in a business that is from my home town but I bet fate and money have a weird way of driving one to the places that they never wish to be in." While pretending to go over files, I said I would be packing for my "business trip."

Lying was never ideal for me, but this small lie I told my different employees was just a means to an end. It was beneficial to all parties involved in this saga. Well, it was no way beneficial to Timothy, but to me, it was. It was my way out of my father's mess.

"This meeting will take two weeks, there is a lot to be done and lots of annoying negotiations on the way. I just hope that it wouldn't be more than two weeks. God knows I have missed hanging out with my animals." I chuckled. The thought of spending quality time with my dogs, horses, and cattle filled my heart. I had realized a long time ago that it was easier for me to hang around animals than human beings.

There was this peaceful and calm aura that came with animals and some humans. Don't get me wrong; I am human a quite annoying one that most people who don't know me well will quickly judge me as a child that had everything handed to them. I was not a handout billionaire. I worked my ass off to get where I was, and I believed that I chose how to spend my time or money entirely up to me. Opinions did not faze me.

******

KANE POV

Timothy had surprised me when he demanded to know who I was. I had not planned on telling him I was a disgruntled business associate of his psychopath daughter. I guess it ran in the family, and his wife's disappearance did not make the situation much better. That old bastard was thinking I was working against him. It is partially true that I'm not working for him, nor am I keen on why he is so hell-bent on destroying his daughter to the extent of harming his wife. It's none of my business. I just want to get back at Camille to strip away all the pride I had and uncover my secret.

For starters, when I embarked on my mission of finding all about Camille Collins, I did not expect that my curiosity and mission would lead me to Toronto, Canada. A simple google search did the trick of getting me super hooked, there was little information about her background, but one article referred to her as the daughter of the great Canadian tycoon. I needed to confirm this information after I realized that Beatrix O'Brian stopped existing in this world ten years ago, and that was the time Camille Collins came to life. With that, I set my business in order, delegated what I had to, and set off to Canada.

My employees are under strict instructions of not revealing my whereabouts to Camille because I know she secretly looked forward to delivery days. She enjoys seeing the hatred on my face. I bet that woman bathes with all the hatred she has managed to amass in her way to the top. She gets my respect for being a badass business lady. She doesn't let the fact that she is a woman get her opinions kicked out. Her independence and determination was enough turn-on to any man, and yet her strengths and resourcefulness seem to be her downfall.

I was here in Toronto for her downfall, anyway I could do it. Trust me, and I have made it my life mission to ensure her downfall is imminent.

I glanced at my watch. Timothy was fashionably late; this was one thing that was super different from her daughter. She was always on time. I think the good Lord created her for this purpose, always on time to keep others on their toes. I was down to two glasses of martini, and his lateness was starting to get on my nerves. I would snap any second, but I quickly decided that I won't work in my favor on this particular day. Maybe that delusional old man was testing me just to see my reaction or where my royalty fell. If that was the case, good luck, Timothy, I am not giving you that satisfaction. You will work for it.

Ordered my third drink; at this rate, I will probably be too drunk to hold a meeting with Timothy I needed to be alert. I did not know all his motives, and I never trusted this man. He always gave the wrong vibes, and my guard was to be up whenever I was with him.

Waiting for another twenty minutes, I let my eyes familiarize myself with my surroundings. The faces that were here when I arrived had quickly disappeared, and new faces were streaming in, watching out for anyone suspicious.

There he was in his full glory, Mr. O’Brian walking majestically towards the table that was strategically placed on a spot that I had the vantage of looking and analyzing anyone without the blind spots like for the CCTV cameras.

“Good choice of table,” he said with a smirk on his face. “I should have known you are careful with details.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Timothy didn't even dare to apologize for keeping me waiting for almost one hour. Damn this family. What was with them, to be honest?

“You are quite a drinker, three martinis in less than one hour. Impressive. Are you trying to get super drunk so that you can avoid this meeting? Is there somewhere you would rather be at this moment?” He asks, never thinking that the reason for my silence was him.

“So you were watching me and here I was thinking that you were just an old man suffering from one of those weird old age conditions, because of your lateness. Got to tell you that’s one of the things you don’t share with your daughter, maybe she took it from her mother?”

I knew I hit a nerve when I dropped that first bombshell on him. Did he think I would look like a scared dog when meeting him with my tail between my legs? If anything, he should be cursing his daughter for this amazing gift that she gave me unaware.

“Watch it, you don’t get to mention that woman that I very much wish to be out of the face of the earth together with her daughter. Keep them out of your mouth forever.”

"How do you suggest I refer your daughter to as? Camille or Beatrix?" I asked, knowing very well it would keep on agitating him, and I promised myself that I would keep agitating him till he loses it. I had a record for enjoying this type of mind game. I was confident that he would do nothing to harm me. He needed me more than I needed him, and that was my advantage over him. I was quite sure that despite his vast resources, he didn't know that, but I was not sure why his vast resources had not traced the whereabouts of his wife. 

He had almost everyone on his payroll, talk about people in government to simple people on the streets. So whoever had his wife or wherever she was hiding was extremely powerful. His wife was from a very powerful family everyone knew them, The Collins, with one of the largest group industries. They reign in almost all sectors, but I reflected on the shape we left her on that deserted road. There was no way she would have gotten help from her family or help from anyone at all. Maybe she met a python, but there were no pythons in Canada, so highly impossible. I had to uncover this. I had to options, find her and finish the job if she was still alive or sit around and wait how this unfolds. I was sure if I chose the second option, my involvement in this whole fiasco would still not be uncovered. I was completely safe, and just like that, like the wise man I was, I went for the second option. There was no way I was getting my hands dirtier with that woman.

I sat there silently, praying that my choice doesn't backfire on me.

"You are staring and I don't appreciate your creepiness. I think I should leave because you have said nothing of importance since I got here, it is just you trying to provoke me and stare at me. If I wanted to be stared at I would be home with my grandchildren staring me for fun." He snapped, but what brought me to reality was the murderous look he had in his eyes. It was giving me chilling vibes. I hated it.

“I apologize for staring, it was not intentional. I am just thinking. I am allowed to do that, right?” I ask as if I’m unsure of myself.

“I am not here to tell you what is allowed for you to do or not. I am just here because I can’t seem to figure out who you are, what your real motives are. I can’t seem to find any dirt on you and that makes me wonder what my daughter has on you for you to have such a vengeful spirit but I can work with it too my advantage." He says, and, immediately, my mind goes on overdrive. Doesn't he have any dirt on me? That's impossible! Is he messing with me to see my reaction? I'm not letting my guard down. Camille uncovered my secrets. Did Camille purposely cover up my fuck ups so that no one else can find them, or were his investigators not good enough?

I have to figure out this mess and have my escape plan in motion. I didn't trust the O'Brian's. You know what they say about getting in the middle of family dramas, they would gang up together and go against you. I didn't want this messy affair to be on me, but my ego was not ready to accept failure. I had come a long way to allow failure and let these crazy family distort my plans.

TIMOTHY POV     
          
I had kept Kane waiting so that I could just see his reaction. I had arrived at the restaurant one hour before so that I could study him more. I had my team surround the whole place, and some blend in as customers in the restaurant. This man was almost an amateur; I say almost amateur because he seemed trained. Something was intriguing about his personality; actually, it was the only thing that made me go and meet him.

I decide that I need a sober mind to discuss with, so I make way to meet him. It is his third martini; I hope that he is a man who can hold his liquor. I don't know much about him apart from the vague things he has told me. My investigators have nothing on him, which makes him dangerous. It does not sit well with me. Finding his vendetta against my daughter is something worth digging up; either he knows how to cover his tracks well or my girl is sending him as her inside man to infiltrate me, or maybe there is no reason for his hate; it's just genuine hate. No, but there is nothing like no reason for something; I have been around this business for too long to know that. It is in my DNA.

He is probably working for Beatrix, but why would he go along with a mission of harming her mother? But maybe just maybe he has something to do with the disappearance of her. The police had not released the news about Madison missing, so how did he find out? I don't believe his shady theory about it. I struggle to keep my thoughts together, but my gut tells me I may be on something big. I should not trust this man that claims to want the downfall of my daughter. I scream to my thoughts to shut up as I take my seat.

I look around, the table he chose, very clever of him. He chose a table where he could see every corner of the restaurant and study everyone coming in and going out. I wondered if he had noticed any of my people. My people were vigorously trained, and they would camouflage to any environment with ease. I   knew there was no way that he would have spotted them. To the untrained human eye, everything was perfect in this restaurant.

I greet him with sarcasm commending his wise choice of table. I can see the glint of anger in his eyes and ignore it and go ahead to taunt his day time drinking habits. I need to break him, and I relax a little because I seem to have managed to break him from the look of things. The anger in his eyes tells me all. There is a smirk on his face and turns to provoke me. Nice move, I commend him in my brain.

He is comparing me to my daughter; I hate when people do that. Comparing me to her, it's completely unacceptable. She is lesser than me; I'm a freaking god. Why was hit so hard for people to acknowledge this fact? I helped create this girl. Everyone seemed to praise, and I raised her. She is wherever she is now because of me. He then says something about my wife; I think I got enough evidence that Beatrix has sent this son of a bitch to infiltrate me.
I am slowly losing my cool; maybe some whiskey on the rocks will soothe me as I handle this egocentric man. He thinks I don't know what my daughter has been doing this past week or this morning. I have tabs on her, and the good thing about rats is that they work so super damn well. They are good at uncovering what others would miss.

Martinez logs in my mind, she has been quiet. I need to check on her soon. She knows I hate her silence since she knows I'm in the middle of family drama. One week is too much to keep silent. I will call her after I'm done with this pissing man.

"So tell me how do you know her and what does she have on you?" I ask. Yes, I’m reconsidering my second option of thinking she has the time for these games. She has always been a straight shooter. It was not her MO. So I stick to my original thought. He knows how to cover his tracks well.
I don't get an answer. When I look at Kane, I find him staring at me. It was creepy. I cleared my voice; this man found a way to provoke me. I give him a murderous look. The look makes one want to curl into a fetal position and do whatever you command them to do.

His response made me think twice about not collaborating with him. Even though I didn't want my daughter dead, he was a killer, and I wanted her to lose everything she had. She deserved death, maybe. That's what she was supposed to get for her defiant soul. I wanted her to beg me for her life. It would make me feel good. Yes, I am a sadist, and Beatrix was dead the moment she walked out of my door.

“Mr. Kane, I think we will make a great team. Destroying her is my only desire and I presume it is your desire too. I apologize for my lateness, I was caught up with some last minute business deal that I couldn’t pass.” A little technical lie wouldn’t kill him. He did not deserve to know what I was doing. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him or me.

I noticed a confused gaze on him. What was this man thinking? I was clear on us collaborating. Was he not expecting me to partner with him? Was he getting cold feet already? This man was becoming harder and harder to read every goddamned second. I ordered a drink to calm my temper. I loved the sour taste of the whiskey on my throat. That burning effect that was so smooth was what I needed for this conversation.

“I am just surprised that you want me to be your partner in crime. I was your partner before remember that rainy night? So I’m just confused when my privileges were revoked and, is this a game to you? Should I expecting a call every time things don’t go your way for you to cancel our partnership and reinstate it again after setting a meeting and you judging me and looking at with that murderous gaze?” he snapped. I believe this was him losing his cool.

“Truth is, you my friend, you are a very hard man to read. I don’t have you all figured out and, that’s why you are seeing me having doubts about you. Trust has to be earned and, I believe you know this too well. Many collaborations are formed on the foundation of mistrust and, our partnership is one of those deals that mistrust is a foundation. So are you in or out? I need to know now. This is not a matter that I’ll let you go and marinate on for twenty four hours to get an answer.”

“Well give me a second to process thi-“

My phone vibrates, cutting him off. Martinez calling. She sure knows how to make an entrance.