Chapter 226

“We’re here,” dad says, pulling a chic pair of reading glasses out of his pocket and slipping them onto his nose, “to talk about Ariel’s finances.”

Mom and I both smirk and send each other a glance, because dad looks so cute in his reading glasses. Not that we’d ever say that to him – he’s far too proud of the fact that he is otherwise a gigantic and terrifying Alpha King. But still, between us, we can admit that he’s sometimes also adorable.

Dad sends mom a rather withering glance, probably feeling some of her emotions down their mating bond, but otherwise says nothing.

“Are you aware, Ariel?” dad says, turning his attention on me. “Of the recent…influx of cash in your account? That came from the Grant organization?”

“What?” I whisper, glancing at Luca and then reaching for the paper. My eyes go wide when I see the…seriously insane number at the top of the page. “What…what the hell is all of this!?”

“The entire amount is not from the Grant estate,” dad says, leaning forward and tugging on the page so that I lay it flat on the table. “Just this amount, here.” He taps at a line at the top of the grid below the summarizing information – a ridiculous line that suggests that Luca has given me…

“One…one and a half million dollars?” I whisper, turning to Luca with shock. “Luca, what the hell!?”

“It’s from the magazine,” Luca says, looking at me evenly. “Your dad…helped me see that it belongs rightly to you. It should never have happened, Ariel, and I’m sorry that it did.”

“But I told you that –“

He puts up a hand, begging me to stop. I hesitate but let my voice fade away.

“Ariel, it’s your money to do with as you wish,” he says quietly, glancing at my dad as if in confirmation. I look between them, realizing that that does…well, it sounds more like my dad than like Luca.

“I still want it to go to the gym,” I say, a little frustrated, looking at everyone now, not just my mate. “Those were my wishes!”

“And we’ll help you do it,” my dad says, nodding to me evenly. “But if you want the money to go there, you should direct and send it yourself – not ask Luca to do it for you. It’s your money – you should know how it operates. I realize that…in attempting to make things easy for you, Ariel, I’ve perhaps raised you to be less experienced with money than you should be, especially as you are a very wealthy young woman.” He raises an eyebrow and nods at the page.

I look again at the…insane number at the top of it. “Is this…” I breathe, looking up at my dad again. “Is this seriously all mine?”

“That’s just the money that’s in your charitable account, Ariel,” dad says, nodding to me. Mom works hard to fight her smile, though she’s clearly very pleased to be able to give me the life and resources she never had. “There’s more in other accounts for you – an account where your salary from the Academy is accruing. Accounts we’ve set up to secure your future – investments, cash reserves, etcetera. Money so that you can buy a house, when and if you want one. Purchase…I don’t know, whatever it is that you’d like to have. But this money,” he says, tapping the page, “we hope that you will direct to help others.”

My lips part slightly as I stare at my parents. Because, I mean, I’ve always known that we as a family were rich but…me myself? On my own? With millions, apparently?

“You’re growing up, trouble,” mom says, giving me a happy smile. “It’s time for you to start making your own decisions.”

I exhale slowly, suddenly feeling the weight of it. The absolute…freedom of it, but also the responsibility that comes with it. “Why now?” I ask, still a little stunned.

“Because,” dad says, moving his eyes to Luca. “I imagine that Grant gym could use the infusion of the money. And if you’d still like it to go there, you should make some decisions about its allocation quite soon.”

“Well, yes,” I say, sitting up straighter, looking between Luca and dad. “Send it over. Send it now.”

Luca purses his lips a little, turning his head to the side. “Ariel, if you allocate this money to the gym it makes you a major investor. You would have…significant say in the future of the organization.”

My eyes go wide. “But I don’t want that!”

“You should,” dad says, and I whip my head back to see him studying me with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t raise my children to simply hand out millions of dollars without knowing precisely where it went, Ariel.”

“It’s going to Luca, dad,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him and holding out my palm towards my mate. “Whom I trust.”

“Actually, it wouldn’t be,” Luca says, and I spin my head to face him, my eyes even wider. He gives an apologetic shrug. “I have very little to do with the day-to-day running of the gym and the support of all the kids who are enrolled as charity pupils, Ariel. I mean, obviously I’m here, not there. The money would be going directly to my uncle if you simply wrote a check. And, considering…” he hesitates now, letting me fill in the blanks, knowing how I feel about his uncle at the current moment.

I scowl, leaning back against the chair and taking a deep breath, feeling underprepared for all of this.

“We’re here to help you, Ariel,” mom says, reaching out and running a hand up and down my arm, comforting. “Why don’t you and Luca take a few days to talk? Figure out precisely how you want the money allocated and where you want it to go. Then, once you’ve made some decisions, Ariel, we’ll hire someone who does this professionally – who can oversee the donation and really ensure that it’s doing what you want it to.”

“That doesn’t feel fair,” I say with a sigh, looking only at my mom now because she feels like the one who will understand. “I just want to help – I don’t want to take over.”

“It’s your responsibility, darling,” she says gently.

“I don’t want to change Luca’s vision, though,” I reply, getting a little upset about it.

“It perhaps needs to change anyway,” Luca says, drawing my attention to him. “The gym…it’s not precisely profitable at this moment, and the infrastructure we currently have is not really prepared to handle the influx of this kind of money – my uncle is a boxer and a coach, not a businessman. Honestly, the gym could use this kind of help – could use the money, but could also use someone in charge who really knows how to spend it. I think it’s right, Ariel.”

I sigh, squeezing Luca’s hand, feeling just how much he means that down the bond.

But I glance back towards the paper on the table. “And we’re sending…all of this money?”

Dad smirks a little. “You can spend it as you wish, Ariel, but I would hope that you would allocate some funds elsewhere. There are many organizations that could use it. Or, perhaps there’s a project you’d like to develop yourself for which you would reserve some funds.”

I frown a little, taking another deep breath. “I don’t really have time for all of this,” I murmur, picking up the paper and looking it over, still baffled by the insane amount of money at my fingertips.

“You will make the time, young lady,” my dad says, stern.

I look up at him and put the paper down on the table again, my spine straightening the way it always does when he speaks to me with that tone, just on the edge of scolding.

Dad shakes his head at me, slow. “Your mother is right – this is a responsibility and you are ready for it. I’m aware that you have other obligations on your time at this school, but you are a Princess of this realm, Ariel. Your people deserve some of your attention as well – you can and should make time for them. If you do not, the money will simply sit in your account waiting for you when it could be out in the world doing good.”

I purse my lips a little, feeling the responsibility settle on my shoulders, feeling myself adjust to accommodate it. God, is this really what I want? More responsibility, when I’m trying to juggle two mates and my work as an espionage Cadet in a nation on the brink of war?

Can…can I handle all of this at once?