The Millionaire's Tainted Legacy

Welcome to Miami

Tito finished his conference call, leaned back in his office chair, and took the first sip of his third cup of coffee while he scrolled through the news and business sections of the Miami Herald online. His schedule was remarkably clear for the rest of the day. Between his assistant Ella and the enthusiastic social worker he'd hired earlier that year - Bailey Reid - donations were coming in steadily and the juvenile diversion program he'd started for trouble teens was proceeding smoothly, well exceeding his expectations. They had just wrapped up their first summer program a month or so ago, and then launched the mentorship program that would carry through until the end of the school year.

Tito checked the time. He still had a few minutes before he had to leave. He'd promised Bailey - who was speaking at a lunch meeting today to raise more funds for the fledgling organization Opportunity For Change, or, as it was known around the office, OFC - that he'd pick up her friend Caylee for her at the airport. Caylee was the recent hire for the law firm owned by Bailey's husband Jonathon and his two partners, Ritchie and Sam. And Ritchie just happened to be married to Tito's sister Maria.

None of them, however, had been available pick up Caylee at the airport, so Bailey and Maria had helpfully "volunteered" him. He had no idea why the woman couldn't simply take an Uber. But since she came from the same snooty old money Northeastern background that Jonathon did, he supposed she was used to people just being at her beck and call.

Stop being a jerk, he told himself. With everything Ritchie and his partners at the law firm had done to support OFC - not to mention the chance they had given him personally when few others would have - the least he could do was pick up their newest lawyer at the airport, and be pleasant about it.

Being pleasant, however, was not one of his strong suits. Tito believed in getting to the point, and if people didn't like what he had to say, that was their problem.

Tito took another long drink of his coffee and turned his attention back to the Miami Herald.

He scanned the local news section, and paused for a second at a headline, and then sat up straighter.

Prominent Miami Attorney and Wife Die in California Plane Crash.

But what caught his attention was the name in the first paragraph. Bradford Thornton. He skimmed the article. Apparently Thornton and his wife had been passengers in a small plane operated by a local realtor in Napa Valley, when the plane crashed into a vineyard. The reasons for the crash were being investigated.

The article noted that Thornton had been in Napa reviewing potential investment opportunities, then went on to discuss his illustrious background as a lawyer at one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in Miami, and his family lineage. There was some mention also of his wife's involvement in various charities and her position as a socialite.

Tito leaned back again, mildly curious but indifferent. Bradford Thornton was nothing to him.

* * *

The sense of relief Caylee felt when the wheels of the plane touched down at Miami International Airport was palpable. She was finally free.

Free from the boring job she'd held for the past year at a top securities law firm in New York. Long long hours and very high pay, but nothing that ignited her passion as a lawyer.

Free from her interfering mother who piled more and more social obligations on Caylee's already packed schedule, accepting committee assignments on Caylee's behalf without consulting her, and RSVPing her a yes to galas and charity balls she had no interest in attending, setting her up to be escorted by men she had no interest in dating much less marrying.