The Millionaire's Tainted Legacy

Decisions to Make

Tito. It was Tito on the phone. Caylee let out a slow breath when she saw his name on the display, then picked it up and tried to sound calm, normal. Of course Gregory didn't have her new cell phone number. How could he?

Hearing from Tito was just the distraction she needed from her own worries. She hoped the news he'd gotten today was positive.

"Hey, how did the meeting with the mystery donor go?"

"Not now." He sounded on edge. "Are you free tonight?"

It sounded to Caylee like the meeting had not been good news. Damn.

"That bad, huh?" What could have happened that he apparently didn't want to discuss it over the phone? Immediately her worries over Gregory were replaced with concern for Tito.

"I'll tell you tonight."

"Ok. Where and when?"

"Do you have a car with you?"

Sam and Camilla had several and had given her the use of one while she was staying with them. But she hadn't used it today.

"No, I rode in with Sam this morning."

"Then I'll pick you up after work. Can you be done by 6:00?"

"Sure." Now that she wasn't working for the life-sucking brain-numbing securities law firm in New York putting in 14 hour days, she could actually leave at a reasonable hour if she didn't have a major project due the next day. It was refreshing to be away from not only the ridiculous billable hour requirement, but also the pressure to never be perceived as being less than dedicated by walking out of work before the sun went down.

"I'll see you then," Tito, said, and abruptly disconnected.

Caylee set her phone down on the desk. Whatever had happened, she guessed she'd find out about it at 6:00, so there was no point wondering. What she needed to do now was focus back on the new case assignment so she'd have something to report back to Jack tomorrow morning, since she now definitely wanted to get out of the office at 6:00 and not a minute after.

* * *

Tito sent a quick text to Bailey and Ella to let them know he wouldn't be back to the office today, and would fill them in about his meeting tomorrow. Almost immediately his phone began to buzz with a call from Bailey, but he sent it to voicemail.

He knew she was dying to find out who the mysterious benefactor was, and what they wanted from OFC, but he needed to process the information first. And there was no way he was going to discuss it with Bailey and Ella - or Jack and his partners for that matter - until he'd decided exactly how to approach his sister Maria with the information. It affected her every bit as much as it affected him. Maybe more, since he reminded himself that Eleanor had several of Maria's paintings hanging on her wall.

How would his sister feel about that? He remembered how upset she'd been when Jack had made the high winning bid for a painting of hers that was being auctioned at a charity fundraiser, thinking that Ritchie had put him up to it just so she could have a sale. That was before she knew that the flash of color - the red windbreaker on the man at the helm of the sailboat she'd captured in her painting of Biscayne Bay - had been Jack himself. He'd been desperate to win the bidding because it was a painting of his own boat, and of him doing what he loved best. It now hung on the wall directly across from his desk in his office.

Would she immediately assume that Eleanor had purchased the paintings out of charity to Maria? While Tito was pretty sure Eleanor would have purchased them even if they sucked, they clearly didn't suck. Maria was already building a strong reputation in the Miami art scene as an up-and-coming young artist. And he imagined that Eleanor knew enough to appreciate what was and what wasn't good art, and if Maria's had fallen short, Eleanor probably would still have purchased them but she would have relegated them to a more distant part of her house out of view, not the front room where she entertained guests.