Riana's Cavatina (Sonata of Love Book 2) Read online

  “Make me feel better.” I whispered. “Please.”

  Ryan pushed against me and tightened his fingers into my hair. I sighed as I threw my head back. His hold was firm, but gentle as he guided me to my back on the couch. He hovered above me, unsure of his next move. I pulled my shirt off and he placed his hand at the button of my jeans. “You’re sure?”

  Was I sure? No. It was probably the last thing I should be doing, but I needed to know I wasn’t ruined—again.

  I nodded as I lifted my hips to assist him in his task. As he stripped me down I realized I was too exposed; I felt the panic start and I tried desperately to stay with Ryan, to surrender to him again. As I slipped back into myself, and away from his touch, I knew I had failed yet again. In his most compassionate moment, I could not stay with him—even as he continued. I resigned to knowing that I was still broken, still unable to actively enjoy sex. But at least he still wanted me. His desire for me was all I wanted.

  As his skin started to glisten with a sheen a sweat, I knew I owned his desire. He moaned against my ear as he continued to fill me and I sighed in response, a small whimper and moan to encourage him. His body started to tense, and he held himself against me harder and longer until he groaned out as his release overtook him. “Ugh, goddamn Riana. Fuck I love you.”

  And that was all I needed.

  Movement Six

  It was the end of my second to last semester of graduate school, December 6th, when the letter arrived to notify me of my father’s death. I just got back to the graduate apartment building after a weekend at Ryan’s apartment. The Residence Advisor called me into her office as I walked by.

  “Riana! A certified letter came for you.”

  “Certified?”

  “Must be important.” She said as she handed it to me. I nodded and thanked her as I turned and left her office.

  I couldn’t even imagine who would have sent me a certified letter. Lexi and I were roommates and Sam and I were in almost constant contact via email and messaging. My mind didn’t even travel to my father since I hadn’t seen him in over ten years. My father had never married my mom, and he left pretty much the moment she told him she was pregnant. We’d only seen each other a handful of times. A couple times when I was very young, and twice more as I entered my teen years. Having been three years since my mom’s accident, it clearly wasn’t from her. Unless loved ones could now send certified mail from heaven. An interesting thought for sure.

  I unlocked my apartment door and entered into a quiet space. Lexi must have been at the library still, so I was alone as I sat on our couch and opened the letter. I noted that the return address was a law firm in Arizona and pursed my lips, I didn’t know anyone in Arizona.

  My brow furrowed as I started to read the letter… “Miss Graham…condolences…father’s passing…our law firm managed his estate and assets…beneficiary…attendance is requested to sign documentation…including eighty acres…ranch…stocks and bonds in excess of $103.6 million…form of a trust…”

  My hands started to tremble and my lungs constricted. The letter slipped from my hands and I blindly reached for my cell phone as my vision started to tunnel.

  “Come back to the apartment. Now.”

  I was never demanding like that with Lexi and I hoped she would understand that it meant this was urgent. I don’t know how long I sat on the edge of the couch, and tried to comprehend what it all meant. It had to have been at least ten minutes because Lexi soon burst through the door, panting and wild-eyed. “What’s going on?”

  She had definitely understood that I wouldn’t have been so curt in my message had it not essentially been an emergency. My jaw hung loosely as I turned my head to her. “I got a letter.”

  Lexi’s eyes focused down on the floor where the letter had landed. “What kind of letter?” She was cautious as she sat next to me.

  “My father died.” Simple. Emotionless.

  “He, um, made me the beneficiary of his estate.” I locked my gaze on her. “He had a fucking estate, Lex.”

  Lexi’s eyes flicked over my face, attempting to read what I may have been feeling. Good luck, Lex, I don’t even know what I’m feeling. I leaned forward and grasped the letter in my hand as I stood. “Not just an estate. I mean, not that an estate is something to scoff at, but like, apparently he had eighty acres of land and a damn ranch in Arizona.”

  “And now, it’s yours?”

  I gave a short laugh of disbelief. “It would appear that way.” I sat at my desk and shook my head. “I need to fly down there and meet with this lawyer.” Lexi nodded silently. “Will you come with me?”

  Lexi stood and wrapped her arms around me as she stood behind my desk chair. “Of course.”

  I always tried to remain strong and independent growing up, especially with being raped, suffering through depression, anxiety, and the passing of my mom, but Lexi always seemed to be able to reassure me that it was okay to need some support. The great part about that reassurance, was that she didn’t often feel the need to give it out loud. Unless it had to do with Ryan—then she was always more than willing to offer her opinions.

  I didn’t know if I should tell her about the money. Money had a horrible reputation for changing people, and how others relate to those people. I didn’t grow up poor by any means, but this was more money than I could have ever imagined having. I didn’t want it to make Lexi, well, weird. I knew though, if anyone would remain un-weird about me inheriting over a hundred million dollars, it’d be my Lexi.

  “There’s more.” I said.

  “More?”

  “Yeah, like, a hundred and three million dollars more.”

  It was Lexi’s turn to sit down. She took a few steps back and fell softly into her own desk chair. “Are you serious?”

  I passed the letter to her, “It’s all right there.”

  “Did you—“

  I shook my head, not needing her to finish the question. “I had no idea. I had no idea he was so goddamn filthy rich, I had no idea he was living in Arizona, I had no idea he ever gave me more than a passing thought, and yet, for some reason he left this all to me. Lexi, what the hell am I going to do with all of this?”

  “Well, I can tell you one thing, you won’t have to put up with your crappy serving job any more, and no worries about needing more student loans!”

  She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t respond.

  “I don’t know, Ri. I mean, do you think you’ll move down there? Are you going to let everyone know?”

  “God no!” I yelled. “No, Lexi, I don’t want anyone to know about this. Not yet, maybe not ever. You know how much I despise two-faced people and nothing will make people more two faced than a rich friend or family member. The last thing I want is long-lost fifth cousins attempting to contact me and get into my ‘inner circle’ for a chance to ask me for a personal loan.”

  Lexi and I held off on telling anyone about my sudden move upward on the social mobility axis. I called my father’s law firm and assured them that I would fly down right after finals. They told me they’d access funds from the trust to pay for the flights for both me and Lexi.

  There were only two weeks left of the fall semester, but I found it more than difficult to focus on finishing up projects and studying for finals. Ryan didn’t seem to notice any change though, and therefore was of little support to me. Not that it really surprised me being as he was so oblivious, he never really picked up on any changes in my mood. That’s not to say that he wasn’t a good boyfriend, he absolutely was—most of the time. I knew if I really needed his support all I had to do was ask. I didn’t want to ask though. I wasn’t sure that we were solid enough, even after a year of being whatever it was that we were, to not have a huge change in our dynamics if he knew about this sudden windfall.

  I told Sam. I swore her to secrecy first, and then proceeded to tell her that my estranged father left me everything he had in life. Her first response was to ask when I was coming to visit. I promised t
hat I would go see her just as soon as Canada thawed out. Mid-December was not exactly an ideal time to hit East Coast Canada. Not that it would have been a huge change from the weather at the University of Minnesota. Besides, I figured if all went well and this whole thing wasn’t some kind of sick joke, maybe I’d fly her out to see this ranch that now belonged to me. Or would belong to me, once the papers were all signed and taken care of.

  “Miss Graham?” a young man questioned as Lexi and I turned from the luggage corral. He was tall, dark, and had a thick accent. He was dressed in khakis and a light blue shirt and held my name on a white cardboard sign. I almost laughed, I thought people only did that in movies.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Raul, I’ll be your driver while you are here in Phoenix.” He reached for our bags and I turned to Lexi with wide eyes. A driver? This is weird. Really weird. She gave me an unsure smile as she gave her bag to Raul.

  “Fantastic. You can call me Riana, this is Lexi.” I dug in my purse to find my itinerary. “I think we’re staying at—“

  “The Westin.” Raul finished.

  “Yes. I don’t understand why such an elegant hotel was booked. I mean, we’re only here for a few days, a Holiday Inn would have been fine.” I ended with a small laugh to attempt to ease how truly uncomfortable I was with the fact that my father’s lawyers booked a hotel that cost damn near three hundred dollars per night. It was ridiculous.

  Raul flashed me a bright smile. It almost seemed he was relieved to drive people that were uncomfortable with such luxuries. “Nothing but the absolute best for William’s daughter.”

  I turned to Lexi and lowered my voice as we followed Raul to the car. “William? Fancy. He always went by Bill as far as I knew.”

  “You also didn’t know he was ridiculously wealthy.”

  “Valid point.”

  I clasped Lexi’s hand in mine as we ascended to the 18th floor to the suite of Filner, Miller, Richardson and Associates. I could feel myself tremble and my knees felt mushy.

  “It’ll be okay, Ri. I’m right here.”

  I looked over and gave her a weak smile.

  “Everything’s going to change.”

  She nodded. “Yes, it is. But it’ll be okay.”

  I squeezed her hand and fought the tears that threatened to break through. I had always denied it, but the truth was, I had grown up craving only the sense that my father actually loved me. The car, the gifts, I didn’t want any of it. I wanted a dad. And now—well now I had to accept that even if I was brave enough to say it, I was never going to have a dad.

  I took a deep breath as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

  We were greeted by a scene that I would have never placed with the general idea of “law firm.” A single receptionist sat at a large, curved desk in front of a set of frosted glass doors.

  The receptionist, an older woman with a round, happy face, weathered by countless days in the sun looked up as we approached. “Riana, I presume?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I prayed she didn’t notice the trembling in my voice.

  “Oh, dear, no need for such proper pleasantries. You call me Susie, alright?” Her smile was bright against her dark skin. And authentic—her smile held no hidden resentment or motives. I promptly decided I liked her.

  “Alright then.” I agreed. “Susie, I’m here to see Mr. Miller and Mr. Richardson.”

  Susie nodded “Paxton and Monty are expecting you. Let me just give them a quick jingle, make sure they’re ready. You and…”

  “Oh, Lexi. This is Lexi.”

  “You and Lexi can take a seat right over there. Should only be a minute.”

  True to her word, Mr. Miller and Mr. Richardson greeted us only a couple moments later. Paxton, Mr. Miller, was likely only in his mid-forties. He was trim, youthful looking, and still maintained most of his thick dark hair which had only recently started to be peppered with silver. Mr. Richardson, Monty, was much older. I’d put him probably mid-sixties. Tall, thin, and quiet he seemed to be the one with the background knowledge while Paxton was the one meant to do all the talking.

  “I hope you and Lexi were able to relax some before having to come meet us. I know the flight was long.” Paxton said as we followed him through the hallway towards the conference rooms.

  “Yeah, we tried to relax a bit. Kind of difficult with all of this going on.”

  “True, indeed.” He laughed.

  Monty grabbed the door to a corner conference room with all glass walls and large windows that overlooked much of downtown Phoenix. He gestured for us to enter and I took a deep breath. He gave me a small smile as I passed by then followed us in. Paxton called an associate to bring us water, “Or perhaps champagne?” he joked to me and Lexi. I assured him that no, we’d wait until all was taken care of before I did any sort of toasting.

  I noticed that while we waited for our drinks, and as Paxton and Monty got all the paperwork sorted, that associates and paralegals were sneaking glances into our windows. I shifted in my chair and avoided their gazes. Monty cleared his throat as he stood, he walked to the windowed wall and drew the blinds shut. “That should help.” He said. His voice was gruff, but yet still friendly as he gave me another small smile. I cocked my head to the side as I found myself thinking that his voice sounded oddly familiar.

  “Thanks.” I said softly. “I was starting to feel like some kind of exhibit.”

  “William was a very important client of ours, and when word hit that he was leaving everything to his secret daughter, unfortunately curiosity infiltrated the ranks.”

  “Secret?”

  “Perhaps a bad choice of words, Paxton.” Monty scolded.

  Paxton’s face reddened as he took a drink of water.

  Monty continued, “You weren’t a secret, dear. William only sought to, um, protect you from certain elements of his life.”

  I remained silent as I narrowed my eyes at the two lawyers.

  Paxton picked up where Monty left off. “None of that is of issue at this point, no need to worry. The aspects which concerned him are no longer in play. What is left, is yours.” He turned the stack of paper towards me and offered me a pen. “Shall we?”

  I looked to Lexi, who gave me a short nod and accepted the pen from Paxton. “Alright.”

  About an hour and a half later, with a severe cramp in my hand caused by signing my name so many times, we were done. I felt nauseated, and incredibly anxious. I still didn’t fully understand how my board of trustees worked, but I was assured that Paxton and Monty were always available for any questions I had moving forward. I was to receive a monthly deposit from the trust to my checking account in the sum of ten thousand dollars. Monty explained that my funds, with the rate of federal taxes, returns, investments, and interest would not come close to depleting—even with such a hefty monthly withdrawal.

  “I just…that’s ridiculous. There’s no reason I would ever need that much money every month.”

  “Then you simply deposit it back into savings my dear.” Monty said as he patted my hand. “I know it’s a lot to understand, but we’ll manage it, just as we did for William.”

  “Would you like to see your ranch?” Paxton asked.

  I looked at Lexi, she appeared just as overwhelmed and shell-shocked as I was. I attempted to swallow but found it quite difficult. I took another drink of my third bottle of water and nodded. “Uh, yeah, that’d be great.”

  Paxton stood from the table and took out his cell. He instructed Raul, our driver, to return to the building to pick us up and bring us out to the ranch.

  “It’s a long drive, Riana, would you like me to order you some lunch before you go?” Monty asked.

  “Lord, no.” I laughed. “There’s no way I could eat right now. Lex, did you want anything?” I asked.

  “I’m good.”

  “If you decide otherwise, just let Raul know, he’ll stop for you. Oh, one more thing. Here is your debit card for your new checking account. We have already d
eposited $20,000 for you.” I took the card from Monty as I stood and gathered all my copies of the paperwork.

  “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll be calling you with questions soon.” Monty smiled and nodded.

  “You remind me of my granddaughter.” He said softly, almost without realizing. “Take care, Riana, we’ll see you soon.”

  I was thankful that Raul didn’t feel inclined to carry on conversation for the three hour drive out to the ranch. Lexi kept a hold of my hand and watched as I silently attempted to begin processing this monumental change. One of the most pressing decisions was if I would continue my education. Seemed ridiculous to even question it, I loved learning, and I loved the fiery passion I had for social justice and change. I couldn’t imagine not finishing school. With winter in full swing though, the ranch could be a tempting getaway.

  As we pulled up to a gate, and proceeded through, I realized that “could be a tempting getaway” was grossly incorrect. It was definitely a tempting getaway. I was overcome with a sense of betrayal intertwined with consuming awe. I couldn’t believe I never knew about any of it; the money, the land, the house. I was disgusted, while instantly being drawn to fall in love with my new ranch.

  Raul parked the car and I slowly stepped out of the backseat. I shook my head lightly. “This can’t be mine.”

  I felt Lexi’s fingers thread back through mine as we followed behind Raul. He brought us up to the front of the house, which was framed by a lovely, large porch. He pushed open one side of the double Mahogany doors and motioned for us to enter. Lexi gasped and pulled me to the end of the hall and through a living room to a wall of windows facing a horizon that seemed to go on forever. It was too much to take in, I couldn’t comprehend it all. The open floorplan, the stone patio and pool in the back, the tasteful and classy décor—I just couldn’t process it. I found myself falling into one of the wingback chairs facing the fireplace. My hand slipped from Lexi’s and I fought against tunnel vision and dizziness as I realized I was being overtaken by a panic attack. Lexi dropped to my side, and talked me through the attack as Raul rushed to the kitchen for a bottle of water.