Read A Purse to Die For for Free Online Page B

The drink of life, " he said grimly. " Cheers. " He flopped down in an easy chair.
    Jerry saluted with his glass. " Linda is doing some sort of facial thing. Can ' t stand that kind of primping, so I cleared out. "
    Tony nodded. He wasn ' t feeling a desire for female company at the moment.
    He gazed about the room. What a handsome place. He ' d always loved the oak-panelled walls, the big stone fireplace and the comfortable furniture. When Tony was young, he thought there must be a thousand books in here. One rainy day he went about counting them. He counted all day in between meals, stopping only when he reached three thousand. And that wasn ' t half.
    " The thing I can ' t figure out is where she got the money from. " Jerry was raring to talk. " Eight million dollars, for crissake. How come I didn ' t know about it? "
    The old clock struck a quarter chime. Tony drank from the glass and pondered his reply.
    " Where the heck did she get it? " Jerry continued to puzzle.
    Tony was silent. Then he made his decision. " She inherited it from Italy two years ago. Some great uncle died, leaving her and two other cousins a bunch of apartment buildings in Palermo. They bought her out. " So the cat was out of the bag. Let the chips fall where they may.
    Jerry rose to his feet. " You knew? She told you? "
    Tony nodded.
    " How long have you known? "
    " From the beginning. "
    Jerry started to pace like a caged animal. " I can ' t believe it. Does anyone else know? "
    " Just you now. She made me promise. "
    " Why you and not me? " Jerry insisted. " I ' m her son—why didn ' t she tell me? "
    " That ' s simple, " Tony offered. " I ' m the only one in the family who speaks proper Italian. Remember, I did that exchange program in Rome for my degree. The papers from Italy were in the Siena dialect, which is what they now call Italian . Grandma was born in Palermo. She spoke and read only the Sicilian dialect. She needed someone who could translate and she wanted someone in the family. "
    He left it at that. No need to point out both Jerry and Reggie would have figured out a way to get at that money . A nd Grandma damn well knew it.
    " Oh. That makes sense. " Jerry ran a shaky hand through his hair. " But why didn ' t she tell me after? Why didn ' t she trust me? "
    Tony sighed. " Jerry, you know how she was. She loved knowing a secret and holding it over everyone. She probably would have told you eventually when she could have used it for something, like preventing you from going away. I don ' t know. "
    Jerry plunked down on the sofa. " The crafty old bitch. " He finished the glass of whiskey and slammed it down on the end table. " One thing for sure. Wait until good ol ' Reg hears about this. Eight million dollars right under his very nose all this time and he doesn ' t even know it ' s there. " He started to laugh and when the tears started to fall down his face, Tony joined in.
     

 
     
    Chapter 10
     
    Carla woke rather suddenly. It was morning. She didn ' t know how she dared, but she poked Reggie several times to wake him. He dragged himself into a half-sitting position and pulled the covers up over his torso. She noted his rheumy eyes and his slackened limbs. He never woke up alert the way she did.
    " Woke up in the middle of the night and you were gone , " she said .
    " Huh? Give me a break. What time is it? "
    " Heard you talking on the phone before supper yesterday. You agreed to meet someone in the alley last night. That where you were, Reggie? "
    " None of your business . "
    " You all paid up now? ' Cause I ' ve decided I ' m not gonna deal with your gambling anymore. Not your gambling. Not your fists. None of it! " She glared at him.
    " What ' s got into you? "
    " You snuck out again. After you promised . "
    " Well, where were you ? " he demanded. " When I got back, you were gone.
    " Had to pee, " she said. " Then I checked on our daughter. That ' s where I was. And you ' re in no position to point fingers. Don ' t even know