Page 46 of The Tempo of Truth

I shook my head, numbness spreading from the center of my chest to my extremities, making my fingers tingle.“How is this possible?Are you sure you have the right person?”The Lev I knew barely made ends meet and griped over the smallest cent.How could a guy like that be a Russian oligarch, and I never realized it?I felt like I had stepped intoTheTwilight Zone.“This is one of those hidden camera pranks, right?Mino set this up because I bailed the last time he asked me to help out at the restaurant, right?”I couldn’t believe what the man in the leather jacket was telling me.

A business card was shoved into my hand.Lowe had to grab it because I was too slow to respond.“Come by the office when you’re free.Mr.Petrov has accounts spread widely across the globe.Gaining access to them all will take some time.It’s obvious he was very cautious and extremely secretive with his wealth.Maybe he had something to hide.”The older man chuckled.“You’re a fortunate man, Mr.Kent.Few people can say they are favored by this type of good fortune.You are truly blessed.”He gave a jaunty wave and stepped off the curb, jogging across the street and climbing into a sleek supercar before disappearing into traffic.

I was still in shock and nearly dropped Lowe when he started to impatiently squirm.The lawyer said Lev was a millionaire, which meant I was going to be a millionaire once I inherited his estate.

Considering I had maybe two hundred and fifty bucks in my bank account at the moment, I felt like I lost my balance.The entire world shifted when I thought about all those zeros.I’d never been on equal footing with Winnie financially.I’d gotten used to being loved for who I was and not what I had.But now I had SO FUCKING MUCH, I couldn’t think straight.

I put Lowe back on his skateboard and watched him start to kick the ground and roll forward.He looked over his shoulder at me and asked, “Your friend left you a gift?”

I cleared my throat and followed behind him.“It sounds like it.”A gift like that would change the course of my entire life.I watched my carbon copy skate in front of me and called out, “Lowe.”Once the little boy turned to look at me, I told him, “Do you know that you’re the best gift I’ve ever gotten?Nothing compares to you, little man.I owe your mom more than I can ever say for giving you to me.”

Bright eyes and a toothy grin were followed by the self-assured, “Of course.I’m the best.I’m way better than a million dollars.Let’s go get ice cream.We can take Mommy some since we have a lot of time.”

Life had a weird way of balancing the scales.When I was greedy and wanted too much, I lost everything.When I finally learned to be happy with nothing extra, everything fell into my lap and mocked my pathetic struggles.

I was about to be the worst millionaire on the block.A guy like me was never meant to have an unlimited amount of money.I never appreciated it when I had it.

I couldn’t wait to take what Lev left me and use it to make him proud.He probably wanted me to live large and show the rich jerks in Winnie’s world that money didn’t make the man.I could see him funding the ultimate fuck you.

And while I now had enough to buy my way onto a new team—hell, I might have enough to start my own—the pitch didn’t hold as much appeal as it had previously.I was much more interested in giving guys like me a second chance when they needed it most.Even losers needed someone to believe in them, and with Lev’s money, I could carry on his mission of taking in strays and turning them into dogs who could fight for themselves.

And maybe I could start an inner-city football club.That was something I would’ve loved when I was a poor kid playing my heart out and going nowhere.I had enough money to make a difference, and I was practically giddy with all the options swirling through my head.I’d always been a guy who hurt.I couldn’t contain my excitement about being a guy who could heal for once.

Whatever I didn’t spend trying to improve the lives of others, I’d leave for Lowe.

He could run Halliday Inc.if he wanted to take after his mom, or own his own football team if he decided to follow in my footsteps.

Whatever he decided, I knew Winnie and I would be there to support him fully in the future.

“Your mom is working hard; she definitely deserves a treat.Let’s go.”

The End