Page 22 of Under His Skin

“No. I came here to discuss what you can do to make up for this.” Franziska looked Anna in the eyes and continued in a calm, even tone, “I don’t truly care about you, although I think you’re stupid to have put our entire reputation at stake just for a few kickbacks.

“Denounce Johannes. Cut him off. Prosecute him for the monster that he is. I will pull my testimony and call in favors to get the case dropped, if you get Johannes locked up. I know you have more than enough evidence to do it.”

Anna looked stunned, but Tracht couldn’t help but laugh again. Laugh at the absurdity of it all. He’d known she hated him, but he hadn’t realized it ran this deep.

“Monster—what? Mother, that’s ridiculous. Johannes is—”

“Truly? You see how he treats Alex. You know what he’s done to others. It’s not surprising that all of his previous lovers have fled him. We both know that he’s incapable of feeling anything.” Franziska’s voice had turned vicious, but coming from a seventy-five year old woman, Tracht couldn’t really consider it as anything other than pathetic.

“No, he—” Anna stopped herself, looking between Tracht and Franziska. Then she straightened and gave Franziska a hard glare of her own. “You can’t claim he has no feelings. Yes, I’ve seen the way he treats Alex, which is with more consideration than you’ve ever shown either of us. I’ve asked him time and again to abandon Alex, and he doesn’t. Considering what an uncouth brute Alex is, I’d consider that an extreme sign of devotion.

“And unlike you, he’s on my side. He’s always been on my side. Don’t think I didn’t notice how you treated him when we were children. He’s not normal, but that doesn’t mean he deserved any of the… the… the emotional abuse you threw at him.”

There really was nothing more satisfying in the world than seeing the shock on Franziska’s face then. She thought she knew the score between all of them, when it was her own fault they’d come to this. Did she really think that she could treat Anna like dirt, and have Anna come out on her side? Anna might have called Tracht creepy and disgusting when they were growing up, but in the end they’d both had to deal with Franziska’s cold distance.

“I see. He’s got you convinced as well.” Franziska stood up and straightened her shoulders. She was a few inches taller than Anna, more thanks to the shoes than natural height, but she used this fact to look down her nose at Anna. “You’ve made your own bed, then. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You’ve always been more interested in the now and materialistic goods than doing the right thing.”

“I think that’s all I need—or want—to hear from you.” Anna motioned to the door. “See yourself out. And don’t think you’re ever welcome in my home ever again.”

Franziska gave them both a withering look. “I pity your children.”

Tracht gave her a sarcastic wave as she left. The door slid shut behind her.

Once she was gone, Anna slumped down into a chair again. “That fucking bitch. I always knew she hated us, but…”

Tracht laughed again, gaining him Anna’s ire. He quickly calmed down. “No, no. I think you misunderstood her. She hates me, not you. All you needed to do was bow to her will, and she would have been fine with you again.”

“She’s forgetting that I’m fifty years old. Fifty! I could be a grandmother myself, if Chryssy or Markus screw up. I’m not going to let her bully me.”

She’d been letting Franziska bully her all the way up until now, but Tracht didn’t say that. He hadn’t done much different. For Anna’s sake, he’d made appearances at family events, but he would have happily cut Franziska out of his life entirely the moment he’d turned twenty-five and the trust his father had left him transferred entirely under his control.

Thank goodness for iron clad wills and lawyers who knew how messy family could be. Franziska had tried to keep Tracht’s portion of the inheritance, but hadn’t been able to contest the will after all.

“I hope you were recording that conversation,” Tracht said. “I’m sure she was as well.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll show it to my lawyers, maybe they can use it somehow. And now get out of here, I think I need to discuss a few things before the trial starts up again.”

Tracht nodded and headed back towards the courtroom, checking his tablet as he went. He saw another message from Alex.

I’m starving. When are you getting back?

Tracht rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help a small smile.

When I get back. Don’t whine.

It was uplifting, actually, knowing he’d never have to make nice with Franziska again. He would probably want to strangle her during her testimony, but he was looking forward to seeing her eviscerated by Anna’s lawyers.

Chapter 7

The guest room sucked.

It did have all the modern conveniences, with an attached bathroom—including running water, which seemed a waste for a guest room that barely anybody used—and a large vid screen with an extensive collection of movies and channels.

Technically Alex could have spent all day in there waiting for Tracht, and it was tempting, since he didn’t want to hang out with Anna’s family.

But Alex hated the bed. It wasn’t comfortable like the one Tracht had on the ship, with its specialty foam mattress that he’d probably paid a fortune for. The headboard wasn’t sturdy, there were no metal rings for chains, the comforter was too thin, and the bed in general was too narrow.

Weirder still was that Tracht hadn’t seemed to care about all that. He’d fallen asleep almost instantly the previous night. It had left Alex wide awake, trying his hardest not to move because waking Tracht up in the middle of the night was a surefire way to piss him off.

---