“What?” I asked.
He looked at Marianne, then back at me.
“Cross Atlantic doesn’t only insure lives,” he said carefully. “We insure trusts. Estates. Private inheritance structures. Some old family policies are tied to biological succession.”
“I don’t understand.”
Marianne did.
I saw it in her eyes.
“Victor’s family money,” she said. “Was any of it restricted?”
I frowned. “He always said the Hale estate was complicated. His grandfather left conditions. Victor complained about lawyers controlling money from the grave.”
Adrian’s voice was quiet. “Do you know the conditions?”
“No.”
Marianne and Adrian exchanged another look.
I hated those looks.
“What conditions?” I demanded.
Marianne answered gently. “Some old trusts release major assets only when a direct male heir is born.”
My hand tightened over Julian.
No.
No, Victor had not only wanted the insurance money.
He had wanted my son.
Or what my son represented.
