The Millionaires Read Online Free

like…”
    “Like someone who knows what he’s talking about?”
    “No, like a paranoid lunatic divorced from reality.”
    “I’ll have you know, I’m offended by the word
lunatic.
And the word
from.
”
    “Maybe we should just call him to be safe.”
    “Not a bad idea,” Charlie agrees.
    The clock on the wall says I have four minutes. What’s the worst a phone call can do?
    I quickly scan the Client Directory for Tanner’s home number. All it has is his family office. Sometimes, privacy sucks. With
     no other choice, I dial the number and look at the clock. Three and a half minutes.
    “Drew Family Office,” a woman answers.
    “This is Oliver Caruso at Greene & Greene—I need to talk to Mr. Drew. It’s an emergency.”
    “What kind of emergency?” she snips. I can practically hear the sneer.
    “A forty-million-dollar one.”
    There’s a pause. “Please hold.”
    “Are they getting him?” Charlie asks.
    Ignoring the question, I click back to the wire transfer menu and put the cursor on
Send.
Charlie’s back on sidesaddle, grabbing the shoulder of my shirt in an anxious fist.
    “Momma needs a new pair of stilettos…” he whispers.
    Thirty seconds later, I hear the secretary back on the line. “I’m sorry, Mr. Caruso—he’s not answering his work line.”
    “Does he have a cell phone?”
    “Sir, I’m not sure you understand…”
    “Actually, I understand just fine. Now what’s your name, so I can tell Mr. Drew who I was talking to?”
    Again, a pause. “Please hold.”
    We’re down to a minute and ten seconds. I know the bank is synchronized with the Fed, but you can only cut these things so
     close.
    “What’re you gonna do?” Charlie asks.
    “We’ll make it,” I tell him.
    Fifty seconds.
    My eyes are glued to the digital button marked
Send.
At the top of the screen, I’ve already scrolled past the line that reads “$40,000,000.00,” but right now, that’s all I see.
     I put the phone on
Speaker
to free my hands. On my shoulder, I feel the grip of Charlie’s fist tighten.
    Thirty seconds.
    “Where the hell is this woman?”
    My hand’s shaking so hard against the mouse, it’s moving the cursor onscreen. We don’t have a chance.
    “This is it,” Charlie says. “Time to make a decision.”
    He’s right about that one. The problem is… I… I just can’t. Searching for help, I look over my shoulder, back to my brother.
     He doesn’t say a word, but I hear it all. He knows where we’re from. He knows I’ve spent four years killing myself here. For
     all of us, this job is our way out of the emergency room. With twenty seconds to go, he nods his head ever so slightly.
    That’s all I need—just a nudge to eat the dandelions. I turn back to the monitor.
Push the button,
I tell myself. But just as I go to do it, my whole body freezes. My stomach craters and the world starts to blur.
    “C’mon!” Charlie shouts.
    The words echo, but they’re lost. We’re in final seconds.
    “
Oliver, push the damn button!
”
    He says something else, but all I feel is the sharp yank on the back of my shirt. Pulling me out of the way, Charlie leans
     forward. I watch his hand come thundering down, pounding the mouse with a tight fist. On screen, the
Send
icon blinks into a negative of itself, then back again. A rectangular box appears three seconds later:
    Status: Pending.
    “Does that mean we—?”
    Status: Approved.
    Charlie now realizes what we’re looking at. So do I.
    Status: Paid.
    That’s it. All sent. The forty-million-dollar e-mail.
    We both look at the speakerphone, waiting for a response. All we get is a cruel silence. My mouth hangs open. Charlie finally
     lets go of my shirt. Our chests rise and fall at the same pace… but for entirely different reasons. Fight and flight. I turn
     to my brother… my younger brother… but he won’t say a word. And then, there’s a crackle from the phone. A voice.
    “Caruso,” Tanner Drew growls in a Southern accent that’s now