Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 262(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Bruno and I look at each other, but before we even have a chance to sit down, the door she disappeared through opens, and a man in his late fifties stands before us in a thousand-dollar suit, his jet-black hair with a patch of well-positioned gray coiffed to perfection, not a single line on his face. I glance at Bruno and wonder if he’s thinking the same thing. This man must keep his plastic surgeon on retainer.
“Gentlemen, I’m Dr. Tilbury. It’s so good to meet you in person.” He walks toward us, arm extended, and I think he’d have a compassionate, concerned look on his face if Botox allowed it. I don’t like this man. Not one bit.
“Dr. Tilbury, I’m Bruno, and this is Amadeo. It’s good to meet you.”
“Oh, but I thought the brothers would come. You’re their uncle? Is that right?”
“That’s right,” Bruno lies.
“My brother was under the weather, so Bruno accompanied me to the States. We didn’t want to put off this meeting any longer. Mr. Russo was so positive about the work you did with his daughter, well, it’s just what my sister needs.”
He smiles. “Yes, you mentioned Mr. Russo in one of our conversations. My condolences. He was a good man.”
No comment.
“And Vittoria. Sweet child. Too young to carry such a burden,” he says with a look as if he’s reminiscing. It turns my stomach, and I really don’t like how he refers to her as sweet. It has a creepy quality to it. “You know, Mr. Russo was one of the first to believe in my work,” he says with a smile. Anything close to emotion has been erased from his eyes, an egotistical gleam replacing it. God complex.
“Was he?”
“Come into my office and we can talk. Tea, coffee? Something stronger?”
“No, thanks,” I answer for us both as we’re shown into Tilbury’s oversized, luxurious office where he takes a seat behind his desk, and we’re directed to sit on the leather chairs across from it. Behind him on the wall are various degrees. Apart from that, there is nothing personal. No photos of anyone, not even a dog. As far as I know, he’s never married and never had children, nor does he have siblings.
He opens the laptop on his desk and puts a pair of reading glasses on. “Now about Hannah. She’s fourteen, if I recall.”
I grip the arms of the seat at the mention of Hannah’s name, her age. So far, it’s all the truth. But things are going to get trickier when he digs deeper. Good news is we have enough on him that he’ll go along with what he need him to go along with.
“That was Vittoria’s age, and you worked with her for about a year, is that right, Doctor?” I ask.
He types something, then turns back to us and removes his glasses. “That’s right. Vittoria’s case was complicated, and well, I was not as experienced as I am now. Your sister’s case is less involved from what I gather. You can expect her to spend about four months, perhaps five, at the clinic. My methods have developed over time, their effectiveness and… thoroughness, depending on the patient’s receptibility, of course.” He leans toward us. “I’m sure I’m not failing to protect anyone’s rights to privacy when I say Vittoria was of a difficult nature.”
“How do you mean?”
“She was not so malleable. Easy to bend.”
Did he really just say that of a fourteen-year-old girl in his care? The look in my eyes must alarm him because he clears his throat.
“Go on, Doctor,” Bruno says. “We’d hold anything you say about any former patient in strictest confidence. Our visit here is a secret. And given the delicate nature of things, well, I think I can say we can all speak openly. We are, of course, prepared to pay substantially for any help you are able to provide.”
Tilbury clears his throat. “Let’s speak freely indeed.” Because money talks. Fucking greedy bastard.
Bruno and I remain silent.
“I took custody of Vittoria within a few days of… the incident. She was a minor, and of course, given the circumstances, she wouldn’t have been prosecuted and her name never released to the public, but these things have a way of getting out, don’t they? Especially for a family such as theirs. Her father wanted to erase the event altogether. He wanted her unblemished. Pure. Like she had been. And I understand. He loved his daughter, and I believe it broke a piece of him to see her so broken.” He stops to drink a sip of steaming lemon water from his glass on the desk. “But when I was finished, I’m happy to say I was able to give him his little girl back almost exactly as she was before.”
“Almost exactly?” Bruno asks.
“Well, like I told you, I was not as experienced, and Vittoria’s case was… shall we say extreme? Hannah will be delivered exactly as you want her.”