Hi everyone! I hope all is well with you! Once again, thank you so much for the support and hasn't it been nice with no trolls? I don't begin to assume we've heard the last of them but the peace is blissful. Enjoy!

xXx

Tobias strode down the hallway towards his office, his mind whirling with the preparations he needed to complete before his trip to South America. While he was in Argentina, he was scheduled to meet with representatives from the Organization of American States along with several major potential donors, which included a meeting with the owner of the largest media company in Argentina. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that his assistant, Malcolm, had to physically step into his boss' path to get his attention. Tobias blinked at the young man in front of him. "Oh, sorry, Malcolm. My mind was on the Argentina trip."

Malcolm nodded in acknowledgement, then with is voice lowered so it wouldn't carry into the office, he stated, "I just wanted to warn you before you walked into your office." Tobias noticed the door was partially closed and frowned at the worried look on Malcolm's face. Normally, his assistant was unflappable, but this morning he looked slightly flustered. "Your mother is in there."

"Fuck," Tobias muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Eaton. I tried to tell her your schedule was packed today…"

Tobias waved it off. "No, it's fine. I need to handle this anyway." He was completely fed up and despite what Tris wanted, he was willing to take the risk of Evelyn's ire.

Upon hearing Tobias enter the office, Evelyn turned to face him from a chair in front of his desk. Her face was set in disapproving lines as she greeted him coolly, "Good morning, Tobias."

"What are you doing here, Mother?" he asked bluntly as he strode behind his desk but remained standing, deliberately taking a position of authority in front of Evelyn.

Evelyn's eyebrows rose at the tone in his voice. "We need to talk about your responsibilities back in London," she stated directly, her tone suggesting she expected him to comply. "It is high time we started making concrete plans. I'm here in New York when I should be back in France, Tobias, so that should be an indication about my expectations."

Tobias' eyes never left his mother's. "You've wasted your time. There's nothing to talk about. I have a full day ahead and I need to prepare for my trip to Argentina."

"Surely you can spare a few hours," Evelyn insisted, her annoyance growing at his stubbornness.

"No, I can't. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave." Tobias sat down, dismissing Evelyn.

Evelyn's frown deepened. "I will not. You need to stop this nonsense right now, Tobias," she stated firmly. "I'm tired of indulging you. Myra—"

"Is not who I want. I don't know how much more clearly I can state that. I do not want her." His voice was a low growl as he emphasized the last sentence.

"What you want is irrelevant here."

"The hell it is!" he yelled out rising to his feet, unable to help himself. Choking down his rage, he took a deep breath. He needed to control his temper, he reminded himself. Who knew who was listening on the other side of the door?

"Oh, stop being so naive," Evelyn snapped. "You're a grown man and should understand you have obligations."

"You're right, I am a grown man and I'll be damned if I'm going to take any more shit about this from you. Let me be blunt," he growled, placing his fists on the desk and leaning towards her. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I submit to any more of your manipulative bullshit. I'm fucking done with it. I am the one who kept Marcus' affair out of the papers and if you keep pushing me, I sure as shit won't do it again. Now get out before I have Malcolm escort you out."

Fury flew across Evelyn's features. She took a deep breath as she rose to her feet, crossing her arms at her chest. Evelyn regarded her son with a cool expression. "You seem to forget, I can make life very difficult for you and for the foundation. Your grandfather made me executor of your trust because he knew I would put the interests of the Eaton family above all else. He knew his son was weak—ruled by his own desires—but make no mistake, I am not. You will do what I expect or you'll never see a dime of that money. Then what would happen to your precious charity?" She paused to smirk before continuing, "I am fully aware that the regular donations you make to the foundation from your monthly disbursement helps close the gap in operating funds. I can ensure that the foundation is shut down—permanently."

"Blackmail, Mother?" Tobias mimicked her stance, crossing his arms over his chest too.

"Incentive, son," she shot back. "If you think I don't know you want to separate Helping Hands from Prior-Eaton, you're sadly mistaken. One word from me to your father and that all ends. Think about that; I can ensure you lose it all." Turning on her heels, she strode out from his office.

Tobias wanted nothing more than to hurl something at the wall, to smash his desk to pieces, so he took several deep breaths until he could feel his heart rate slow. The cards were now on the table and he needed to act accordingly. Reaching for the phone, he dialed swiftly. "Niels," he said when his solicitor answered, "I need you to pull the terms of my trust and the incorporation records for Helping Hands. I want to speed up the severance."

xXx

"Gracias," Tobias said to the driver as the hired car pulled up to the front of the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires.

"De nada, señor. Buenas noches."

Tobias nodded to the doorman as he entered the elegant hallway, the warm air taking away the slight chill from the damp weather. It was always a shock to remember that August in New York may be the height of the summer boil, but in South America it was instead a cold and rainy winter.

Tobias strode through the lobby decorated entirely in red and gold with huge flowers spilling out of cut, crystal vases, lending to the European air for which the hotel was famous. But all of that opulence had barely registered with him as he was determined to get to his suite. Johanna had called him three times and his solicitor in London once while he was meeting with the representatives from the Organization of American States. He knew they wouldn't have bothered him if it weren't urgent.

Once in his suite, Tobias pulled off his overcoat, powered up his laptop and called Johanna on Skype first, grateful there was only an hour difference between New York and Buenos Aires. Within minutes, Johanna's worried face filled the screen.

"Tobias, thank goodness. I'm so sorry for calling but I need your help."

"Of course, Johanna, what's the problem?" Tobias frowned. Johanna was one of the calmest people he knew. If she was flustered, something was seriously wrong.

"The bank called and advised that we were below the threshold for the corporate account and therefore, I wouldn't have enough to make payroll and pay the lease this month!"

Tobias' frowned deepened. "Didn't the transfer from my bank in London go through?"

"No, that's what's weird. I didn't see it come through and it usually comes in monthly like clockwork!"

A sinking feeling spread through Tobias. She wouldn't have dared, he thought to himself, remembering Evelyn's recent threat to him in New York before he left. "Let me call London and then I'll call you right back."

"Okay, thank you!"

Tobias didn't care that it was after hours; he immediately called his solicitor, Niels. When Niels answered, Tobias didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Did Evelyn hold up the disbursement from my trust? Is that why you were calling?"

Niels heaved a sigh. "Yes, I wanted to give you a warning. She was on a tear, according to Reginald."

"That bitch," Tobias spat.

"Look, Tobias, it's a minor inconvenience. She can't hold the money for longer than a few days."

"She's fucking punishing me," Tobias stood, pacing the room. "She's doing this to prove she can still hold all the cards."

"That would be my assumption, too."

"What did you find out about my trust?"

Niels sighed uncomfortably. "Not as much as I had hoped at this point. So far, I only received an initial outline from your parents' firm. It isn't the complete terms but I'll keep following up," he assured Tobias. "Until I can get more information, the basic outline indicates your mother controls the bulk of the money until you turn thirty."

"Yeah, I knew that." Tobias bit his lip as he thought about his promise to Tris that he wouldn't do anything rash about severing the charity. "How much money are we talking?"

"In all? Nearly $100 million."

Tobias blinked a couple of times. "That's more than I thought."

"Your mother may be manipulative, but she does look out for your interests. Her investments are smart, and the trust has grown at a healthy rate even though you've received one percent of the total every month since you've turned twenty-one." At Tobias' silence, Niels continued. "On the upside, I've already started speaking with some of the board members at your request and so far, there're no strong objections to having Helping Hands stand on its own. The biggest obstacle would be your father. We aren't sure where Andrew Prior stands, but he could be a powerful ally."

"Yes, he would," Tobias agreed. He'd have to ask Tris the best way to approach her father. "Okay, I'll deal with that when I get back to New York in a couple of days. The biggest concern right now is to ensure Helping Hands can pay rent and payroll."

"I'm sorry I don't have better news for you."

"Thanks anyway, Niels." Tobias ended the call and sighed deeply as he called his accountant in New York. As he expected, she was still at her office working.

"Tobias, what's wrong?" Beverly's deep voice was a husky rasp that people often mistook for a phone-sex operator than an accountant.

"Bev, we have a short-fall at Helping Hands. I need to transfer as much as I can into their account. How can I do that without major tax implications?"

"What? What happened?" Tobias could hear her begin to type on her computer.

"Long story short, my mother delayed the disbursement of my trust so Helping Hands is short this month. I need to get money to them ASAP. Getting a loan would take entirely too long."

"Okay, what's the damage?"

Tobias opened the email from Johanna with the ledger sheet and forwarded it to Beverly. He knew she'd opened it when he heard her hiss over the phone. "Okay, you can cover that from your personal funds. Why am I doing this again? What happened to the disbursement from Prior-Eaton?"

"We used it to help rebuild schools in Nigeria destroyed by Boko Haram." Sitting back in his chair, Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose. "We wanted to maximize how much we sent, so I had planned on making another donation from my trust to cover the administrative costs."

"Do I want to ask what happened to that money?"

"No, you really don't."

Bev made a sympathetic noise. "Okay, we can move around some from your savings, put off sending your usual amount to your investment account." Tobias imagined her moving around numbers on her electronic ledger sheet. "That'll keep from draining your checking account too much. It's too bad you won't get paid from Prior-Eaton for another week but we can make it work. We'll just call it a donation, keep it deductible." Tobias heard a few more clicks of her keyboard. "Your mortgage on the New York condo is paid, utilities can wait the week so you'll just be a little tight on extra spending cash unless I move more from your savings. Do you want me to do that?"

"No, I want to keep as much liquid as possible, just in case this happens again."

"Got it. You're using the Prior-Eaton credit card while you're in Argentina, right?"

"Yeah, for the most part."

"Okay, just keep using that while you're there and we can make it all work until your paycheck posts."

He blew out a breath. "Thanks, Bev, really."

"Sure." Tobias heard the keys on her keyboard clacking. "Okay, there, done. When that disbursement from your trust comes through, we'll adjust."

"Okay, thanks. Have a good night."

"Absolutely."

Tobias called Johanna back to let her know it was all taken care of, then hung up the phone and dropped it on the desktop. Standing abruptly, he strode angrily into the bedroom, pulling out shorts and a t-shirt. Changing with jerky movements, he did his best to keep his mind blank, to hold his temper at bay. If he didn't, he was going to pick up the phone and call his mother. In the mood he was in, that would be an unmitigated disaster. Leaving his cell phone in the room so he wouldn't be tempted, Tobias grabbed the key card and headed for the hotel's fitness center. Hopefully, a long, hard run would drain some of his temper before he exploded. He'd have to wait to deal with his mother when he got back.